The Great Diamond Authority

Unmarked spoilers up to season five (including trope names) ahead.

In General

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/great_diamond_authority.png

Peridot: The Diamonds are the Gem Matriarchs! Together, they make up the Great Diamond Authority that governs Homeworld and all the outlying colonies! We live to serve them!
Garnet: Ahem!
Peridot: I mean, we were all made to serve them, even though some of us don't anymore.

A particular group of distinguished Gems that command everything on Homeworld and other Gem-controlled planets. They consist of Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond, Pink Diamond, and White Diamond.

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A-C

Abusive Parents:
- While it is impossible for Gems to have familial ties in the biological sense because of their Bizarre Alien Reproduction, the Diamonds are mother figures towards their subjects — not that they don't view them as expendable and shatter them for the slightest sign of disloyalty.
- Each Diamond represents and uses a different form of abuse: Yellow Diamond inflicts physical abuse, Blue Diamond inflicts emotional abuse, and White Diamond inflicts psychological abuse. Pink Diamond can also be said to represent abandonment in how she inflicted grief upon others by abandoning those who cared about her like her son, Steven, especially as more details about her are revealed.
- During the "Diamond Days" arc in season five, Pink Diamond's past with the other Diamonds is fully revealed. Though they did love her, the Diamonds had no problem locking Pink up for days on end when she didn't conform to their standards, and apparently made her cry multiple times throughout her early life. When her son, Steven, experiences the same abuse, he stands up for her and calls them out on learning nothing from their behavior, pointing out that it's the reason why she betrayed them as Rose Quartz in the first place.
  Steven: Maybe Pink thought you guys were right to lock her in here when she messed stuff up. But I know what it's like to have a loving family, and we don't do stuff like this to each other. [...]
  Blue Diamond: That's enough! [throws energy blast that sends him across the room]
  Steven: ...This isn't normal. How many times did you lock her in here? How many times did you make her cry?
  Blue Diamond: [stammering] I didn't, I... and I'm doing it again, aren't I? And this is why [Pink] left, isn't it?
All Take and No Give: Downplayed. With the Homeworld Gems, they were made to serve them without question, but no matter how much Undying Loyalty they display for the Diamonds, they are still expendable and will be executed if they even slightly fall out of line, though they do get rewarded for completing missions sometimes. It's also the source of the Diamonds' dysfunctional relationship. Despite everything Yellow and Blue did for White's approval, White barely acknowledges their accomplishments and still regards Pink as her favorite, leading both of them (especially Yellow) to resent the youngest Diamond. And despite Pink doing everything to bring them together, they still dismiss her authority and frequently punish her for not being a Diamond enough, only giving her a colony so she'd stop whining. Eventually, taking her planet away from her because she wouldn't complete the colonization caused her to snap and betray them, as she concluded that they only loved her for their own selfish purposes.
Antagonist Abilities: They all have powers that can easily neutralize other Gems without even allowing them to fight back. Blue can immobilize anyone using her psychic aura, Yellow has an Agony Beam that can instantly overload the target with pain and destroy their physical form, Steven/Pink can enter the minds of other beings and forcibly take control of their bodies, along with a scream that can shatter walls and crack certain parts of a Gem's physical form, and White has Eye Beams that can assimilate a Gem's mind allowing her to control their bodies and project her powers through them. When all of the Diamonds combine their powers they unleash a Fantastic Nuke that can annihilate all Gem life from a planet, and even when one of the Diamonds was missing they were still able to corrupt every gem on Earth. As of "Steven Universe: Future", the Diamonds no longer do this, as they've have time to go through their own self-exploration now that they're no longer the rulers of the Gem Homeworld, and have developed new abilites that contrast their original powers.
Anti-Villain: The Woobie Type for Blue and Pink Diamond and The Well-Intentioned Extremist Type for Yellow and White Diamond. In their initial debut, the Diamonds are portrayed as the tyrannical matriarchs of Homeworld, creating Gems for their empire and treating them as disposable commodities, with the Crystal Gems hating them so much, many of them, such as Garnet and Bismuth, wanted to shatter them, believing that their ultimate goal was to shatter the Diamonds in order to liberate all of Gemkind. As the series goes on, the Diamonds, especially Blue and Yellow, are revealed to have understandable intentions, despite all the harm they're doing. Simply put, they simply view themselves as doing what they're supposed to be doing as the leaders of Homeworld and the Gem Empire, nothing more, which is much more profound and ultimately proven in "Change Your Mind".
Arc Symbol: It's their motif; the Homeworld Gems being associated with diamond patterns as opposed to the five-pointed star that the Crystal Gems are associated with.
Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Pink Diamond was about twelve feet tall. Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond are between thirty and fifty. White Diamond is even bigger, with the heels of shoes looking like marble columns and Blue and Yellow's hands being only slightly longer than her palms.
The Atoner: "Homeworld Bound" reveals that after disbanding their empire, they've dedicated their lives to doing everything in their power to fix the damage they've done to other Gems, even managing to develop new powers that contrast their original powers, healing and helping Gems instead of hurting them as a means to enforce their rule and control over them.
Authority Equals Asskicking: The highest authorities of the Homeworld Gems, and their biggest and most powerful fighters. To put in perspective, it took the combined effort of the entire team, including Lapis just to bring Blue Diamond to her knees. When Yellow Diamond entered the fray, the battle quickly became a Curb-Stomp Battle and would probably have ended in total annihilation had Steven not managed to reach out to them. Pink Diamond was strong enough to apparently fend off Garnet, Pearl, Bismuth, and two other Crystal Gems while merely pretending to fight. And White Diamond was so powerful that actually fighting her was such a non-starter that she had to be talked into submission instead.
Bad Boss: Blue and Yellow both have elements of this, although they're far more prominent with Yellow. This has really bit them in the butt, since all of the known Crystal Gems save Pearl and Garnet (and it's implied that Amethyst would have been mistreated for being "defective") defected partially because of their mistreatment, and the reason Holly Blue Agate didn't report that the Crystal Gems had shown up and rescued Greg was because she knew what the Diamonds' reaction to her failure would be. "Change Your Mind" has Blue realize just how unfair her and the other Diamonds' treatment of their subjects is.
