History Characters / StevenUniverseConnieMaheswaran

* CultureEqualsCostume: During her sword training with Pearl, Connie's outfit and fighting style were inspired by Kalaripayattu.

!!!'''Voiced by''': Grace Rolek

-->'''Steven''': We're a team! She's the strawberry...\\
'''Connie''': ...and he's the biscuit!\\
'''Steven''': And that makes us... Jam!\\
'''Connie''': Buds!

-->'''Connie''': It's impossible trying to solve problems if we are just trying to copy other people. What's the point of this? We'll never be the Crystal Gems. We are just the Crystal Temps. But we have our own way of doing things. So let's go back to that to fix this mess we made.

-->'''Connie''': Steven, I know you're here! Why are you hiding from me? ''[Steven sends her a text saying "I don't want to be friends anymore."]''\\
'''Connie''': Steven?\\
'''Steven''': ''[over the phone]'' I can't be with you anymore, I have a destiny.\\
'''Connie''': ''[tearfully]'' Say it to my face! Say you don't want to be friends anymore! If you can do that — If you can do that, I'll leave you alone. And I'll just go back to having no friends. But I won't believe it until you say it to my face! ''[Steven climbs down and agrees to talk to Connie in person]''\\
'''Connie''': Well?\\
'''Steven''': ''[tearfully]'' I still wanna be friends!

-->'''Connie''': Well, I like to be prepared. When civilization collapses and this world ends, I need to be ready to build the new one.\\
'''Steven''': Yeah, I guess if Homeworld invades Earth, things could get pretty crazy for humanity.\\
'''Connie''': Forget Gems, humans are already starting their own demise! Peak oil, Steven! How do we handle terminal decline without alternate energy sources?!

-->'''Steven''': Are you OK?\\
'''Connie''': I love hanging out at your place!

---->'''Pearl''': We begin with a bow, first to me, your teacher. ''[Connie bows]'' And now again, to your liege.\\
'''Connie''': ''[bows to Steven]'' Okay, my liege.\\
'''Steven''': Miss knight.

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Grace Rolek

-->'''Steven:''' We're a team! She's the strawberry...\\
'''Connie:''' ...and he's the biscuit!\\
'''Steven:''' And that makes us... Jam!\\
'''Connie:''' Buds!

-->'''Connie:''' It's impossible trying to solve problems if we are just trying to copy other people. What's the point of this? We'll never be the Crystal Gems. We are just the Crystal Temps. But we have our own way of doing things. So let's go back to that to fix this mess we made.

-->'''Dr. Maheswaran:''' What, your eyesight just "magically" got better?\\
'''Connie:''' YES!

-->'''Connie:''' Steven, I know you're here! Why are you hiding from me? ''[Steven sends her a text saying "I don't want to be friends anymore."]''\\
'''Connie:''' Steven?\\
'''Steven:''' ''[over the phone]'' I can't be with you anymore, I have a destiny.\\
'''Connie:''' ''[tearfully]'' Say it to my face! Say you don't want to be friends anymore! If you can do that — If you can do that, I'll leave you alone. And I'll just go back to having no friends. But I won't believe it until you say it to my face! ''[Steven climbs down and agrees to talk to Connie in person]''\\
'''Connie:''' Well?\\
'''Steven:''' ''[tearfully]'' I still wanna be friends!

-->'''Connie:''' Well, I like to be prepared. When civilization collapses and this world ends, I need to be ready to build the new one.\\
'''Steven:''' Yeah, I guess if Homeworld invades Earth, things could get pretty crazy for humanity.\\
'''Connie:''' Forget Gems, humans are already starting their own demise! Peak oil, Steven! How do we handle terminal decline without alternate energy sources?!

-->'''Steven:''' Are you OK?\\
'''Connie:''' I love hanging out at your place!

---->'''Pearl:''' We begin with a bow, first to me, your teacher. ''[Connie bows]'' And now again, to your liege.\\
'''Connie:''' ''[bows to Steven]'' Okay, my liege.\\
'''Steven:''' Miss knight.

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[[caption-width-right:200:[[labelnote:Click here for her appearance in Season 5 ]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/connie_cym_by_luxenroar.png[[/labelnote]]]]

[[Characters/StevenUniverseCrystalGems Crystal Gems]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseStevenQuartzUniverse Steven Quartz Universe]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGarnet Garnet]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseAmethyst Amethyst]] | [[Characters/StevenUniversePearl Pearl]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseRoseQuartz Rose Quartz]] | '''Connie Maheswaran''' | [[Characters/StevenUniversePeridot Peridot]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseLapisLazuli Lapis Lazuli]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGemFusions Gem Fusions]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseHomeworldGems Homeworld Gems]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseDiamondAuthority Diamond Authority]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseYellowDiamond Yellow Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseBlueDiamond Blue Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniversePinkDiamond Pink Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseWhiteDiamond White Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseYellowDiamondsCourt Yellow Diamond's Court]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseJasper Jasper]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseBlueDiamondsCourt Blue Diamond's Court]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseSpinel Spinel]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseOffColors Off Colors]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGemMonsters Gem Monsters]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseHumans Humans]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGregUniverse Greg Universe]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseLarsBarriga Lars Barriga]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseSadieKillerAndTheSuspects Sadie Killer and the Suspects]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseOther Other]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseS1E33GarnetsUniverse Garnet's Universe]]]]]]-]

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[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here for her appearance in Season 1]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/connie_season_1.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here for her appearance in Seasons 2-4]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_104.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here for her appearance in Season 5]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/connie_cym_by_luxenroar.png[[/labelnote]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here for her appearance in Season 5]][[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/connie_cym_by_luxenroar.png[[/labelnote]]]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/connie_cym_by_luxenroar.png]]

[[Characters/StevenUniverseCrystalGems Crystal Gems]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseStevenQuartzUniverse Steven Quartz Universe]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGarnet Garnet]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseAmethyst Amethyst]] | [[Characters/StevenUniversePearl Pearl]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseRoseQuartz Rose Quartz]] | '''Connie Maheswaran''' | [[Characters/StevenUniversePeridot Peridot]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseLapisLazuli Lapis Lazuli]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGemFusions Gem Fusions]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseHomeworldGems Homeworld Gems]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseDiamondAuthority Diamond Authority]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseYellowDiamond Yellow Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseBlueDiamond Blue Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniversePinkDiamond Pink Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseWhiteDiamond White Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseYellowDiamondsCourt Yellow Diamond's Court]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseJasper Jasper]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseBlueDiamondsCourt Blue Diamond's Court]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseOffColors Off Colors]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGemMonsters Gem Monsters]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseHumans Humans]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGregUniverse Greg Universe]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseLarsBarriga Lars Barriga]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseSadieKillerAndTheSuspects Sadie Killer and the Suspects]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseOther Other]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseS1E33GarnetsUniverse Garnet's Universe]]]]]]-]

[[Characters/StevenUniverseCrystalGems Crystal Gems]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseStevenQuartzUniverse Steven Quartz Universe]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGarnet Garnet]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseAmethyst Amethyst]] | [[Characters/StevenUniversePearl Pearl]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseRoseQuartz Rose Quartz]] | '''Connie Maheswaran''' | [[Characters/StevenUniversePeridot Peridot]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseLapisLazuli Lapis Lazuli]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGemFusions Gem Fusions]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseHomeworldGems Homeworld Gems]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseDiamondAuthority Diamond Authority]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseYellowDiamond Yellow Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseBlueDiamond Blue Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniversePinkDiamond Pink Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseWhiteDiamond White Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseYellowDiamondsCourt Yellow Diamond's Court]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseJasper Jasper]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseBlueDiamondsCourt Blue Diamond's Court]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseOffColors Off Colors]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGemMonsters Gem Monsters]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseHumans Humans]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGregUniverse Greg Universe]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseLarsBarriga Lars Barriga]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseSadieKillerAndTheSuspects Sadie Killer and the Suspects]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseOtherThreats Other Threats]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseS1E33GarnetsUniverse Garnet's Universe]]]]]]-]

Steven's supportive, good-natured best friend. Due to her father's work as a security guard, she traveled around frequently with her family, until they moved to a town near Beach City. As a result, Connie didn't have any friends until she met Steven at a local parade, a year prior to the series. Steven saved her glow bracelet before even meeting her officially. Their real introduction comes in "Bubble Buddies", when he protects her from falling rocks, accidentally leaving them in a shield bubble. After their adventure, the two become inseparable good friends. While she's not always around to participate in Steven's life with the Crystal Gems, she does so with enthusiasm when the opportunity arises.

