Detective Dominick "Sonny" Carisi, Jr. transfers to Manhattan Special Victims Unit after Sergeant Olivia Benson put in a request for an "experienced, empathetic Detective" following the temporary demotion of Nick Amaro to patrol officer. Carisi also took Nick Amaro's place as the lead male of the SVU. He was in Staten Island SVU for two months, Brooklyn for almost a month and Queens for a week (before that, he was a patrol officer on Staten Island). Though his brash and argumentative attitude has placed him at odds with Benson and the others, he's shown a knack for interrogations, by pretending to empathize with suspects and getting them to open up to him.

He attends night classes at Fordham Law, often attempting to offer up legal suggestions on the cases at hand. He assists ADA Rafael Barba during the trial of Lewis Hodda. He recently passed his bar exam.

His religion is Catholic. Two of his cousins are priests. When he was younger, he wanted to be a priest.

He served as a pallbearer at the funeral of Sergeant Mike Dodds, who was shot to death by Gary Munson, the corrupt Rikers Island corrections who held his wife, Lisa, hostage. At the bar following the service, Carisi toasts Dodds as "the bravest cop we ever worked with".

c/p from wikia

Sonny has the type of personality that doesn’t quite fit with what would typically be associated with a cop, but it’s something that ends up benefiting him surprisingly well, and even gives him some fantastic angles to work with.

Most people in his line of work tend to become somewhat jaded and pessimistic as a result of the dark things they face daily. While Sonny is still relatively young, it seems like his job hasn’t managed to tarnish him in the slightest, despite doing both Homicide and Special Victims throughout his ongoing career. That’s not to say he remains unchanged from it, just that none of the changes have really been negative ones. Instead of becoming hardened, Sonny has grown in impossible ways since becoming an SVU detective. He’s more open, accepting, and tolerant of things he doesn’t understand, and he makes a genuine effort to learn more about them when they enter his path. For example, when faced with his first transgender victim, he made comments about “not getting it”, but listened openly when it was explained to him. When faced with his second transgender victim, his progress on the situation was incredibly clear. He’s become a little less naive about certain things, but not in a way that makes him any less hopeful or optimistic. He’s too stubborn to let this job ruin him like he’s seen it ruin so many of his friends. He does everything in his power to keep work at work, and home at home.

Truthfully, Sonny is probably the walking human equivalent of a ray of sunshine, or possibly a golden retriever. He’s quick to look on the bright side, to find the silver lining, to see the good in all the bad that he experiences on a daily basis, but always without making light of the terrible situations they face. He remains able to do this in large part because of his religion: he finds incredible solace in the church and his faith. He attends service regularly, and does it more often when a case is particularly trying for him. A good talk with God can be the difference between making it and breaking it for him.

Of course, this also means cases involving the corruption of the catholic church can really shake him to his core, but not once does he question the validity of his religion. Only the holiness of those who claim to serve God.

He’s not without his faults, though. Sonny has an overwhelming need to please and impress. His first weeks at his new job were filled with him trying to take initiative, of working hard and going above and beyond to follow through with their cases. This often came off as more annoying than anything else, making him seem too eager to please, which-- well, he was. And he still is, to an extent, but he’s mellowed significantly since earning his place on the team. He still strives for praise, of course. He often uses his knowledge from law school to impress those around him, when relevant to their cases, but even that has lessened since getting his degree and passing the bar. Even then, though, he’s always first to volunteer for undercover assignments and overtime work.

For a long time, Sonny was bounced from unit to unit, his captains and coworkers quickly growing tired of his abrasive, enthusiastic character. He’d gone through Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Queens SVU in the span of two months by the time he landed in Manhattan’s SVU, and it was very clear that he was desperate to not be bounced again. Thankfully, his captain didn’t give up on him, and he certainly didn’t give up on them, and now it’s clear to everyone that he brings valuable traits and skills to the team.

Overall, though, Sonny is blindly optimistic and caring, wanting to protect everyone around him. He has an incredible knack for empathy and leveling with people. He possesses an overwhelming need to be accepted and wanted, but once he is, those that keep him around will have his love and loyalty for life.

→ Bilingual (Spanish & English)

→ Good at empathizing and leveling with suspects and victims alike

→ Knows how to use firearms

→ Blindly optimistic and eager

CANONPOINT: 18x06 "Broken Rhymes"
AGE: 30
HEIGHT: 6'0"
BUILD: Tall, average build, very slight muscle
HAIR: Dark blond hair, usually worn pushed or slicked back, graying at the temples
EYES: Blue
APPEARANCE: Link
STATUS: Single but crushing
SEXUALITY: Bisexual; 2 (two) on the kinsey scale
OCCUPATION: SVU Detective
RESIDENCE: Manhattan, New York
SCRUBS: White

BACKTAGGING: Y
4TH-WALLING: N
THREADJACKING: Y
MIND READING: Y
FIGHTING: Y
ROMANCE: Y
INJURY: Y
KILLING: ASK