Battle Aura: Each of them has a unique one when they use their primary power: Yellow's is electric-like, Blue's flows like water, and White's is light based. These auras are so unique to them that they can instantly recognize each other's. Pink has a rippling pink one with flower-like patterns in it. Steven managing to use this power finally convinces the other Diamonds that he really does have Pink's gem.
Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: Of the three remaining, White Diamond (Brains) is the literal head of Homeworld monarchy and has her gemstone on her forehead, Blue Diamond (Beauty) is traditionally feminine which is something her beautiful features represent, and Yellow Diamond (Brawn) is in control of Homeworld's military and has a tendency of using her lightning-based powers to fight.
Beauty Is Bad: The Diamonds are very beautiful, but also Ax-Crazy, uncaring, and very petty. They also all happen to be designed with full lips.
Became Their Own Antithesis: For eons, the Diamonds have been cold, ruthless beings and Planet Looters who opposed the idea of individuality within their subjects, especially cross-Gem fusion. However, as of "Change Your Mind" and the Movie, the Diamonds have dismantled the Gem Empire, restored the planets they've colonized, and given their subjects more access to individuality, including the legalization of cross-Gem fusion.
Being Evil Sucks: All the Diamonds turn out to have repressing their dissatisfaction with their own society in order to live up to White's standards — even White herself to some degree.
Benevolent Boss: Interestingly enough, despite their usual tendencies towards most Gems, they are fairly nice to their Pearls. Yellow Diamond speaks politely to Yellow Pearl and allows her to work meaningfully as a secretary, and Blue Diamond trusts her Pearl enough to take her on her trips to Earth, which she doesn't want even Yellow Diamond to know about. Pink Diamond saw both her first and second Pearls as close friends and confidants — even having romantic tension with the second, who fought alongside her in the war and was trusted enough for Pink to ask her for help when faking her shattering (not ordered; asked). Pink even gave her second Pearl freedom of choice over whether to continue following her Diamond into war and eventual self-imposed exile on Earth, or side with and eventually return to Homeworld.
Berserk Button: As would be expected for beings that created a species to make a galaxy-spanning empire, they have no tolerance for any insubordination and disrespect. And that extends to the Diamonds themselves; Pink was constantly at odds with the others because of her desire to act in ways beyond her station, like treating lesser Gems with respect and decency.
Big Bad Duumvirate: They are collectively the leaders of Homeworld and the main antagonists of the original series. While there's actually four of them, only two are currently active: Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond. Pink Diamond faked her own death during the Rebellion, and White Diamond hasn't left Homeworld (and seemingly her ship) in eons.
Bodyguarding a Badass: It turns out that despite having the armies of Gems at their beck and call for protection, the most dangerous singular members of Homeworld are in fact the Diamonds themselves. Blue alone is more than capable of taking on the entirety of the Crystal Gems and standing a good chance of winning, Yellow can casually poof a Gem as strong as Lapis with just one direct shot, Pink was able to take on Homeworld's best soldiers in her guise as Rose Quartz and come out victorious, and White uses light as a form of mind control to possess people and use them like puppets to speak through and channel her powers.
Breaking the Cycle of Bad Parenting: White, Yellow, and Blue Diamond were rarely anything but abusive to their subjects, and didn't treat Pink Diamond much better. Considering Pink Diamond was close to a Universally Beloved Leader either as herself or Rose Quartz, and how (albeit posthumously) Steven was never abused by the Gems or Greg, it's clear she stopped it, though if her treatment towards Pink Pearl and Spinel is any indication, she averted this trope at first.
Broken Ace: In general, all of the other Gems view the Great Diamond Authority as godly, omnipotent figures, and do not dare to defy their orders. But...:
- Yellow Diamond, the first member introduced, is a Lady of War who has conquered more planets than any other Gem, has lightning powers that can instantly incapacitate any rebel and is generally considered the greatest warrior in the universe. However, she's also dealt with the loss of her younger fellow Diamond Pink by repressing all of her emotions and trying to eradicate everything that Pink ever touched, essentially refusing to grieve and therefore heal. She also suffers from extreme guilt for granting Pink a colony of her own (namely, Earth), which in turn led to the Crystal Gem uprising and Pink's death. Later episodes also reveal that she deeply resented Pink as well, as White Diamond (the leader of the Diamond Authority) appeared to favor the younger Gem even though Yellow is the most successful at bringing colonies under Homeworld's control.
- Blue Diamond is something of the polar opposite of Yellow — she is the diplomat and ambassador of the Diamond Authority, is equally powerful and indestructible, and possesses emotion-manipulating powers that force every Gem around her to feel what she feels. Unlike Yellow, though, she's dealing with her grief for Pink by refusing to move on — she's essentially been in mourning for millennia, preserving everything Pink created and repeatedly making secret visits to Earth to weep for her. She also suffers from the same guilt complex that Yellow does, blaming herself for not listening to Pink's pleas for help and telling her to be a Stepford Smiler instead.
- Pink Diamond was the youngest of the Authority, and had unique gifts including healing and Biomanipulation. However, she was horribly babied by Yellow, Blue, and White, with the latter essentially treating her as a child playing games instead of a serious member of their quartet. She also had to beg for a colony of her own — and when she finally got it, she realized that she actually cared about organic life and wanted to give it all back, which Blue and Yellow refused to let her do. Is it any wonder she took on the form of Rose Quartz and faked her own shattering to escape her family and live as she wanted to?