[[Characters/StevenUniverseCrystalGems Crystal Gems]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseStevenQuartzUniverse Steven Quartz Universe]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGarnet Garnet]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseAmethyst Amethyst]] | [[Characters/StevenUniversePearl Pearl]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseRoseQuartz Rose Quartz]] | '''Connie Maheswaran''' | [[Characters/StevenUniversePeridot Peridot]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseLapisLazuli Lapis Lazuli]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGemFusions Gem Fusions]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseHomeworldGems Homeworld Gems]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseDiamondAuthority Diamond Authority]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseYellowDiamond Yellow Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseBlueDiamond Blue Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniversePinkDiamond Pink Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseWhiteDiamond White Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseYellowDiamondsCourt Yellow Diamond's Court]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseJasper Jasper]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseBlueDiamondsCourt Blue Diamond's Court]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseOffColors Off Colors]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGemMonsters Gem Monsters]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseHumans Humans]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGregUniverse Greg Universe]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseLarsBarriga Lars Barriga]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseOtherThreats Other Threats]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseS1E33GarnetsUniverse Garnet's Universe]]]]]]-]

* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: For the first four seasons, Connie had waist-length RapunzelHair. However, in the fifth season episode [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E10KevinParty "Kevin Party"]], she is revealed to have cut/had someone cut her hair down to chin-length with bangs. This change happened at some point following [[spoiler:Steven's return from Homeworld in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E4LarsHead "Lars' Head"]], and their ensuing fight in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E5DeweyWins "Dewey Wins"]] over the aftermath of his surrender, which led to an estrangement between them that lasted a few weeks.]] [[spoiler: Following the two-year TimeSkip between the end of the fifth season [[Recap/StevenUniverse:TheMovie the movie]], her hair has regrown to shoulder-length, though she retains her bangs.]]

* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: For most of the series, Connie had waist-length RapunzelHair. However, in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E10KevinParty "Kevin Party"]], she is revealed to have cut/had someone cut her hair down to chin-length with bangs. This change happened at some point following [[spoiler:Steven's return from Homeworld in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E4LarsHead "Lars' Head"]], and their ensuing fight in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E5DeweyWins "Dewey Wins"]] over the aftermath of his surrender, which led to an estrangement between them that lasted a few weeks.]]

** She shows an icy, stoic version in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E5DeweyWins "Dewey Wins"]]; when Steven mentions that no one else was hurt apart from Lars being resurrected from the dead, she coldly mentions the emotional pain she felt when they could have teamed up together as Stevonnie instead of Steven taking a lone wolf approach partly because he felt like he was the only one capable of cleaning up after Rose Quartz's mistakes. She walks away with Lion, giving Steven time to think about the effect his hasty decision and broken promise had on her.

* GamerChick: Connie might be a gamer; as seen in the short [[Recap/StevenUniverseS0E10VideoChat "Video Chat"]], her laptop has ''Colonization V'', a spoof of the real-life video game ''[[{{VideoGame/Civilization}} Civilization V]]'' (the real ''Colonization'' has no sequels). She also has ''Empires & Eras II'' and ''Conqueror Kings II'', which are spoofs of ''[[VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII Age of Empires II]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/CrusaderKings Crusader Kings II]]'', respectively. She also has ''Grid'', a spoof of the popular gaming platform ''[[{{UsefulNotes/Steam}} Steam]]''.

* TheMillstone: {{Averted|Trope}}. In "The New Crystal Gems", both Lapis and Peridot ''think'' Connie will be this with the former being the most skeptical of her help. But, it turns that Connie's level-headedness and leadership skills are the key when dealing with the immature, destructive natures of the other two.
* MoralityPet: To the [[NobleBigot Crystal Gems]], especially [[GoodIsNotNice Pearl]]. She is probably the ''first'' human they treat with respect and as a friend.

* MundaneMadeAwesome: In "Lion 2: The Movie", Connie mentions that tennis practice is the most interesting thing in her life so far. Later on, her tennis skills prove useful in defeating the robot that goes after her and Steven.
* MusclesAreMeaningless: She's a young, normal human with arms as thin as strings. That said, she's able to wield [[{{BFS}} Rose's sword]] with relative ease and in "Mindful Education" easily swung a classmate roughly her size through the air and slammed him to the ground without a thought.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Went through a HeroicBSOD in "Mindful Education" because of the shame she felt for accidentally hurting a fellow classmate (Jeff).

* NiceMeanAndInBetween: Of the Crystal Temps, she is the "Nice" to Lapis's "Mean" and Peridot's "In Between". Of the trio, Connie is the most sensitive, mature, and thoughtful.

* ObfuscatingDisability: Up until "Nightmare Hospital", Connie pretended to still need her prescribed glasses even though Steven's healing spit gave her perfect vision.
* OddNameOut: Of the Crystal Temps, she is the only one with a human name.

** She's also this to Peridot and Lapis in "The New Crystal Gems", thinking responsibly compared to their antics.

** In "Mindful Education", Connie is distracted and hardly interested in her training, a vast attitude change from previous episodes. She later admits to having accidentally hurt Jeff, a classmate from her school, and feels awful about it.
** In "Kevin's Party", she and Steven both realize they're ''really'' desperate to see each other if they're willing to come to ''[[HateSink Kevin's]]'' party to do so.

* PerformanceAnxiety: In "Alone Together", she admits to Steven that despite wanting to go to a few of her school dances, the idea of so many eyes on her made her too anxious. With some help from Steven, she opens up to the idea. At the end of the episode, after they defuse out of Stevonnie, she's seen laughing and smiling with Steven as everyone stares.
* PinkGirlBlueBoy: {{Inverted|Trope}}. Connie's associated colors are blue (teal specifically) and some of her casual clothes are orange, while Steven's associated colors are pink. She later wields Rose's sword and scabbard, which are pink. In "The New Crystal Gems", she wears one of Steven's spare pink T-shirts with a star on the front.
* PluckyGirl: She shows subtle hints of this in the first season, bringing her own snacks to the movie theater in "Lion 2: The Movie" since her parents don't allow her to buy snacks at the theater, and having the Gems (as Alexandrite) pose as Steven's mom in "Fusion Cuisine", and more promninently so in the second season, ultimately convincing her mother that swords are not toys in "Nightmare Hospital" and agreeing to keep her parents more informed about her life activities (while not divulging Stevonnie's secret to them), and developing a strong friendship with Steven throughout the series.
* PointlessBandAid: {{Inverted|Trope}}. Connie wears a band-aid during her sword training in "Sworn to the Sword", but it's ''useful'' given the strict and disciplined sword training Pearl was giving her.

