History StevenUniverse / TropesNToR

** A surprising number of Ronaldo's crazy theories turn out to be oddly close to the truth. Jasper's hand-ship may not be "coming to abduct humans for a human zoo"

** In "Off Colors," [[spoiler: Lars dies. However, Steven is able to bring him back to life with his healing tears.]] Throughout the episode, the characters do not use the words "die" or "death" at all, instead opting for phrases like "away from life." However, in "Lars of the Stars", Lars ''does'' say "Does [Sadie] even know [[spoiler:I died out here]]!?" referring to [[spoiler:his]] death.

** [[ExploitedTrope Exploited]] by Lars who takes advantage of Emerald's desire to capture them [[spoiler: without hurting her ship]] to escape.

** [[spoiler: Apparently the last time Yellow Diamond's Ruby Squad failed to double check an area, ''something'' happened. However none of them elaborate on exactly what it was, but apparently it was both comedic and memorable (which is saying a lot since the Ruby squad aren't known for their memory at all).]]

* NotNowWereTooBusyCryingOverYou: After [[spoiler: Steven's return from Homeworld]], Pearl holds a short, panicked monologue.
-->'''Pearl:''' We'll ''never'' get that [[spoiler: dropship to fly]] and we're losing time! Who knows what they're doing to [[spoiler: Steven]]?! Hi [[spoiler: Steven]]. WHAT ARE WE GOING TO D- ''(cuts herself off as she finally registers [[spoiler: Steven's return]])''

* OddlySmallOrganization: The Big Donut's only known employees are Sadie and Lars, who work there every day, all day, and more or less run the entire place by themselves. A manager or owner has yet to be seen. [[spoiler: By Season 5 the Big Donut has lost all its employees -- Lars is having adventures off in space, while Sadie quits since she's utterly miserable working by herself without Lars. It's minor plot point the story actually closes without anybody to work there. Garnet works there briefly on a whim, before Ex-Mayor Dewey gets a job, running it by himself.]]

** Although episodes getting shifted around messed with this, each season has a WholeEpisodeFlashback about Greg and Rose's relationship [[spoiler: and later, about Greg and the Gems adjusting to Steven]]. Greg lampshades in "Greg the Babysitter" that he ends up singing a song each time too.

* PreMortemOneLiner: From the end of "Super Watermelon Island", before defeating [[spoiler: Malachite]]:
-->'''[[spoiler: Alexandrite]]''': You two should spend some time apart.

* RegionalRedecoration: It's not yet confirmed if the major geographic divergences in ''Steven Universe'' are due to [[spoiler: the Gems' alien interference and advanced terraforming technology]], but it's been heavily implied. These changes include: Florida being an island; Australia divided by a winding trench; a large chunk of western Africa seemingly moved across the Atlantic and stuck onto South America with an island chain between them; and Russia being largely replaced by a massive sea. [[spoiler: Gem activity has also been shown to have created large swathes of rugged, infertile terrain in the process of incubating new Gem soldiers.]]

* TheReveal: After all of Season 5 hyped up the question of what happened to [[spoiler: Pink Diamond]], we finally get an answer. [[spoiler: Initially, it seemed like Pearl shape-shifted into Rose and shattered Pink, but then we see a bit further in and realize that Rose Quartz was actually Pink Diamond all along. Which by extension, means that Steven is the reincarnation of Pink Diamond herself.]]

* OffModel: This happens in the show very often and Ian Jones-Quartey has actually stated that [[http://ianjq.tumblr.com/post/113622786144/re-watching-the-scene-when-jasper-and-lapis-fuse the show creators are aware of this]] and [[http://ianjq.tumblr.com/post/82410447959/steven-expressions-episodes-1-10-su-is-never make no apologies about doing so]], because cartoons are meant to be fluid, expressive and funny. After the first half of season one, this was dialed back significantly, but as the former post can attest, it still happens in minor variations in many places.

* NatureVersusTechnology: A RuleOfSymbolism example can be gleamed in the conflict between the [[Characters/StevenUniverseCrystalGems Crystal Gems]] and the [[Characters/StevenUniverseDiamondAuthority Diamond Authority]].
** The Gem Homeworld is itself a hollowed out planet devoid of any life outside of gems themselves, all structures being buildings and technology that, while beautiful, is also cold and lifeless. Gems are an artificially propagated race that live under a StandardEvilEmpireHierarchy and are expecting to act out their purpose and nothing else despite their own capacity to feel and want just like anybody else. [[spoiler:Notably in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'', long after the Diamonds and Homeworld adopt the Crystal Gem's philosophy, plant-life is shown to propagate on the planet's surface.]]
** The Crystal Gems are gems who rebelled against Homeworld when their leader and founder -- Rose Quartz -- saw Earth in its natural state and was inspired by it to rebel against TheEmpire. While much smaller and number and technologically inferior to Homeworld's forces, the Crystal Gems are less bogged down by the inherent limitations that Homeworld is obedient to (allowing gems to learn against their intended purpose and freedom to practice fusion) and they are more accepting of Earth's thriving ecosystem. This can be best gleamed from their leader and founder Rose Quartz, who has GreenThumb and healing abilities.