- White Diamond is the most powerful Gem of them all — to the point that Blue and Yellow fear her — with incredible mental powers, complete control over her emotions, and the ability to make others into an extension of herself without the slightest hint of effort; in her own words, she is "perfect". Unfortunately, she spends so much time wrapped up in her own mind (a Literal Metaphor, as her chamber is inside the head of a giant statue of herself) that she's completely unaware of the problems of Homeworld, and absolutely refuses to listen to anyone or anything that clashes with her worldview. When she's eventually forced to confront the fact that she isn't perfect, she has a complete mental breakdown and loses her entire sense of identity.
Broken Pedestal: They're nowhere as perfect as their subjects believe them to be, at least in terms of personality. Whereas Yellow and Blue seem aware of their own imperfection, White genuinely believes she's flawless until Steven shatters her pride. In Era 3, seemingly no one objects to the Diamonds' authority coming to an end (and Aquamarine and Eyeball, who reject Homeworld's reforms, don't seek to make them in charge again), implying their lack of care towards their subjects' freedom has become acknowledged by all of Homeworld. Becomes a Rebuilt Pedestal when the Diamonds use their new powers to help other Gems.
But for Me, It Was Tuesday: The Diamonds treat their planetary genocide and abuse of their subjects like it's routine and just part of their jobs. Justified, as the only alien life aside from Gems seen so far were animalistic and unintelligent, and the Homeworld Gems are treated as expendable. In Yellow and Blue's defense, at least part of this behavior seems to stem from the fear of what White would do to them if they refused to do these things, and have to pretend they're fine with doing them when they're actually not anymore.
Can't Live with Them, Can't Live Without Them: On one hand, they fit the definition of being Royally Screwed Up and are always at odds with each other. One the other hand, because of the Gem hierarchy, the only close bonds that they have left are with each other.
The Chains of Commanding: They are shown to be just as much of victims of Homeworld's caste system as any Gem under their command. Diamonds are expected to be smarter and objectively better than any other Gem, and thus deserving of being the ruling class; therefore they are forced to act along those parameters simply because that's how Diamonds are supposed to act. Yellow Diamond seems to have the worst of it — most of her villainous actions are because, in repressing her personal feelings to better fit the mold of an ideal ruler, she's just made it so that she lashes out at anything that reminds her of them. Pink Diamond hated that being a Diamond meant that she couldn't socialize with other Gems and couldn't spare her colony even when she wanted to, even begging the other Diamonds to let her spare her colony, so she created an alter ego by taking the form of one of her Rose Quartz soldiers who could do those things. In the end, the Diamonds are happier without their status as Homeworld's leaders, if Era 3 is any indication.
The Chain of Harm: "Change Your Mind" makes it apparent that the Diamonds are caught in it. White's pressure to meet impossible standards and utter lack of positive reinforcement made Yellow and Blue miserable, and the middle Diamonds took it out on Pink.
Character Tic: Momentarily rolling their eyes whenever they emphasize whatever they're speaking about.
Chekhov's Gunman: The mural in "Serious Steven" was a big clue about their existence.
Color-Coded Elements: Their (non-standard) Elemental Powers seem to have this going: white light, yellow electricity, blue emotion control, pink biomanipulation.
Colourful Theme Naming: Yellow, Blue, Pink, and White cover four common colors of diamonds in real life. When speaking to each other, they exclusively use their colors as given names.
Combining Mecha: The individual Diamond ships (arms, legs, torso with head) can merge together to form a giant humanoid starship.
The Comically Serious: They are all-powerful beings who squabble over nonsense, while at the same time, are always having to deal with other people's nonsense.
The Conspiracy: During "The Trial", Defense Zircon theorizes that one of the Diamonds (besides Blue, who seems truly in the dark) had a hand in Pink's assassination; either by separating Pink from her entourage for Rose to strike, allowing Rose to sneak past the security or betraying Pink directly by lowering her guard and killing her (or having another Gem do it) and framing Rose in the official records. It turns out there was a conspiracy... on Pink Diamond's end, specifically to fake her own death.
Cool Chair:
- Palanquins, a combination of throne room and personal quarters on legs, and usually the preferred mode of transportation on the ground. So far only Blue and Pink's Palanquins have been seen.
- Each Diamond also has a triangular throne in the grand ballroom of Homeworld for public events. Pink's throne is closest to the ground. Yellow and Blue's are slightly more elevated, and White's floats in the above the other three and is capped with a diamond headpiece for emphasis. Facsimiles of Yellow, Blue and Pink's thrones are seen in "The Trial", and on Yellow and Pink's moon bases.
Cool Starship: All four Diamonds have personal starships that are Peridot's hand-like warship taken up to eleven. Yellow and Blue's ships are shaped like gigantic arms. Pink's is shaped like a pair of legs. And White's is shaped like a torso and head (crafted in White's image, no less). All four ships can combine into a single giant craft in the shape of a complete body.
Creating Life: As revealed in "Familiar", the Diamonds regularly have something extracted from them in special chambers. Whatever it is, it has the power to bring objects to life. The walls outside Yellow's sauna have become Gems thanks to the spray of steam mixed with Yellow's sweat. Steven accidentally creates a Pebble with the sweat he gives off. And Blue Diamond created Comby at some point through unknown means and it sings with her voice. It's been stated by the show's creator that this essence is one of the things Injectors put in the ground to make new gems.
Crippling Overspecialization: With the exception of Steven/Pink, their main Antagonist Abilities and other magic powers only work on Gems. Against anything else, their abilities are completely ineffective. Additionally, they tend to rely on Powers Do the Fighting in combat and have seemingly have no weapons to fight with either. However, this is somewhat downplayed as they are physically incredibly powerful, fast and durable and are almost impossible to poof or shatter so it's not like they really need to rely on their magic in combat.
Cult of Personality: All of the Homeworld Gems literally live to serve them. Peridot expresses confidence that they're literally perfect, and she's probably not alone. This is seen a bit more frighteningly at the end of Season 3 where several Gems show the detrimental effects on someone's sanity this can have and how fanatical they are to their Diamonds despite the Diamonds clearly not returning their devotion.
Cute Giant: They're all gigantic to different degrees, and each have their cute moments.