* PuppyLove: With Steven. They have almost kissed, but are officially still just friends. In "Steven's Birthday", Steven is already assuming that they will get married when they're older.
* PurelyAestheticGlasses: Connie originally did need glasses, but as of "An Indirect Kiss", her vision was restored by Steven's healing spit. Not wanting to explain to her parents and optometrist how her sight was magically fixed, she pops out the lenses on her glasses and keeps wearing the frame, except when around Steven and the Crystal Gems. About a year later, she reveals this to her mom and stops wearing them completely.
* RapunzelHair: Connie has waist-length, dark brown puffy hair. [[spoiler:Starting with "Kevin Party", this is averted with her ExpositoryHairstyleChange.]]
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Gives one to Peridot and Lapis in "The New Crystal Gems" for acting like bratty children instead of their actual ages.
* RebelliousSpirit: {{Justified|Trope}} and {{downplayed|Trope}}. For the former, she grew up with overly strict and controlling parents which gave her a desire to have some freedom in her life. For the latter, Connie ''is'' a law-abiding person who has no problem with following orders or laws, she just doesn't like oppressive ruling.

* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Connie is extremely fond of [[AllLovingHero Steven]] [[NiceGuy Universe]] -- an [[{{Keet}} upbeat]], [[TurnTheOtherCheek forgiving]], and [[ThePollyanna optimistic]] young man who promised to be her friend when they were first properly acquainted and later stated that he wants her to fight by his side as an equal.
* SixthRanger: She's basically an unofficial Crystal Gem at this point, all things considered. In "Rocknaldo", Steven out-rightly states she is a member of the group.
* SleepCute: Shown cutely snoozing on Steven's shoulder in "Ocean Gem".

* SmallRoleBigImpact: Connie has a small cameo in "Rocknaldo", but is the catalyst for Steven calling out Ronaldo for his egotism as well as being indirectly responsible for the latter's CharacterDevelopment.
* SmartPeopleWearGlasses: Wears oval-shaped glasses and has proven to be a BadassBookworm and OnlySaneWoman. Following the events of "An Indirect Kiss", Connie can now see normally without her glasses thanks to the healing powers in Steven's spit. However, in order not to agitate her parents and optometrist, she pops out the lenses of her glasses and puts the frames back on, only taking them off when her parents aren't around. She ditches them entirely after her mom finds out.
* TheSouthpaw: She carries Rose's sword with her left hand in the second opening. In "Sworn to the Sword", she's shown using her sword with either or both hands at various points, suggesting she's ambidextrous or hadn't figured out which arm she's more comfortable fighting with.
** "Love Letters" suggests that she's ambidextrous rather than left-handed, as she is shown writing with her right hand.

* SpecsOfAwesome: {{Zigzagged|Trope}}. On the "specs" part, she does wear glasses upon her introduction, but doesn't have to after "An Indirect Kiss" when Steven's healing spit gives her perfect vision. She decides to forget the lens and keep the frames. The "awesome" part is played as straight as possible especially after she learns proper swordfighting skills.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: This [[https://68.media.tumblr.com/62091f2f4ea5eab7bcd99d196477e3af/tumblr_inline_oljwezvp2W1tjabaa_1280.png picture]] of Connie in "Storm in the Room" shows how much she resembles her mother, especially around the eyes with wrinkles and hair style. The only thing she got from her father are his BigOlEyebrows.
* StrongGirlSmartGuy: {{Zigzagged|Trope}} with Steven. Steven is very mature of his age, but has a tendency to make rash decisions unlike the level-headed Connie; plus, both are {{child prodigy}}ies. And while he may be physically stronger than her, she's the most aggressive of the two.

* SuperReflexes: A non-superhero example. As shown in "Mindful Education", Connie's reflexes have been honed to such an extent that she reacts to a perceived threat before she knows what's she's doing, as she attacked a fellow student who bumped into her without realizing it until after the fact.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: {{Invoked|Trope}} in "The New Crystal Gems". In an attempt to protect Beach City while the Crystal Gems are away, she, Peridot, Pumpkin, and Lapis decide to mimic them. In this team, Connie becomes the "new" Steven complete with her dressing up in his IconicOutfit.

* TokenHuman: Shares this spot with Greg. She and Greg acknowledge that they're the only pure humans working alongside the Crystal Gems. Perhaps even more so than Greg, since Connie is also the only purely human Crystal Gem (Steven being a human-Gem hybrid) with not only Steven calling Connie a 'Crystal Gem', but Pearl both training Connie to be Steven's partner in combat and allowing Connie to keep and wield Rose's sword.

** She convinces Pearl to teach her to sword-fight so that she can fight by Steven's side on adventures, and proves to be a worthy pupil. She proves herself in "Nightmare Hospital", where she and Steven successfully fight off two Gem Mutants over her mother's objections. [[note]]What's more, she does this with Rose's Sword, which is ''[[{{BFS}} longer than she is tall]]''.[[/note]]
** Since her first appearance, Connie has had a fearful respect to her parents. But, after reaching a RageBreakingPoint in "Nightmare Hospital", Connie gives her mom a telling off on her controlling nature and how it affected their relationship.
** When dealing with a corrupted Gem in "Gem Hunt", she freezes up in fear. But, when she faces off against [[spoiler:a Gem Fusion from Homeworld, she keeps her cool and manages to win the fight.]]
* TranquilFury: Discussed. When she and Steven are fuming over meeting Kevin again in "Beach City Drift" she stated that she was "thinking mad" in contrasts to Steven's openly emotional display of anger at the teen.
** She shows an icy, stoic version in "Dewey Wins"; when Steven mentions that no one else was hurt apart from Lars being resurrected from the dead, she coldly mentions the emotional pain she felt when they could have teamed up together as Stevonnie instead of Steven taking a lone wolf approach partly because he felt like he was the only one capable of cleaning up after Rose Quartz's mistakes. She walks away with Lion, giving Steven time to think about the effect his hasty decision and broken promise had on her.

* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: {{Implied|Trope}} and {{downplayed|Trope}}. For the former, she shows a more aggressive side in "Sworn to the Sword" so she can better protect Steven; for the latter, her and Steven's relationship is mostly ShipTease and they're just friends. Nevertheless, when they fuse as Stevonnie, they show a different, unique level of emotional closeness without getting physically intimate.

* WeakButSkilled: Connie is a human child, far weaker and more fragile than even the least combat worthy gem. She's made up for this for being extremely fast and agile, and with Rose's Sword (which is a One-Hit Kill weapon on Gems) her lack of strength doesn't matter.
* WellDoneDaughterGirl: A teacher-student example. After beginning to train with Pearl, Connie is always eager to impress her teacher as seen in "Gem Hunt".
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: In "Lion 2: The Movie", Steven considers himself a screw-up and can't see what a nice girl like her would see in him. Likewise, Connie initially considers her life less interesting than Steven's magical destiny, compared to "Dogcopter". She gets a chance to put her tennis skills to new uses, fighting off a killer robot with Steven.

** Connie calls out Steven in "Dewey Wins" for handing himself over to Aquamarine and the Topazes back in "I Am My Mom", stating that it made her think that he didn't believe in them as a team. She also calls him out on him for brushing his loved ones' anguish for his actions.

* WreckedWeapon: [[spoiler:In "Reunited", the Rose Quartz sword is casually shattered by Blue Diamond using only her thumb, index, and middle fingers]].
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: In "Lion 2: The Movie" and "Sworn to the Sword", Connie begins to display the view that as [[WeAreAsMayflies an ordinary human]], she's nothing compared to Steven's legacy and power (a byproduct of learning from Pearl, who unwittingly projects her own self-esteem issues onto Connie). Steven shuts that down right away, reminding her how they work best as a team, and how much he admires her.
* YourSizeMayVary: Her size tends to vary in certain shots. For example, she is usually taller than Steven, but at times she appears to be around the same height as him. In "Cat Fingers", we find out that Steven can shapeshift, and in "Steven's Birthday", he attempts to make himself look taller, and even reverts to a baby, and Connie decides to be friends with Steven and accept him as he is, no matter what his age will be.

* BlueAndOrangeContrast: In [[Recap/StevenUniverseS4E4MindfulEducation "Mindful Education"]], Connie's vision of her problem is tinted blue, and later, Steven's shameful thoughts are tinted orange.

