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"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | There's beauty in everyone. Sometimes you have to dig deep to find it. | „ |
| ~ Robert Morten rationalizing his crimes. |
Robert Morten is the main antagonist of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Svengali". He is a sadistic serial killer who brutally and torturously murders eight young women, seeing these crimes as a form of art. While he has a life sentence in prison, he has amassed a cult of followers who continue his crimes through his prodigy Cecilia, whom he sexually abused, inspiring her to continue murdering him.
He was portrayed by Jared Harris.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Evil?[]
- Brutally tortured, murdered, and mutilated 8 women in ways such as ripping their hearts out, stabbing them in the breasts, hanging them in public, strangling them with a chain, shoving Jumper cables into their ears, and crushing their heads with a hand-cranked press.
- Amassed a cult of followers in his prison and told them to unleash their artistic creativity.
- Sexually and emotionally abused 17-year-old Cecilia Strayer by promising to give her information on her dad in prison. One line, "She was a virgin. I plucked her" heavily implies he raped her as well.
- In "Svengali" Cecilia becomes obsessed with Robert Morten and, to make him happy, brutally strangles her roommate, Tina Snow, repeatedly with her panties before mutilating her breasts postmortem.
- Out of guilt and to throw the NYPD off her trail, Cecilia attempts to commit suicide by drugging herself and carving a symbol into her chest with a knife.
- In the meanwhile, Harrison Thomas, a comic artist obsessed with serial killers and the creator of Morten's story in which Morten was never imprisoned, sends a pipe bomb to the NYPD precinct, injuring Chester Lake, Odafin Tutuola, and four other police officers. Later, Harrison attacks Olivia Benson in her house, slashes her, and attempts to kill her.
- Makes a deal with Casey Novak that he will testify against Cecilia to have her imprisoned but betrays Novak by perjuring himself in court and saying that he ordered Cecilia to kill.
- When he sees the dead body of Tina Snow, he berates Cecilia by saying that her murder was terrible and not artistic enough for his liking, setting her to break down and hug Morten, for which he simply pushes her off and whispers in her ear that she is useless.
What Prevents Him from Being Pure Evil?[]
- He ultimately fails the heinous standard of serial killers who, not only tortured their victims but raped them such as Adam Grafton, Darryl Kern, and Larry Moore who also have more victims than him. While his indirect murder, sexual abuse, and murders allow him to pass the baseline, the bombing was too indirect to be counted as a direct act instigated by Morten.
External Links[]
- Robert Morten at the Law & Order Wiki
- Robert Morten on the Villains Wiki