D-F

Demoted to Comic Relief: The Movie and Future reduces their roles to wacky elderly relatives who all adore and want to greatly spoil Steven, much to his chagrin.
Despotism Justifies the Means: While Homeworld is a dystopia by any stretch of the imagination, it's all in service to the rigid caste system and order the Diamonds put in place rather than being an end in and of itself. The Diamonds have an order they want things to be in, and if you violate it, you're dead.
Dragon-in-Chief: White is the supreme ruler of the Gem Empire, but since she's isolated herself from the other Gems, Yellow and Blue have more-or-less become the de facto rulers of Homeworld.
The Dreaded: The Crystal Gems are afraid of Homeworld in general, so it's not surprising that their leaders elicit the same reaction. And Yellow and Blue are both scared of White.
Drone of Dread: The Leitmotif of each of the members is a distinct rising and falling synth rhythm that slowly builds in volume before ebbing away again, showing their cold and stoic demeanor. It's made to sound "non-musical" and manages to be both relaxing and chilling.
Dysfunctional Family: While the Diamonds do love each other, they've got serious issues and don't get along the best. White Diamond is never around and treats the others rather dismissively when she is and when pushed is a straight up Abusive Parent, Yellow Diamond seems unable to understand her fellow Diamonds or take their issues seriously while being desperate for White's attention, Blue Diamond can be condescending to her fellow Diamonds without meaning to, and Pink could annoy the others without meaning to and seemed unwilling to be open towards them. Back when Pink was around, how the other Diamonds acted towards her ultimately alienated her and she came to the conclusion they didn't give a darn about her at all. Despite Pink Diamond's faked death briefly uniting the other three to use the Corruption attack, the situation doesn't seem to have changed all that much after six thousand years. In "Change Your Mind", Blue notes to White that they used to be close, and realizes that Pink did the silly things she did to make them happy. At the end of the episode, all three Diamonds have not only made a Heel–Face Turn, but have become close with each other again, putting an end to this trope for them. As the major theme of the show is interpersonal relationships, it's understandable the main antagonists would represent a negative one.
Earn Your Happy Ending: They undergo this by the time of Era 3's start. After spending eons conquering worlds and abusing their subjects under the misguided, yet genuine, belief that it's what's best for their Empire, suffering under The Chains of Commanding and being quite the Dysfunctional Family, the Diamonds finally learn the error of their ways thanks to Steven, accept the loss of their status, court, and colonies, reconcile with one another, and get to adopt Spinel, a Replacement Goldfish for Pink.
Elemental Powers: Each Diamond appears to correspond to an element. None of these except Blue Diamond's are the classical ones, however:
- Pink Diamond controls life, and is able to restore, alter, or create it.
- Blue Diamond is associated with water. It's actually more of a psychic aura, but it spreads through any given space in a deep blue aura and forces other Gems to cry in sadness, since this only happens whenever Blue Diamond cries. The appearance of the aura itself is similar to water.
- Yellow Diamond can blast yellow lightning at other Gems, destroying their physical forms and rendering the beings inside those gems unconscious.
- White Diamond, as the brightest of the Diamonds, has light-based attacks which can be shot from her eyes, causing any Gem that's hit to fall under her control, basically acting as puppet-like extensions of herself with no thoughts, feelings, or actions to call their own.
Emotions vs. Stoicism: Blue Diamond clings to the past and her memories of the lost Pink Diamond, preserving everything that once belonged to her, while Yellow Diamond wants to erase everything associated with Pink Diamond in an effort to let go of her grief and put her feelings behind her.
Yellow Diamond: [singing] Yes, of course we still love her, and we're always thinking of her. But now there's nothing we can do. So tell me, what's the use of feeling, Blue?
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: They may be tyrannical despots and Planet Looters, but they seem to genuinely love and respect each other, if no one else. Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond genuinely miss Pink Diamond and Yellow Diamond spends most of her screen time in "That Will Be All" trying to snap Blue Diamond out of her depression, telling her to cope and move forwards, even though Blue's attitude clearly annoys her. They also appear to co-rule the Gem empire fairly harmoniously, with no signs of rivalry or power struggles. Unluckily for basically everyone in the show, Pink Diamond didn't see it that way and thought the others did not love her, leading her to assume that her death would lead to them abandoning the colony since she couldn't rule it anymore. Instead, they took revenge on the Crystal Gems by unleashing the Corruption Song, and both Diamonds are having trouble being leaders because of their grief over her death. However, despite their love for each other, they cannot accept themselves as anything other than what they are supposed to be, proving Pink's point that they only love her as a Diamond, and nothing else, with Yellow and Blue even expressing disgust at White being off-color. "Change Your Mind" has Blue and Yellow realize that their enforcement of White's rules are what drove Pink away, resulting in their Heel–Face Turn.
Even Evil Has Standards: As much as they prefer being treated respectfully, any display of excessive brown-nosing will greatly annoy them.
Evil Aunt: They don't know it until "Reunited", but Yellow and Blue are essentially Steven's maternal aunts. That said, once they know it (sort of), they're a lot nicer to him, and even them violently turning against him for fusing with Connie results in them seeing the error of their ways.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Yellow and Blue could never understand Pink's empathy for the native Earth life and why she was vehemently against completing the colony. Nor is White able to understand how much Pink cares about her fellow Crystal Gems.
Evil Is Angular:
- Yellow Diamond, the first of the Diamonds to be properly introduced, has sharp shoulder pads, a tailcoat and a spiked, helmet-like hairstyle, and pointed high heel boots.
- In contrast to her fellow rulers, Blue Diamond is the only one of the present-day Diamond Authority who has no angular edges, instead having long, flowing hair, a smooth dress, and rounded, droopy eyes. She's the least antagonistic of the trio and the first one to do a Heel–Face Turn.
- Many flashbacks from the Crystal Gems' perspective depict Pink Diamond with a spiky hairstyle, demonstrating their belief that she was evil. Ultimately subverted in that she actually had a much more rounded appearance, hair included, and was the Token Good Teammate of the Diamonds.