* DeclarationOfProtection: DeconReconSwitch. In "Sworn to the Sword", while she is being taught swordsmanship by Pearl, the older Gem also decided to have Connie believe that in order to protect Steven more efficiently, she would have to think she was nothing in comparison to him and suicidally protect him without regards to her own equally precious life. However, by the end, Steven manages to convince Connie (and Pearl) that they should protect each other as ''partners'' and ''not'' like a "master/servant" type of relationship.

* DivineDate: [[spoiler:She's Steven's ImpliedLoveInterest, and, Steven himself, being the son of a Diamond, is SemiDivine. After all, a certain saying goes as, [[StealthPun "Diamonds are a girl's best friend"]]]].

* DorkKnight: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. While Connie has a long way to go before officially becoming an [[TheAce Ace]], she does have a few of the requirements -- She's exceptionally bright and mature despite her age, is able to pick up swordsmanship relatively easy (something that Pearl complimented her on), and shows a knack for leadership when she reins in both Peridot and Lapis for their immature and destructive behavior. And, she doesn't hide her geeky, lovable side.
* DyingAlone: When she entered into a HeroicBSOD in "Bubble Buddies", she wasn't worried about her actual death, she was more scared about dying without making any other friends or having anyone else besides her parents care about her dying.

* EarlyBirdCameo: She has a prominent appearance in the first opening song when she would not be introduced in the show proper until "Bubble Buddies".
* ElegantClassicalMusician: She can play the violin extremely well and mentioned that it was one of the few things she enjoyed in her life before she was introduced into Steven's magical world.

* EveryoneHasStandards: While she may have ''hated'' the ending to "Spirit Morph Saga", she wasn't going to let it come between her friendship with Steven, who ''did'' like it.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: For most of the series, Connie had waist-length RapunzelHair. However, in "Kevin Party", she is revealed to have cut/had someone cut her hair down to chin-length with bangs. This change happened at some point following [[spoiler:Steven's return from Homeworld in "Lars' Head", and their ensuing fight in "Dewey Wins" over the aftermath of his surrender, which led to an estrangement between them that lasted a few weeks.]]

* EyepatchOfPower: {{Invoked|Trope}}. In her {{cosplay}} of Lisa from the ''Spirit Morph Saga'' series, Connie's outfits consists of an eyepatch over her right eye.

* FatalFlaw: Insecurity. Connie is insecure about her place in Steven's supposed magical destiny and honestly doesn't see why he would want someone as mundane as she in his life. This comes to a head in "Sworn to the Sword" when the insecure Pearl projected her own feelings of insecurities onto Connie, teaching to not care about herself in order to protect the "more important" Steven, thus worsening her already low self-esteem. CharacterDevelopment helps erase this bit by bit.

** To Steven -- As one of the people around Steven's age and his closest friend, she functions as one to him (also doubling as TheLancer). In contrast to Steven's control-free, magical-filled upbringing, Connie grew up in a ''very'' restrictive household and had a normal life. In terms of personality - Steven is [[{{Keet}} energetic]], [[BadLiar not good at lying]], [[ActualPacifist nonviolent in every way]], and has a [[ThePollyanna healthy amount of confidence]]; Connie has proven to be an efficient ConsummateLiar, is usually mellow in comparison to Steven, likes action and adventure more than Steven, and (initially) [[HeroicSelfDeprecation has low self-confidence]].
** To Pearl -- Both are the {{Insecure Love Interest}}s to someone who is a Quartz Gem (Pearl with Rose, Connie with Steven), with said relationships starting because the Quartz Gem [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe showed some form of kindness to them]]. Other similarities include a DarkAndTroubledPast with control playing a factor in it (Pearl's "role" in Homeworld, Connie having overly restrictive parents), having a [[IJustWantToBeSpecial desire to be special]], being knights to the Quartz Gem, skilled in swordsmanship, {{Badass Bookworm}}s/{{Cultured Badass}}es, [[CharacterDevelopment they learn to develop more confidence over time]]. However, while Pearl hides her insecurities with arrogance, Connie is more open about them. And while Pearl thought of Rose as a goddess-like figure and is only coming to terms that Rose wasn't perfect, Connie is aware of Steven's positive and negative qualities right from the start. And on a more subtle note, Pearl teaches Steven about Gem culture but Connie introduces him to human culture.
** To Greg -- Both are the [[TokenHuman human allies of the Crystal Gems]], have an InterspeciesRomance with one of them (Greg with Rose, Connie with Steven), and are insecure about the place they have in a magical world. However, while Greg prefers to not get involved in magic Gem business (unless if the situation calls for it), Connie [[JumpedAtTheCall jumped at the chance]] to go on magical adventures. Also, while the Crystal Gems took a ''long'' time to come to respect and actually be nice to Greg (especially Pearl), it didn't take as long with Connie (Pearl was even happy to be her teacher).
** To Peedee -- They are both mature for their age and have proven to be slightly more cynical in regards to Steven's endless optimism. Peedee is more cynical, while Connie is realistic (not entirely overly optimistic, not completely cynical).
** To Ronaldo -- Both are humans who have [[IJustWantToBeSpecial a desire to be special]] and an interest in the abnormal (Connie with high fantasy/magic, Ronaldo with the paranormal activity). While Ronaldo ''actively'' seeks out a chance to be part of the magical world, he never really gets directly involved in the source (i.e., the Crystal Gems) while Connie never did seek it out, but the magical world opened up to her.
** To Pink Diamond -- Of all people, concerning their relationship with their parental figures. They both tend to be submissive of their respective parents' controlling nature and secretly act out their personal lives out of fear of disappointing them. However, while Connie manages to stand up to her parents and change them for the better, Pink failed to convince Yellow and Blue to let her relinquish her own colony and continues to rebel against them without their knowledge.
* ForgottenFirstMeeting: Downplayed with Steven. He mentions in "Bubble Buddies" that he remembers her from last year's Beach City parade float after she dropped her glowing bracelet, which he found and wanted to return, but she was long gone. Though she initially didn't recognize him, once Steven mentioned the parade she remembers him being on one of the parade floats...with ''soap bubbles'' in his hair.
* FreeRangeChildren: {{Deconstructed|Trope}}. The only reason Connie is able to go on dangerous missions with Steven and the Crystal Gems is because she ''lies'' about where she's going because of her fear of her parents forbidding her from hanging out with Steven if they found out. This comes to a head in "Nightmare Hospital" when both she and her mother discuss their own faults in the relationship (Priyanka and Doug's overly strict attitude and Connie's lying). After the events of the episode, this is reconstructed -- Connie is allowed to on missions as long she keeps her parents informed of her whereabouts and doesn't lie to them anymore.

* GamerChick: Connie might be a gamer, as seen in the short Video Chat, her laptop has ''Colonization V'', a spoof of the real-life video game ''[[{{VideoGame/Civilization}} Civilization V]]'' (the real ''Colonization'' has no sequels). She also has ''Empires & Eras II'' and ''Conqueror Kings II'' which are spoofs of ''[[VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII Age of Empires II]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/CrusaderKings Crusader Kings II]]'', respectively. She also has ''Grid'', a spoof of the popular gaming platform ''[[{{UsefulNotes/Steam}} Steam]]''.

* GenreSavvy: Being a fantasy geek herself, Connie's clearly aware that Steven, not her, is the main character of the story. {{Deconstructed|Trope}}, in that it caused her to develop an inferiority complex, which in turn led her to embrace Pearl's ideas about sacrificing her life for Steven, but Steven defies this trope and insists that Connie fight as his equal. On a lighter note, she demonstrates an expansive understanding of young adult novel tropes.

* TheGlassesComeOff: A unique example. Connie's eyes were improved by Steven's healing spit and only puts them on to not make her parents suspicious, but takes them off during her adventures with Steven. From "Nightmare Hospital" onward she goes without them altogether, having shown her mother that she was only wearing them to fool her.

