Nick Amaro

Nicholas "Nick" Amaro, most likely born in the late 1970s to early 1980s, is a former police detective who transferred to the Special Victims Unit from narcotics and warrants in 2011. He is charismatic and charming and often used his charm to get difficult witnesses who do not cooperate to talk. He replaced Elliot Stabler as the lead male of the SVU.

Family

Amaro is divorced with two children, a daughter named Zara with his ex-wife, and a son with his ex-girlfriend named Gilberto. His ex-wife Maria was in Iraq and returned on Valentine's Day. (SVU: "Personal Fouls") Nick is a Catholic, fluent in Spanish, and also apparently has good connections with the community. Amaro's father beat his mother when he was younger, and later fled to Miami, Florida; he attributes his firm belief in divorce to this. He and his wife have recently split up, Maria having moved to L.A. to take a job taking Zara with her.

While undercover on a narcotics bust, Amaro had a relationship with the sister of a major drug dealer. (SVU: "Undercover Blue") Nine years later, the relationship is brought back to light, when a court case involving rape accusations against Brian Cassidy throws Amaro under the bus. The woman, Cynthia Mancheno, claims that she had a son by Amaro during that relationship, named Gilberto. When a paternity test confirms this, Amaro attempts to spend more time with his son, who believes that he is Amaro's nephew. Cynthia gives Amaro permission to reveal his identity to Gilberto. (SVU: "Born Psychopath")

Personal life

He has no sympathy for people who rape the mentally ill or children. He says his rank is Detective Second Grade. (SVU: "True Believers") He worked in vertical patrol in housing projects for six years. (SVU: "Educated Guess") He seems to be protective of Amanda Rollins and is suspicious of his wife dating other men while in the Army and afterwards, assaulting a friend of hers he believed she was having an affair with after she lied to him about where she was. She denies having an affair and finally reveals to him that she is seeing a psychiatrist and didn't want him to know.

Later on it was discovered that his wife Maria Grazie took a job in L.A. claiming that they needed a break from each other.

It has also been hinted that Nick and Amanda have been in a relationship for quite some time since he emerges from her bathroom and comfortably sits on her couch. (SVU: "Reasonable Doubt") Aside from his protectiveness of Amanda, his attraction to her has been previously hinted at. (SVU: "Gambler's Fallacy") He's usually the one to realize when something is wrong with her. The nature of their relationship and whether Olivia and Fin know has not been revealed yet. It is implied that they are sleeping together, as Holden questioned their relationship. (SVU: "Holden's Manifesto") Though they never answered his question, Holden is certain they are in a relationship. Their relationship is still discreet in the squad room.

Job

At the end of season 15, he assaulted an alleged pedophile (with a torture chamber and horrific fantasies) who was photographing young boys. He was transferred to Traffic and took anger management classes, but later promoted back to Special Victims after he was accused of being inappropriate with a woman whilst arresting her. He was later cleared by IAB due to a video recording on the dash board of his car showed the arrest was by the book.

Amaro wanted to be promoted to sergeant. However, he was told by Olivia that the department wouldn't promote him even if he aced the sergeant's exam, due to his history on the job. Later on, the squad are involved in a shootout in the courthouse, committed by Johnny Drake. Nick sustains non-life threatening injuries, but needs months of rehab. In the final scene, he mentions to Benson that he was going no where in the department, and decided that it would be best to retire and start over again in California, where his son and daughter reside. Benson says to Nick, "Whatever happens, Nick Amaro, friends for life." Amaro appreciated her saying this and was grateful for everything she has done for him throughout his time on SVU.