- White Diamond has a slightly more realistic, well-defined look, with sharp fingernails, star-shaped hair, Villainous Cheekbones, and pointed shoulder pads.
Evil Is Bigger: If Blue and Yellow Diamond are any indication, and assuming Yellow Diamond's Pearl is about the same size as Pearl, the members of the Diamond Authority are at least a couple stories tall. White Diamond is considerably larger, with the other two's hands only being as big as her palm.
Evil Is Petty: Every insult to them is considered treachery and punishable by shattering, for a start.
Evil Matriarch: Peridot describes them as "matriarchs". The Diamonds are feminine-presenting and the "parents" of the other Gems, loosely speaking, but they're definitely not optimistically motherly toward them.
Evil Overlord: Downplayed, since there are three of them sharing the leadership. However, it's only downplayed in that way, as they're genocidal Galactic Conquerors and Planet Looters, whose oppressive regime forces entire Gem types like Pearls and Bismuths into lifelong slavery. Two of the members of the group shown onscreen both also have a habit of trying to kill their minions for petty slights and view them as completely expendable.
Exotic Eye Designs: Diamonds have fairly detailed eyes by the show's standards, with more lines, colored irises, and diamond-shaped pupils.
Fantastic Medicinal Bodily Product: The Diamond Authority's sweat^note can bring some materials to life, and is part of what other Gems are made of. It's likely Steven's spit and Rose's tears are a different form of the same substance. Combining the essence of all four Diamonds together cures Gem corruption and can repair a shattered Gem from their fragments.
Fascist, but Inefficient: The Diamonds possess total, unquestioning, unchecked power over all of the Gems in Homeworld's Empire. Because of this, they have control over that fate of all gems within their courts, being able to inflict Disproportionate Retribution for minor offenses if they so choose (like Blue Diamond's threat to shatter Ruby for accidentally fusing with Sapphire in her act of defending her from Rose Quartz, the very thing she was assigned to do). Even with a justice system in-place, including Defense and Prosecutor Zircons for the trials, the Diamonds are capable of skipping all formalities and executing the accused regardless^note. Because of this, there have been cases of Gems who have gone out of their way to sacrifice efficiency in order to avoid the Diamonds' wrath; one such case is Holly Blue Agate being convinced not to tell the Diamonds that the Crystal Gems have infiltrated the Human Zoo in order to rescue Greg under the fear of what they might do to her for allowing it to happen in the first place. It turns out Yellow and Blue are all too aware of this, but too terrified of White's wrath to speak up to her.
Fatal Flaw:
- Ignorance. For all their belief that they are legitimately perfect in every way, they prove to be usually dismissive of their subjects and other lives, even each other's feelings (which led to a lot of dysfunction between themselves). Yellow and Blue are much more willfully blind as they are unable to see that the rebellion was orchestrated by Pink because they're always focused on ruling, leading to their own suffering when Pink apparently dies. Even Pink herself, despite being more self-aware of her actions, did not consider human life as equal to her as Rose Quartz despite her love for everyone. She is also unable to understand how much she is loved by her friends because she underestimated her fellow Diamonds' love for her. It's gotten so bad that they even disregard Defense Zircon's theory that one of them was responsible for Pink's demise (which turned out to be true, the culprit being Pink herself) and try to destroy "Rose" themselves in "Reunited", never realizing she was Pink in another form until the very end.
- A general difficulty with empathy seems to be another. While they do feel empathy for one another, and only one another, it's limited with them often overlooking the wants and desires of the others. This is most clear with Blue and Yellow's treatment of Pink and White's general apathetic behavior, Yellow is shown to have trouble understanding Blue's feelings and taking what she wants into account.
- Perfectionism: Blue, Yellow, and Pink were all trying to live up to White's incredibly high standards to the point of denying their own pain and realizations that their actions might be wrong, with only Pink shaking it off. As Blue points it out: they were all suffering in silence because of it. This turns out to be true of White as well, not only holding everyone else up to impossible standards... but herself.
First-Name Basis: Contrasting with the formality all other Homeworld Gems have toward them, the Diamonds just refer to each other by color.
Five Stages of Grief: After Pink was supposedly murdered, the Diamonds were furious and corrupted almost all of the Crystal Gems on Earth when they were supposed to destroy them instead (anger).
- In the intervening years, Blue sunk into a perpetual depression (grief) while also trying to seek closure for her loss by maintaining the Zoo and her gems for her in her "absence" (bargaining). This is implied to have led to her slacking in her duties and neglecting her court, spending much of her time sneaking to Earth and wallowing in her grief while Yellow spends all of her time either trying to pick up the slack or trying to break Blue out of her funk to no avail.
- Yellow tries to suppress her own feelings about Pink's death (denial) and lashes out at anything that brings it up (anger). This has developed into trying to Unperson Pink Diamond by wanting to destroy everything that belonged to her (like the Human Zoo and what remained of her court) and innitiating the creation of the Cluster to destroy the Earth from the inside in a last bit of spite against Rose Quartz at the expense of the Empire's need for resources.
- Judging from White's behavior, she's convinced that Pink's still alive somewhere and treats Pink's son Steven as if he was his mother in a human guise (denial). Later on, White removes Steven's gem, only to realize that Steven is his own person. She has a Villainous Breakdown when she realizes she has flaws and not only learns to accept people (and herself) for their flaws. By the time of the movie, all three diamonds have since learned to acknowledge that Steven isn't Pink and that they still love both regardless (acceptance).
Foil:
- They contrast with the remaining Crystal Gems in several ways:
  - They both come from opposing social classes and sides of the war. The ruling Diamonds are the oppressors, while the Crystal Gems are the La Résistance whose members are Homeworld outcasts (a taboo fusion between different Gems, a defective Quartz, and a renegade Pearl).
  - Both groups invoke the Four Is Death trope in different ways — Pink Diamond was allegedly murdered, while Rose willingly died to create a life (Steven). Interestingly, in the case of the Crystal Gems, the Four Is Death didn't come about until after the Rebellion and the Diamonds' superweapon corrupted all but four of the Crystal Gems, the main characters.