* GlorySeeker: Wants to something extraordinary in her perceived uninteresting life.

* GuysSmashGirlsShoot: {{Inverted|Trope}} with Steven -- while she uses a {{BFS}}, Steven mainly fights [[SupportPartyMember defensively]] and [[StoneWall supportively]], with his attacks being either magical disabling effects or [[ThrowingYourShieldAlwaysWorks throwing his shield]].

* HeroesPreferSwords: The episode "Sworn to the Sword" is about Pearl teaching her swordfighting, the second opening has her carrying Rose's sword, and after her debut, whenever we see Connie in battle against a supernatural opponent, it's with a sword.
* HeroicAmbidexterity: Connie is shown to be ambidextrous in the episode "Sworn to the Sword". When she is training, she is seen holding her sword with her right hand, which is bandaged up her forearm to her elbow; when she fights Pearl with Steven, she is using her left hand occasionally. (Whether this is due to training or is inherent isn't made clear, and her other appearances show her favoring her right hand.)
* HeroicBSOD:
** Goes through an emotional breakdown in "Bubble Buddies" after Steven's numerous attempts to set them free from his magical bubbles leads to possibly being trapped at the bottom of the ocean.
** In "Mindful Education", when she had accidentally tossed a classmate over her to the floor as reflex out of a simple shoulder bump. Thankfully, Garnet helps her out from her funk.

** A line she gives in "Gem Hunt" reveals she's aware of the natural problems of humans, being not using alternative fuel sources.

** The short "Video Chat" shows that Connie is a GamerChick.
** "Are You My Dad?" has Connie shows her skill in art, as she comes the closest to drawing Steven's description of Aquamarine. Her art style is specifically in the anime style.
* HiddenEyes: In "Bubble Buddies", her glasses [[ScaryShinyGlasses glare over]] seconds before she has a [[HeroicBSOD breakdown]].

* HotLibrarian: {{Downplayed|Trope}} and only applies to the HighSchoolAU promos -- in this alternate universe, Connie appears to be the librarian as she is almost always in the library and at the head desk area. But since she's still a child in the promos, she's more like a ''"cute"'' librarian.
* HumansAreBastards: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Connie doesn’t have any ''malice'' towards humanity, but believes that they are ''already'' heading towards their demise, as lampshaded in "Gem Hunt":
-->'''Connie''': Well, I like to be prepared. When civilization collapses and this world ends, I need to be ready to build the new one.\\
'''Steven''': Yeah, I guess if Homeworld invades Earth, things could get pretty crazy for humanity.\\
'''Connie''': Forget Gems, humans are already starting their own demise! Peak oil, Steven! How do we handle terminal decline without alternate energy sources?!
* HumansAreDiplomats: Informed by WordOfGod. When asked what kind of Gem Connie would be, Rebecca Sugar replied a teal Gem -- green for her fighting and blue for her diplomacy. [[invoked]]

* ICantBelieveAGuyLikeYouWouldNoticeMe: Almost said word-for-word in "Lion 2: The Movie". After Lion takes her and Steven to Rose's armory, Connie expresses doubts that she deserves to be there. And before that, she questioned why Steven, who has such a magic-filled life, would want to be with someone as normal as she.

** Her first outfit she wore in the series -- Short-sleeved t-shirt, blue-green dress with a bow to match, yellow socks, and orange boots.

* IfItTastesBadItMustBeGoodForYou: Her logic for making the pine needle soup for her and Steven in "Gem Hunt" -- it's not exactly the best tasting, but it's healthy and will keep them warm.

* IJustWantToBeLoved: A wholesome example in "Bubble Buddies"; she panics when trapped in Steven's bubble shield underwater, and is worried that only her parents will care about her being missing and DyingAlone. Steven offers to befriend her so she doesn't need to feel alone.
** In "Full Disclosure", she is so distressed at what happened to Steven that she almost breaks into tears when he thinks of discontinuing their friendship, only for Steven to admit he still wants to be friends with her, and she wants to be a part of his universe.
** When he reverts to a baby in "Steven's Birthday", she resolves to be by his side no matter what the age difference, ready to help him at a moment's notice.
** In "I Am My Mom", she is upset at Steven boarding Aquamarine's ship, believing he's the only one who can make things right between the Diamonds.
** When he returns in "Dewey Wins", she is disappointed that Steven gave himself up without a fight when their combined skills as Stevonnie could have been more effective, given their special friendship.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: In "Lion 2: The Movie" she tells Steven she's envious of him and his powers and doesn't understand why he would hang out with someone as uninteresting as she.

* IKnowMaddenKombat: In "Lion 2: The Movie," she uses tennis shots in order to [[CatchAndReturn bounce fireballs back at the berserk robot that launched them]].

* TheImmune: [[spoiler:Blue Diamond's spell of sorrow can only inflict Gems, which Connie can bypass with no problem]]. Unfortunately for her, she is still vastly outmatched by her opponent anyway.

* ImportantHaircut: Cuts/has her long hair cut into a chin-length bob with bangs at some point between "Dewey Wins" and "Kevin Party" which makes her look like she's changed a lot since Steven last saw her.

* InHarmsWay: Despite (or because) of her parents always being concerned with her safety, Connie really enjoys going on adventures with and getting into dangerous situations with Steven. When Steven narrowly manages to shield her from an exploding robot in "Marble Madness", her reaction is positively ecstatic.
-->'''Steven''': Are you OK?\\
'''Connie''': I love hanging out at your place!

* InstantExpert: Under Pearl's tutelage, Connie picks up swordmanship extremely fast. Pearl lampshades Connie's fast progress in "Gem Hunt".
* IntergenerationalFriendship: She comes to form this relationship with Greg -- whenever she feels stressed about Gem life, he'll offer her emotional comfort and advice.

* KidHero: While Connie may not save the world or hunt gem monsters on a daily basis, she's not afraid to do one or the other when it come times to.

* TheLancer: To Steven, as she also acts as a deuteragonist to his protagonist whenever she appears - He is overly honest young man raised in a non-nuclear family and is accustomed to the magical happenings in his life; Connie is more secretive at times when she has to be, raised in a usual nuclear family, and is quite amazed at Steven's magic-filled life.
* LargeHam: Has moments of this, as seen when she used her violin bow to scare off seagulls trying to get Steven's biscuits at the beginning of "Sworn by the Sword".

* TheLeader: Unofficially for The New Crystal Gems (later going by "The Crystal Temps"), as she is the OnlySaneWoman of the bunch.

** "Storm in the Room" shows that Connie can be just as much as a worrywart as her mother.
** "Doug Out" shows that Connie gets her [[{{Adorkable}} dorkiness]], [[LargeHam hamminess]], and even [[IJustWantToBeSpecial insecurity when it comes to comparing herself with others]] from her father.
* LittleMissBadass: In "Sworn To The Sword". You have to give her credit for going toe-to-toe with [[MasterSwordsman Pearl]] when [[BattleCouple she and Steven]] took her on. They both lose, but Pearl's exhausted state afterwards indicates that Connie gave her a bit of hell.
* LivingADoubleLife: After getting more involved with Steven's world, Connie also began hiding it from her parents, fearing that if they knew they would immediately forbid her from being friends with Steven. "Nightmare Hospital" [[{{DeconstructedTrope}} deconstructs]] this lifestyle with Priyanka explaining that Connie hiding things from her and Doug is as wrong as the two of them being overly strict, and that all of them need to be honest with each other.
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: It is subtly hinted that Connie is becoming one for Steven. First, after the events of "The Return/Jailbreak" he tells her about how scared and upset he is concerning the Homeworld Gems and Lapis' Fusion with Jasper; after his retelling of the story, she promises to be this for him when he needs to talk to someone. Second, in "Steven's Birthday", he overuses his stretching powers too much and reverses back to a baby; throughout his time as one, nothing calms him down...except Connie's reassurance to him that she'll be there for him when either his father or the Crystal Gems are busy. Third, when Steven has a catastrophic emotional breakdown over having to repeatedly fight and destroy his enemies in "Mindful Education", it was only Connie's comforting and wise words of it being okay to talk about the bad things he did plus a CooldownHug that calmed him down so they could fuse into Stevonnie
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: The plot of "Full Disclosure" centers on Steven not letting her into the loop about what went down in "The Return[=/=]Jailbreak". It nearly ruins her friendship with Steven, but she eventually gets let in by the episode's end.