** [[spoiler:And perhaps the biggest, most StatusQuo destroying reveal of them all: Rose Quartz and Pink Diamond were ''the same person'' the entire time, which essentially changes the ''entire'' series completely and utterly. It also means that Steven is a half-''Diamond'', not a half-Quartz.]]

* RantInducingSlight: In "What's Your Problem" Steven and Amethyst decide to take a lunch break at Fish Stew Pizza. The conversation starts out calmly, until Steven asks how Garnet feels, and Amethyst loses her cool:
-->'''Amethyst''': [''slams her hands down on the table in frustration at the mention of Garnet'']: But what about you?! She's your mom! You were always under all this pressure to be like her! But... Was she even like her? Was anyone ever like her? She was supposed to be so great! She was supposed to know everything... And... ugh... She was supposed to make everything better! It's not fair! We shouldn't have to deal with any of this, we shouldn't have to fix any of this, we weren't around for a stupid war! [[NotYourProblem This... This is everyone else's problem... This has nothing to do with me... And you! This has nothing to do with you!]]\\
'''Steven''': Amethyst... Hold on a second... Are you okay?\\
'''Amethyst''': [[{{Angrish}} No! I mean... Yes! Of course, I'm okay!]] Ugh... I'm trying to find out how ''you'' feel about all this! Ugh! She... Your mom, okay? Doesn't really affect me.

* RapunzelHair: Amethyst, Greg, Rose Quartz, and Jasper all have this. What's left of Greg's hair goes to the backs of his legs (it was floor length when he was younger i.e. shorter). Amethyst made her hair floor-length apparently to match Greg since she was seen fawning over it when they first met. Rose Quartz has extremely thick, luscious hair styled in thick RegalRinglets that go down to the backs of her legs, and it would probably be even longer if it were straight. Jasper's hair looks similar to Amethyst's and also goes to her knees.

* OhMyGods: Gems say "Oh my stars", suggesting astrolatry (worship of stars or other celestial bodies) as part of the Gem religion (as a [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Watsonian explanation]], at least).

* OhMyGods: Gems say "Oh my stars", suggesting astrolatry (worship of stars or other celestial bodies) as part of the Gem religion (as a Watsonian explanation, at least).

* RuleOfSymbolism: The series often uses motifs from Hinduism, such as the multiple arms seen in the Gems' temple statue and fused Gems (including Opal and Sugilite). [[http://stevencrewniverse.tumblr.com/post/78156709869/from-storyboard-artist-joe-johnston-some Opal was also originally planned]] to form [[NonNaziSwastika a clockwise swastika symbol]] with her hands when summoning her bow, a symbol associated with Vishnu. Sugilite, with her four arms, scary-looking fangs and BloodKnight personality, strongly resembles the Hindu goddess [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali Kali]] (who is associated with the counterclockwise swastika).

* NotSoEpisodic: The series starts off with the simple, goofy one-episode conflicts typical of children's shows, but steadily drops hints about the Crystal Gems' backstory and the nature of their kind. Then at the end of the first season it's revealed that [[spoiler: there are other gems who have sinister plots regarding the Earth]]. Now there's rarely an episode that doesn't contribute in some way to the [[spoiler: Homeworld Gems]] storyline or someone's CharacterDevelopment, [[BreatherEpisode though there are still a few]].
* ObfuscatingStupidity: [[spoiler: Navy of Ruby Squad demonstrates that in spite of how she acted in the past, she's much more competent and manipulative than she lets on.]]

*** The show established pretty early that Garnet is miles ahead Pearl and Amethyst in terms of power. However, the source of Garnet's strength and power is being a fusion. Compared to other two-Gem fusions like Opal or especially Malachite, Garnet comes out as rather unimpressive instead, and might as well be the weakest fusion shown so far, not counting Stevonnie. Her components, Ruby and Sapphire, don't look to be very strong on their own either (as stated above, Ruby is a literal RedShirt, while Sapphire is a {{seer}} with little combat ability).

** On Earth, the Crystal Gems are nigh-immortal magical warriors with [[MagiTek advanced technology and magical artifacts]], all of which is completely standard for their society. Standard for six thousand years ago, that is, and wildly obsolete by the standards of modern Gems. The Crystal Gems are also on the weak side of average when it comes to physical power (as the only remaining members consist of a [[ServantRace glorified servant]], a defective warrior, and, while powerful in her own right, a [[FusionDance fusion]] whose component parts are an average {{Mook}} and {{Seer}}), compared to proper warriors from the Homeworld.

* RealityEnsues: [[RealityEnsues/StevenUniverse Has its own page]].

* PortalDoor: The door at the Gem monument leads to the Gem temple, and opens to specific areas depending on which Gem activates it.