  - They're both dealing with grief over a loved one, but the difference is that the Diamonds didn't have someone to help them understand and cope with their feelings, leading to them dealing with it in rather unhealthy ways. Blue Diamond would be if Pearl never got over her obsession with Rose, and Yellow Diamond would be if Amethyst decided to apply her denial in externally destructive ways. To further push the point, they're grieving over the same person. The song "Familiar" further emphasizes this, as Steven compares the Diamond Authority to the way the Crystal Gems acted at the start of season one.
- To Andy DeMayo; they are all in a way traditionalists (the Gems actually uphold the strict Gem hierarchy) who end up alienating their loved ones due to being stuck in their ways (his extended family for Andy, Pink Diamond for Yellow and Blue). They also share a nephew figure in Steven who they both don't initially know of or recognize. The difference so far is that Andy eventually reconciled with his family before it was too late, while Pink Diamond felt so alienated she faked her death and took up a new identity in the hope of bringing some change. Another thing to note is that they both initially didn't recognize Steven as their nephew/a Diamond and had initial hostility towards him — although Andy quickly learned the truth while the Diamonds were still unaware up until the events of the movie. Also, Andy's reactions to Steven's Gem family (Peridot, Lapis, and later the other Gems) was initially very hostile, while Blue's first meeting with Steven's human family (Greg) was warm as they discussed their shared losses. The lessons that can come from this is that, even if your relatives seem toxic, they're still family, and you should at least make an attempt to get to know and understand them.
- To the Maheswarans. Despite their similarities, they turn out to contrast more in family issues. Connie's parents appear Happily Married despite their strict parenting to their daughter and their abusive behavior is actually unintentional. When they realize what they're doing to Connie is wrong, they're willing to change and accept their daughter on what she wants to be. The Diamonds, on the other hand, are much more dysfunctional and toxic as a result of adhering to their caste system for millennia. Thus, they are unable to accept change and expect everything to be the same, willing to harm even each other if one of them steps out of line despite their love for each other. When Pink desired to change herself, the others never approved of this and dismissed her authority at every turn.
- From a design standpoint, Pink Diamond is a deliberate contrast to her matriarch, White Diamond. Her hair is poofy with gentle curls against White's spikey Anime Hair, her clothes are a childish blend of a doll's outfit and a ballerina against White's Art Deco aesthetic and vampish fashion sense, and even her gem is the opposite of White — they are the same cut of gem, but Pink's sits on her belly facing downwards while White's sits on her forehead facing the sky.
Four Is Death: Whenever the pink diamond is depicted, it's at the bottom of the symbol, visually indicating the "last" of the four, an early hint that she's been dead for thousands of years. The truth is that Pink Diamond did die, just not thousands of years ago. She actually died from giving birth to Steven and not from her "shattering" — that was an attempt to fake her own death.
Four-Girl Ensemble: Yellow is the masculine one, White is the Team Mom, but while Blue is initially the hyperfeminine, sociable one, and Pink is the Ditz, the two trade roles after Pink becomes enamored with earth and becomes Rose Quartz. After Pink's death, Blue retreats from Gem society and becomes moody, withdrawn, and impulsive.
Four-Philosophy Ensemble: Yellow Diamond (the Cynic), Blue Diamond (the Realist), Pink Diamond (the Optimist), and White Diamond (the Apathetic).
Four-Temperament Ensemble: The Diamonds are each an embodiment of the four temperaments to the point where they can radiate their elemental emotion, which can affect other Gems as well, seen most clearly with Blue Diamond: Pink Diamond (Sanguine), Yellow Diamond (Choleric), Blue Diamond (Melancholic), and White Diamond (Phlegmatic).
Freudian Excuse: Blue, Yellow, and Pink have spent their entire existences trying to live up to White's nigh-unreachable standards, and all three were terrified of what she'd do if they stood up to her (as it turns out rightfully so). So they never questioned her and continued acting like nothing is wrong until Pink decided to rebel, but it isn't until Steven rebels openly against them that Blue and Yellow are finally forced to face this fact.
Freudian Trio: According to the second art book, End of an Era, the Diamonds are actually a rare Freudian quartet, with White as the superergo, Pink as the id, and Blue and Yellow sharing the role of the ego.
- White is judgment, criticism, and perfectionism—she viewed herself as the social standard, the figurehead for all Gemkind to aspire too, even if that ideal is impossible to achieve.
- Pink is desire, impulse, and spontaneity—she made many rash decisions based on her wants, and had a bad habit of leaving messes behind and conflicts unresolved, as the id isn't exactly one to deal with long-term consequences and repercussions.
- Yellow is action and force, and Blue is emotion and thought. Together they serve as the enforcers of White's demands and the placaters of Pink's whims. Just like the ego, they serve as the mediator between the superego and id.

G-K

Galactic Conqueror: The leaders of an expansionist interplanetary empire. The Gem Homeworld is actually located somewhere in another galaxy, making them a more literal example of this trope.
Gentle Giant: Averted. The Diamonds are huge, even a bit taller than Alexandrite, and they're evil dictators who couldn't care less about their subjects. Pink Diamond is the only exception, and the other Diamonds do get better after their Heel–Face Turn.
The Ghost: They weren't mentioned much until partway through Season 2, and even despite being the main antagonists from that point forward, haven't had many direct mentions or appearances. This particularly applies to White Diamond, who, until "Legs From Here to Homeworld" (all the way near the end of season 5), had not made any in-person appearances and only appeared briefly in cameos that revealed little of her true appearance. This is justified: the Diamonds are all shown to be extremely busy with their own roles in Gem society (which is elaborated on in "Familiar") and thus rarely if ever have the time to get hands-on in situations, and White Diamond explicitly keeps to herself most of the time to the point even the other Diamonds barely see her.