* LoveBubbles: With Steven (since she's his ImpliedLoveInterest) in "Bubble Buddies". They spent almost the entire episode stuck in Steven's magical bubble (thanks to PowerIncontinence) and ''a lot'' of their interactions come off as ShipTease, especially since, in the beginning, Steven endearingly behaves like a boy trying to talk to his crush.
* LoveMakesYouStupid: In "Sworn To The Sword", Pearl's training and preying on Connie's desire to protect Steven eventually convinced Connie to sacrifice herself for whatever comes after Steven, similar to how Pearl would sacrifice herself for Rose. The thing is, Pearl can regenerate, Connie cannot, and Steven quickly realizes how detrimental that mindset is for Connie.
* LuminescentBlush: Connie experiences a few throughout the narrative scenes of "An Indirect Kiss", and at the end, when sipping from Steven's juice box, her eyesight is magically healed by Steven's magical saliva which got into the juice box.

* MaleMightFemaleFinesse: Connie's strengths lie in her practiced sword technique, fast attacks, and quick thinking; and while Steven's skills have become more refined, his powers consist of super-human strength, super-human durability, and heavy hits with his shield.

** Connie is friends with Steven ''Universe'' and her last name is Tamil for [[http://www.indiachildnames.com/mobile/name.aspx?name=Maheshwaram "Lord of the Universe."]] In addition, it's one of the names of the god Shiva, who's also known as Cosmic Dancer - considering that she can do a fusion dance with someone born to a human father and his mother was from another planet.
*** This is played for laughs and lampshaded in "Sworn to the Sword" when she starts sword training:
---->'''Pearl''': We begin with a bow, first to me, your teacher. [''Connie bows''] And now again, to your liege.\\
'''Connie''' [''bows to Steven'']: Okay, my liege.\\
'''Steven''': Miss knight.

** "Connie" is also a feminine derivative of "Constance", an alternate form of "Constans", an old Latin name meaning "constant", indicating her willingness to be by Steven's side, as noted in "Full Disclosure", "Sworn to the Sword", and "Steven's Birthday".

!!!'''Voiced by''': Grace Rolek

* ActionGirl: There were a couple instances in Season 1 (fighting the training robot and rescuing Steven from Lapis's tower), but she takes a major spike in badass after beginning to learn sword fighting from Pearl early in Season 2.

* AdrenalineMakeover: In the 1st and 2nd Season intros, at least. In the first season, when she was a bit more shy and awkward, she was shown with a skirt, a short-sleeved shirt, boots, and a big floppy sunhat, carrying what appears to be ''A Wrinkle in Time''. In the revised second season intro, starting with "Sworn to the Sword" (in which Pearl starts training her in swordfighting), she's wearing shorts, a sleeveless polo, sneakers, and no hat; and she's carrying a book under her arm and Rose's sword over her shoulder (which [[WalkingSpoiler unintentionally spoils her receiving the sword]] in "Nightmare Hospital").

* AmbiguousDisorder: In "Alone Together", she shows signs of possibly having social anxiety -- fear of being judged in public, worrying about embarrassing herself, fear that others will notice she's anxious, and the PerformanceAnxiety under her section that contributed to Stevonnie defusing.
** In her "Bubble Buddies" debut, when she's sharing Steven's bubble shield, she worries about DyingAlone without making a friend with only her parents noticing that she's missing and no one else appears to care about her, and then Steven offers to be her friend.
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Averted unlike the some of the other characters who play it straight (like Lars and Jamie). WordOfGod has stated that she's Indian, even though there may have been some speculation from her debut in "Bubble Buddies", until the "Fusion Cuisine" episode, where her last name was revealed to be Maheswaran. [[invoked]]
* TheApprentice: Connie becomes Pearl's swordfighting apprentice in the second season. At first Pearl was also teaching her other, decidedly less healthy lesson (namely that her own life is nothing compared to the one they want to protect), but Steven is able to talk them out of that part.

* BackToBackBadasses: With Steven when they’re not Fused as Stevonnie. They briefly take on Pearl in "Sworn to the Sword", both take out two Gem Mutants together in "Nightmare Hospital", and fend off two corrupted Jaspers in "Gem Hunt".
* BadassAdorable: Connie is a [[{{Adorkable}} dorky]], [[CuteBookworm book-loving]] child around Steven's age. She also has proved to be quite badass when the situation calls for it.

** Lends her tennis skills to help Steven wield a giant sword in "Lion 2: The Movie"; and not only charges into battle against Lapis Lazuli in "Ocean Gem," but afterwards saves Steven from a mile high fall by teleporting up to grab him on Lion's back.
** In "Open Book," her first reaction to seeing Steven harassed by the Connie doppelgänger generated by Rose's room is to start fighting it with her sword.
** Proves to be quite the capable swordswoman, in a relative short amount of time, after learning how to fight from Pearl.

-->'''Steven''': We're a team! She's the strawberry...\\
'''Connie''': ...and he's the biscuit!\\
'''Steven''': And that makes us... Jam!\\
'''Connie''': Buds!
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Ever since she met the Crystal Gems, Connie has wanted to go on their magical adventures with them, getting involved in the action. She gets her wish in "Gem Hunt," but is, [[RealityEnsues understandably]], frozen in shock when she sees a Corrupted Gem for the first time.
* TheBeastmaster: She is actually more prone to riding Lion in combat than Steven, especially after Steven learns to control his floating powers and becomes more mobile around the battlefield. [[spoiler:After Blue Diamond shatters Rose's Sword in "Reunited", Connie switches to directing Lion and attacking with his claws and magic roar.]]
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Connie's friendship with Steven began because he said they could be friends after Connie's emotional breakdown in "Bubble Buddies" from being stuck in the titular bubble and the thought of dying in it without anyone but her parents even noticing.

** Don't underestimate her skills or leave her out of missions to stay behind on Earth when she can offer emotional support; she doesn't take it very well, as noted in "Full Disclosure" and "Dewey Wins".
** In "Full Disclosure", Steven learned that if you have something to say, it's best to tell her directly instead of just hinting and avoiding personal contact by indirect means like cellphone texting and/or voicemails.
* BestFriend: She is not only Steven's ImpliedLoveInterest, but also his best friend, as he clearly states in "Onion Gang".
* BetaCouple: She and Steven have this dynamic when in comparison with Lars and Sadie's relationship. The ''[[AllThereInTheManual Steven Universe: Art & Origins]]'' described Steven and Connie's romance as a "[[PuppyLove pure and innocent love"]] while the romance between Lars and Sadie is more "[[BelligerentSexualTension teenaged-ridden, angst]]". In the case of himself and Connie it's more along the lines of two people who understand each other perfectly. They just "get" each other. ... Though it must be said, Steven ''still'' does things now and again that defy logic to her.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Connie is usually a polite, reserved, and friendly person. However, she is strong enough (and later skilled enough) to wield a {{BFS}} and can become ''significantly'' angered when she loses her temper, just ask her mother in "Nightmare Hospital", or Peridot and Lapis in "The New Crystal Gems".

