For 12 seasons of Law & Order: SVU, Elliot Stabler kicked butts and took names portraying the ultimate zaddy detective with rage issues who always got the job done, no matter the cost. However, just before Season 13 began filming, Christopher Meloni abruptly left the series, prompting much speculation about why the actor would leave such a highly-paid gig on one of the most iconic shows in television history.

His sudden departure shocked and disappointed many fans, considering that Stabler was a Season 1 original character and a main actor on the show. So what led Christopher Meloni to leave Law & Order: SVU and how did he decide it was time to return for Law & Order: Organized Crime?

Who Was Law & Order: SVU's Elliot Stabler

Law and Order: SVU Cast

Elliot Stabler was an NYPD detective for the 16th Precinct who investigated sex crimes in the Special Victims Unit alongside his partner, Olivia Benson. As a Marine and a family man with an anger problem, he frequently took his job to heart, much to the detriment of his mental health and home life. Needless to say, Stabler's mismanagement of stress often complicated his cases. These factors, paired with his ardent Catholic faith and his inability to regulate his emotions, negatively affected his judgment and sometimes got him in trouble at work.

In addition, although Stabler solved crimes with a 97 percent case-closure rate, his hostile approach to obtaining confessions and his use of excessive force got him seriously reprimanded on more than one occasion. As a result, he confronted his traumatic upbringing in Queens and personal demons head on in therapy, leading to a reconciliation with his wife, the mother of his five children.

Why Christopher Meloni Left Law & Order: SVU

Christopher Meloni as Elliot Stabler and Mariska Hargitay as Olivia Beneson

In the Season 12 finale of Law & Order: SVU, Elliot Stabler fatally shoots a young woman named Jenna Fox after using a handgun to open fire on the men responsible for raping and killing her mother. In her act of blind vengeance, Jenna kills three people -- two guilty and one innocent -- the latter of whom is Sister Peg, a Catholic nun and associate of Benson and Stabler. Stabler fires his weapon and kills the teenager to prevent more people from dying, putting an end to her reckless bloodshed. Consequently, Stabler was so upset by the situation that he decides to retire early from the force.

At the time, rumors spread behind the scenes that contract negotiations for the famed police procedural broke down, leading Christopher Meloni to exit the show suddenly. That year, Meloni's contract was expiring. Reportedly, during renegotiations, Meloni was informed that he wouldn't be receiving a higher salary but a pay cut instead, so he subsequently departed the series. However, Meloni maintains no anger or bitterness behind why and how he split from the show.

According to an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Meloni explains, "How I left was a different issue and had nothing to do with the Law & Order people, the SVU people or with Dick Wolf. I left with zero animosity, but I did leave clearly and open-eyed in going forward and finding new adventures. I was like, 'That's what I want to do, keep moving forward.'" It seems that a need for more robust creative expression essentially drove Meloni to seek out other acting opportunities.

Law and Order: SVU Spin-off Elliot Stabler

In his 10-year hiatus from portraying Stabler, Meloni took on several colorful and memorable roles. Most famously, he took on the roles of Roman Zimojic, the leader of the Vampire Authority on True Blood, a chef and Vietnam War Veteran named Gene in both Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp and Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later, former detective Nick Sax on Happy!, High Commander George Winslow on The Handmaid's Tale and Commissioner Gordon on the animated Harley Quinn series.

Ultimately, Meloni decided to dust off his badge and come back to Precinct 16, albeit briefly in a crossover episode. Regarding his return to the character, Meloni says, "If you have, at least from my perspective, a very well-known and beloved TV character who left abruptly and, I would argue, unceremoniously… there's a built-in recognizability, a thing that needs to be satiated with a sense of closure. Those are all very attractive things." Currently, fans of Detective Elliot Stabler can catch him in action on his new spin-off series Law & Order: Organized Crime.

KEEP READING: NCIS: How Season 18's Finale Sets Up Season 19