Giant Woman: Pink Diamond, the shortest by a wide margin, is still far taller than any human at about 12 feet tall; Blue and Yellow are easily about as tall as Alexandrite, if not taller; and White is far taller than any of them, probably at least 10 stories.
God-Emperor: While not explicitly described as gods, the Diamonds did create the other castes, and are venerated as "completely flawless beings" by the Homeworld Gems.
God Save Us from the Queen!: While we don't actually get to see them doing much ruling, Yellow Diamond has a terrible habit of trying to repress and destroy the past, even if the action is illogical and detrimental to Homeworld. She also reacts very violently if her Berserk Button is pressed and is incredibly callous to the gems under her. Blue Diamond is more subdued about it, but her overwhelming grief and refusal to move on from Pink Diamond is hindering her from doing any actual leading. White Diamond spends most of her time in her palace on Homeworld attending to her own matters, but is stated by Yellow to have a ferocious temper when things displease her, and Pink Diamond was The High Queen.
Gone Horribly Wrong: The Diamonds' "song", a Fantastic Nuke, was their final blow in Rose's Rebellion and it turned every remaining Crystal Gem (and the loyal soldiers caught in the crossfire) into a horrifically corrupted version of themselves. In "Legs From Here to Homeworld", Blue Diamond explains that the ability they used was meant to obliterate the remaining Gems, not induce corruption.
Good Feels Good: As of Future, they are shown to be much happier and willing to use their newfound powers to help other Gems, a stark contrast to the borderline-fascist dictators who were secretly crumbling under the weight of their positions and feeling utterly miserable because of it.
Got the Whole World in My Hand: The Moonbase murals depict all the Diamonds with planets in their hands and many more floating around them. White Diamond's mural in particular depicts her clutching what is implied to be the Gem Homeworld itself in her grasp in addition to her multiple colonies.
Hair-Trigger Temper: All of the Diamonds are known for being quick-tempered, especially for petty reasons. Even Pink had a horrible temper prior to her Character Development to the point where she ended up throwing temper tantrums all the time.
Healing Hands: As it turns out, Pink isn't the only Diamond with healing abilities, and each has their own version focusing on a different aspect of the target's health. Yellow, Blue, and Steven each activate the ability in unique ways when trying to reverse Nephrite's corruption: Yellow rubs her hands together to create friction and restores Nephrite's physical form, Blue places her hand over her gem and partially restores Nephrite's mind and voice, and Steven's spit allows him to calm her emotional trauma. Even together, however, the three can only restore one Gem for as long they all remain in physical contact, and need White's help to make it permanent. As of Steven Universe: Future, Yellow has refined her abilities to the point that she can separate cluster gems and revive shattered gems all on her own just like Pink.
The Hecate Sisters: If we're going by the Diamonds revealed first, Pink Diamond (the most childlike and implied to be the youngest) is the Maiden, Blue Diamond (the most openly caring for her family members) is the Mother, and Yellow Diamond (stoic and businesslike) is the Crone. Going by current members of the Diamond Authority, Blue Diamond (most openly emotional) is the Maiden, Yellow Diamond (the responsible one) is the Mother, and White Diamond (implied to be the oldest) is the Crone.
Heel–Face Turn: Initially a Hazy-Feel Turn starting from "Legs From Here to Homeworld"; the discovery that Pink was not killed and is living on through Steven means that they and the rest of Homeworld are no longer out to kill them all, but it isn't until "Change Your Mind" does it finally occur to Blue and Yellow that it was Homeworld's draconian system and their abusive behavior that caused her to defect in the first place, with White Diamond mulling over her Humble Pie when she discovers that she isn't as perfect as she thinks she is.
- In The Movie, White, Yellow and Blue have since put Steven's philosophy of peace and free-expression into practice, but it is left vague whether they genuinely believe in all of it or if they are just doing it because it's what Steven wants, only choosing not to invade or conquer planets like they use to so they could make Steven stay with them. Steven Universe: Future shows otherwise, as the Diamonds appear to be happier without their empire and putting Steven's philosophy of peace and free-expression into practice, as the Diamonds have developed new powers that contrast their original abilities, which they use to help other Gems and undo all the damage they've caused for eons.
Hero with an F in Good: As of The Movie. They're trying to follow Steven's advice in re-structuring the space held by the Gem empire, freeing colonies... it's just that it's a very good question how sincere they actually are. They're getting much better at it in Steven Universe: Future, where it's shown that the Diamonds are actually happier with their empire being dismantled and are shown to have developed new powers that they use to help other Gems, ones that are the exact opposite of their original powers.
The Horseshoe Effect: Blue Diamond wallows and obsesses over her grief for Pink Diamond, doing everything she can to preserve what was left of her legacy, including adopting her Gems, visiting Earth at her grave site, tending to her Zoo and taking Greg to save him from the Cluster. Yellow Diamond on the other hand has become petty and defensive, pretending to have moved on and wishing to destroy Pink Diamond's legacy just to prove it. Either way, they are both miserable.
- In the series, it was Yellow, Blue and White's attempts to keep her out of the way and general abuse that eventually drove Pink Diamond to fake her death and abandon them under the assumption that they would not miss her when she was gone. In The Movie, Yellow, Blue and White spend all of their screen-time absolutely drowning Steven with affection and trying to get him to move in with them, something that annoys the usually patient Steven into leaving back to Earth. While the former was Played for Drama, in The Movie its Played for Laughs.
How the Mighty Have Fallen: Unleash the Light reveals that one of Steven's rules for Era 3 changes on Homeworld is for them to no longer be in charge. Later, "Homeworld Bound" shows that they're all a lot happier without their power and authority.
Human Resources: Their sweat is regularly extracted from them in special spa-like chambers, likely to harness their life-giving abilities.