* BeYourself: Tells Peridot and Lapis this at the end of "The New Crystal Gems".
-->'''Connie''': It's impossible trying to solve problems if we are just trying to copy other people. What's the point of this? We'll never be the Crystal Gems. We are just the Crystal Temps. But we have our own way of doing things. So let's go back to that to fix this mess we made.
* {{BFS}}: The second opening shows her with Rose's sword, which is a normal-sized sword... For the 8-ft tall StatuesqueStunner Rose Quartz. She finally starts using it in "Nightmare Hospital", with it becoming her standard weapon when she goes into action. [[spoiler:This sword is destroyed by Blue Diamond, and replaced by Bismuth with a sword more properly proportioned for her height.]]

* BigNo: Let's one out when [[spoiler:Steven gets his gem forcibly removed by White Diamond]].

-->'''Dr. Maheswaran''': What, your eyesight just "magically" got better?\\
'''Connie''': YES!
* BirdsOfAFeather: With Pearl - Both are intelligent, have an attention to detail, and have a tendency to be overly hard on themselves in the face of perceived failure.

* BlindWithoutEm: She couldn't see well without her glasses, and when Steven tries them on, it's clear that they're quite strong... at least until "An Indirect Kiss" where getting an IndirectKiss from Steven through sharing his juice, Steven's healing spit cured her eyesight.

* BlueAndOrangeContrast: In "Mindful Education", Connie's vision of her problem is tinted blue, and later, Steven's shameful thoughts are tinted orange.

* BluntYes: Combined with a BigYes in "Nightmare Hospital", when Connie reveals to her mother that her glasses no longer have lenses because her vision has been restored (by Steven, in "An Indirect Kiss"). See the BigYes section for the dialogue.

* BollywoodNerd: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. She's not as stereotypical as most examples, but she is still nerdy. Connie is Indian-American and "Buddy's Book" shows both Connie's studiousness and independence in that she originally goes to the library with Steven to study and prepare for the upcoming school year, only to instantly halt her studies when Steven shows her Buddy's journal.

** When she has to work with Lapis and Peridot in "The New Crystal Gems", Connie makes the wise decision that the trio should stop trying to be like the original Crystal Gems and handle things their own way [[BeYourself as themselves]].
* BoyishShortHair: She's a TomboyWithAGirlyStreak and as of "Kevin Party", had her waist-length RapunzelHair cut into a chin-length bob with bangs.

* BreakTheCutie: In "Full Disclosure", after Steven, who had just managed to escape Jasper's ship, left a panicky message on Connie's home phone , which made Connie worry about Steven's safety. After a few more elusive voice messages and texts suggesting that they should break up, a tearful and upset Connie dares Steven to break up with her in person on a face-to-face basis; {{subverted}} when Steven reconciles with her and decides to continue being friends with Connie:
-->'''Connie''': Steven, I know you're here! Why are you hiding from me? [''Steven sends her a text saying "I don't want to be friends anymore." '']\\
'''Connie''': Steven?\\
'''Steven''' [''over the phone'']: I can't be with you anymore, I have a destiny.\\
'''Connie''' [''tearfully'']: Say it to my face! Say you don't want to be friends anymore! If you can do that - If you can do that, I'll leave you alone. And I'll just go back to having no friends. But I won't believe it until you say it to my face! [''Steven climbs down and agrees to talk to Connie in person'']\\
'''Connie''': Well?\\
'''Steven''' [''tearfully'']: I still wanna be friends!
* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: {{Downplayed|Trope}} with Steven -- While he still remains ThePollyanna NiceGuy who is open about his emotions, he has a habit of not talking about the fear he feels of what could happen if he doesn't become what the Crystal Gems expect him to be or [[spoiler:the intense guilt he feels over not successfully helping Bismuth, Jasper, or Eyeball.]] At both times Connie has been the one he opens up to about said feelings and trauma, while she provides him with needed emotional support.
* BrutalHonesty: When it doesn't involve lying to her parents about her secret life (which was resolved in "Nightmare Hospital"), Connie prefers to get to the point whenever possible.
* ButIReadABookAboutIt: {{Averted|Trope}}, the knowledge she gained from reading a survival help book proves entirely useful in "Gem Hunt".
* CallingTheOldWomanOut: Gives her mom an ''epic'' calling out at the climax of "Nightmare Hospital," right in the middle of being attacked by gem mutants.

** Starting out shy and nervous around others at the beginning of the series, Connie slowly grows to become more independent and self-confident, standing up to others and participating in Steven's Gem life when she can. "Mindful Education" further highlights her growth and confidence when she tells Steven how she instinctively attacked a schoolmate who bumped into her, and later how she apologized to him, made friends with him and took a selfie with him, something the Connie in the beginning of the series would have never done.
** Subtle, but the way Connie manages her anxiety has improved. Before, her anxiety would consume her until she finally couldn't handle it (i.e., "Alone Together", "Mindful Education", etc). But after the latter episode, Connie learns it's better to express her fears instead of holding them in.
** Connie's relationship with her parents has significantly improved. In the beginning, Connie would lie to her parents out of fear that they would forbid her from being friends with Steven. After the events of "Nightmare Hospital", Priyanka promises to become more open-minded as long as Connie would stop the lying.
** [[RealityEnsues As to be expected]], when Connie went on her first Gem mission in "Gem Hunt" she froze up when dealing with a Corrupted Gem because up until then she always Steven as a partner and only dealt with Pearl's clones or mindless force-fused Gems. She gets better at reacting appropriately in "I Am My Mom" when she fights off [[spoiler:Topaz and Topaz, especially when Steven becomes distracted.]]
** Subtle, but Connie tended to emulate a "better" version of herself in hopes of being more special (i.e., "Sworn to the Sword", "The New Crystal Gems") but after the latter episode, Connie concludes that she should just [[BeYourself be herself]] instead of trying to be a fake version of herself or someone else.

* ChekhovsGun: Her glow bracelet, which first appears in "Gem Glow", is essential in distracting the worm monster in "Bubble Buddies", her debut episode.
* ChekhovsGunman: Had a prominent appearance in the first opening, but doesn't appear until the seventh episode, "Bubble Buddies".
* ChekhovsSkill: Swordsmanship, mentioned in "Steven the Sword Fighter", becomes an essential part of accompanying Steven and the Gems on missions, starting with Pearl training her in "Sworn to the Sword".
** In "Lion 2: The Movie", she says that the most interesting thing in her life [to that point] is tennis practice. Later on, after Lion takes them to Rose's armory, and they're confronted by a robot from Rose's armory, she uses her tennis moves to take on the robot shooty thing.
* ChildProdigy: Connie is very intelligent for her age, knowing a lot about boats, reading a variety of books (she enjoys reading fantasy novels like ''The Spirit Morph Saga'' and ''Literature/AWrinkleInTime'', but also non-fiction books for fact), having proficiency in tennis, violin playing, and sword fighting (the latter of which even Pearl, a master swordsman, was impressed with how quickly she picked it up), having an extensive vocabulary, and even managing to find loopholes in her parents' many rules. In "Gem Hunt", she is shown to be prepared and intelligent when it comes to surviving in the wilderness, thanks to reading a book about the subject.
* ChildSoldier: Was on her way to becoming something like the bodyguard version of this for Steven while training with Pearl in "Sworn to the Sword". Thankfully Steven snaps her out of it.
* TheChosenWannabe: Connie envies Steven's supposed "magical destiny" and wants to have one of her own, as seen with her interest in fantasy stories like "The Spirit Morph Saga".

* CloudcuckoolandersMinder: To Steven, especially in the early seasons. She would often object to some of crazy and ill-thought out ideas.

* ConsummateLiar: If "Nightmare Hospital" is any indication, Connie is pretty good at lying under pressure, [[StrictParentsMakeSneakyKids mostly because her parents are too strict to be honest with]]. This gets {{deconstructed|Trope}} in the same episode, as lying is ''still'' lying and it only serves to hamper her already strained relationship with her mother, who reconciles and asks her to be more honest with her, and her mother agrees to be more open-minded about Steven and issues involving the Gems.
* ConversationalTroping: Goes into a rant about consumerist mass-market appeal, ClicheStorm fantasy tropes, ExecutiveMeddling, and invokes FixFic and FanonDiscontinuity in regards to the Spirit Morph Saga. [[invoked]]
* CooldownHug: Gave this to Steven in "Full Disclosure" and "Mindful Education" when he was going through an emotionally stressful situation.

** After [[spoiler:Blue Diamond shattered Rose's Sword in ''Reunited'']], Bismuth has [[spoiler:forges her a new one that somewhat resembles He-Man's Power Sword and better proportioned to her]].
* {{Cosplay}}: Dresses up as Lisa from the ''Spirit Morph Saga'' in "Open Book".
* CrazyPrepared: Whether it is sneaking snacks into a movie theater, getting a head start on her schoolwork, or even being a CrazySurvivalist, Connie will most likely be prepared for it.
* CrazySurvivalist: Connie is shown to have very impressive survival skills in "Gem Hunt", thanks to reading a book 20 times all about it. Thanks to her book, she has adapted these skills and because of this, she was perfectly able to locate a spot to hide from the Gem Monsters, and she was able to make a very healthy, vitamin C-rich tea out of pine needles.

* DaddysGirl: {{Zigzagged|Trope}}. In the beginning, Connie had a strained relationship with Doug to the same extent as Priyanaka because both of them having a similar overprotective, controlling nature, except Connie's strained relationship with her mother was given slightly more emphasis. But even before Doug's CharacterDevelopment with his wife, he was shown to be very protective of his daughter, and they have a good relationship by the time of "Doug Out".
* DarkAndTroubledPast: She virtually had no friends because of her parents constantly moving around and wasn't allowed to enjoy life because her parents deemed "safety" more important, both of them unintentionally becoming AbusiveParents to her. She also gained many insecurities that makes her think she has a "boring" life.

** "Sworn to the Sword" focuses on her learning swordsmanship from Pearl, along with a few other less healthy ideas.
** "Nightmare Hospital" has her share the spotlight with her mother and their relationship.
** And while "The New Crystal Gems" is this for Connie, Lapis, and Peridot, she's the viewpoint character and protagonist of the episode.
* DeadpanSnarker: Rare, but she has her moments of being deadpan, such as when she jokes about cutting off Steven's hand in "Lion 2: The Movie" and in that same instance quickly understands that by poking/tickling Steven she could provoke a reaction from Rose's Secret Armory.

[[Characters/StevenUniverseCrystalGems Crystal Gems]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseStevenQuartzUniverse Steven Quartz Universe]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGarnet Garnet]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseAmethyst Amethyst]] | [[Characters/StevenUniversePearl Pearl]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseRoseQuartz Rose Quartz]] | '''Connie Maheswaran''' | [[Characters/StevenUniversePeridot Peridot]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseLapisLazuli Lapis Lazuli]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGemFusions Gem Fusions]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseHomeworldGems Homeworld Gems]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseDiamondAuthority Diamond Authority]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseYellowDiamond Yellow Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseBlueDiamond Blue Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniversePinkDiamond Pink Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseWhiteDiamond White Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseYellowDiamondsCourt Yellow Diamond's Court]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseJasper Jasper]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseOffColors Off Colors]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGemMonsters Gem Monsters]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseHumans Humans]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGregUniverse Greg Universe]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseLarsBarriga Lars Barriga]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseOtherThreats Other Threats]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseS1E33GarnetsUniverse Garnet's Universe]]]]]]-]

* PerformanceAnxiety: In "Alone Together" she admits to Steven that despite wanting to go to a few of her school dances, the idea of so many eyes on her made her too anxious. With some help from Steven, she opens up to the idea. At the end of the episode, after they defuse out of Stevonnie, she's seen laughing and smiling with Steven as everyone stares.
* PinkGirlBlueBoy: {{Inverted|Trope}}. Connie's associated colors are blue (teal specifically) and some of her casual clothes are orange, while Steven's associated colors are pink. She later wields Rose's sword and scabbard, which are pink. In "The New Crystal Gems", she wears one of Steven's spare T-shirts.

** She shows an icy, stoic version in "Dewey Wins"; when Steven mentions that no one else was hurt apart from Lars being resurrected from the dead, she coldly mentions the emotional pain she felt when they could have teamed up together as Stevonnie instead of Steven taking a lone wolf approach partly because he felt like he was the only one capable of cleaning up after Rose Quartz's mistakes. She walks away with Lion, giving Steven time to think about the effect his hasty decision had on her.

* PinkGirlBlueBoy: {{Inverted|Trope}}. Connie's associated colors are blue (teal specifically), while Steven's associated colors are pink.

** In "Full Disclosure", she is so distressed at what happened to Steven that she almost breaks into tears, only for Steven to admit he still wants to be friends with her, and she wants to be a part of his universe.

* TheMillstone: {{Averted|Trope}}. In "The New Crystal Gems", both Lapis and Peridot ''think'' Connie will be this with the former being the most skeptical of her help. But, it turns that Connie's level-headedness and leadership skills are the key when dealing the immature, destructive nature of the other two.

* UptightLovesWild: A puppy love version. Connie's parents are very strict, overprotective and concerned over their daughter's education being the best, with little space left for imagination, even disallowing a medical TV show for being too unrealistic. Steven is a energetic, jovial boy that loves to daydream, lives with sentient rocks with superpowers who defend the planet from monsters and are very hands-off and open minded towards him.
* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: {{Implied|Trope}} and {{downplayed|Trope}}. For the former, she shows a more aggressive side in "Sworn to the Sword" so she can better protect Steven; for the latter, her and Steven's relationship is mostly ShipTease and they're just friends.

* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Steven considers himself a screw-up and can't see what a nice girl like her would see in him.

* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: In "Sworn to the Sword", Connie begins to display the view that as [[WeAreAsMayflies an ordinary human]], she's nothing compared to Steven's legacy and power (a byproduct of learning from Pearl, who unwittingly projects her own self-esteem issues onto Connie). Steven shuts that down right away, reminding her how they work best as a team, and how much he admires her.

[[center: [-[[Characters/StevenUniverse Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseCrystalGems Crystal Gems]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseStevenQuartzUniverse Steven Quartz Universe]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGarnet Garnet]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseAmethyst Amethyst]] | [[Characters/StevenUniversePearl Pearl]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseRoseQuartz Rose Quartz]] | '''Connie Maheswaran''' | [[Characters/StevenUniversePeridot Peridot]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseLapisLazuli Lapis Lazuli]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGemFusions Gem Fusions]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseHomeworldGems Homeworld Gems]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseDiamondAuthority Diamond Authority]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseYellowDiamond Yellow Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseBlueDiamond Blue Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniversePinkDiamond Pink Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseWhiteDiamond White Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseYellowDiamondsCourt Yellow Diamond's Court]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseJasper Jasper]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseOffColors Off Colors]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGemMonsters Gem Monsters]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseHumans Humans]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGregUniverse Greg Universe]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseLarsBarriga Lars Barriga]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseOtherThreats Other Threats]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseS1E33GarnetsUniverse Garnet's Universe]]]]-]

* AllAsiansKnowMartialArts: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Connie's main fighting style is swordsmanship, but "Mindful Education" shows that she has some teaching in hand-to-hand combat because she regrets misusing it on a classmate from her school.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here for her appearance in Season 1]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/connie_maheswaran_season_1.png[[/labelnote]]]]

* ClassicalAntiHero: Connie's main hindrance is her lack of self confidence.

* RebelliousSpirit: {{Justified|Trope}} and {{downplayed|Trope}}. For the former, she grew up with overly strict and controlling parents which gave her a desire to have some freedom in her life. For the latter, Connie ''is'' a law-abiding person who has nor problem with following orders or laws, she just doesn't like oppressive ruling.