Ignored Epiphany: The Diamonds' condescending and emotionally neglectful treatment of Pink Diamond helped lead to her rebellion, believing the other Diamonds didn't care about her and what she believed in/thought at all. This led to both Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond grieving for millennia... until they find "Pink" in the form of Steven, which they are delighted by. Despite suffering firsthand the consequences of what they had done to their little fellow Diamond, Blue and Yellow are eager to resume their old lives before Pink "died" and try to do everything to mold "Pink" into a model Diamond, completely missing the fact that they're repeating the exact cycle that drove Pink away in the first place. Subverted in "Change Your Mind", in which Blue and Yellow finally realize how horrible they've been to Pink and that they've been repeating the exact cycle that drove Pink away in the first place.
Individuality Is Illegal: When Jasper said that no Gem is allowed to behave outside of the Diamond's caste system, that includes the Diamonds themselves. A lot of the tension between Pink and Blue and Yellow was Pink's desire to act how she wanted, in contrast to what her fellow Diamonds expected of her based on the standards White sets. When Pink begged them one time too many to leave Earth to the natives, they usurped control of Earth from her and reduced her to a Puppet Queen. Pink did not take it well.
Ironic Name: Diamonds are seen as symbols of innocence and the integrity of moral values. A lot of the tropes listed here beg to differ. Interestingly enough, Steven — who turns out to be half-Diamond himself through his mother, Pink Diamond — fits those traits like a glove.
Irony: The Diamonds are known for being ruthless tyrants who seek control over their subjects, not to mention other worlds, yet the only reason they were able to earn their happy endings is by losing their status, power, courts, privileges, and colonies. Pink was able to live a happy life on Earth with the Crystal Gems as Rose Quartz, and the other three were able to reconcile with one another and live happily in their palace.
It's All My Fault: In "I Am My Monster", all three Diamonds break down in Tears of Remorse and blame themselves for creating issues for Steven that led him to becoming a monster.
Jerkass Gods: Are seen as gods by the Gems under them, but while not actively tormenting their people, are still meanspirited, selfish, and spiteful towards them, and each other. Blue Diamond is certainly a little better than White and Yellow, but even she can be extremely inconsiderate towards her subjects. Pink, however, subverted this and fell into God Is Good, and the other Diamonds eventually deconstruct this after their Heel–Face Turn.
Knight of Cerebus: Initially, there is nearly never a shred of humor when the Diamonds show up.

L-O

Lack of Empathy: The Diamonds' defining trait. They don't care that colonizing planets would kill off the species and wildlife there, and every Gem who serves them are treated as wholly expendable. Even Pink, who was nicer by comparison, acted like a spoiled brat at first. They do care for each other, as Yellow attempted to comfort Blue and persuade her to move on from Pink's death; it was after continuing to treat Pink like an immature kid up until she faked her shattering that they started getting the empathy they should have showed her, but they dealt with it in their own, unhealthy ways. Even then, it's shown they have difficulty truly understanding one another, until Steven manages to get all three of them to realize their capacity for having empathy by having them realize how much enforcing Homeworld's doctrine, or rather White Diamond's doctrine, has caused them to hurt for eons.
- Both Rebecca Sugar and her Crewniverse have confirmed that the Diamonds didn't have time to learn about empathy throughout their entire existence; they were always doing their jobs as intergalactic rulers throughout their entire existences, and it isn't until eons later that they slowly learn about empathy through Pink Diamond's rebellion. "Change Your Mind" shows a deeper meaning behind it; from the moment they first came into being, the Diamonds have spent their entire existences as the rulers of Homeworld, having to uphold and live up to White Diamond's extremely high standards for eons. Yellow, Blue, and Pink eventually grew tired of it, but still put with it in order to avoid facing White's wrath, leading them to lash out at other Gems, with Yellow and Blue lashing out at Pink. It isn't until Steven openly rebels against Yellow and Blue in "Change Your Mind" that they finally show empathy for Pink and regret everything they put her through, and it's completely deconstructed in Steven Universe: Future, where the Diamonds finally realize how much they've hurt so many Gems during their monarchy, leading them to develop new powers to heal and help other Gems to undo all the damage they've done and make up for all the trouble they've caused for eons.
- Individually, each of the Diamonds represent certain aspects of the trope: Yellow Diamond represents the Never Be Hurt Again aspects, repressing all of her grief and other negative emotions to avoid emotional pain, and violently lashing out at things (and people) that cause that pain to resurface. Blue Diamond represents the It's All About Me aspects, wallowing in self-pity while blaming others for her grief and forcing them to feel her pain, ignoring that she herself is part of the problem. Pink Diamond represents the Innocently Insensitive aspects, doing things with the best intentions yet always screwing up in the end because she never considers how others might feel or think about her actions for the long-term. White Diamond represents the Believing Their Own Lies aspects, believing that she is perfection itself and forcing others to follow her standards, never realizing that those same standards are flawed to begin with until she is given a (figurative) slap to the face.
Large and in Charge: Yellow and Blue Diamond are both about as tall as the biggest fusions seen in the series, and Yellow Diamond can hold both Yellow and Blue Pearl in the palm of her hand. White Diamond is even larger, being bigger even than any known fusion, barring the Cluster. Pink, on the other hand, was only about twice as tall as her Pearl, and definitely smaller than most fusions.
Laser-Guided Karma: In a huge way. For emotionally abusing and neglecting Pink Diamond for eons, they ended up with a humiliating, catastrophic rebellion that significantly crippled their empire, and Pink, who was mistaken to have been murdered by the Rebellion's leader, was actually alive all those years but died for real when she gave birth to Steven a mere decade and a half before the Diamonds returned to Earth. This means that the Diamonds lost their chance for reconciliation; Pink appears to have died believing herself unwanted and unloved by her fellow Diamonds who would be better off without her, and the other Diamonds have to live with the fact that they will never be able to apologize for the harm they inflicted on their permanently estranged family member. Unleash the Light reveals that they have been stripped of their roles as Homeworld's leaders by Steven.
The Leader: All the Diamonds take leadership roles, but they approach this leadership in different ways. White, Yellow, and Blue all operate on class-based hierarchies to maintain order, with Yellow and Blue adding mild variations to suit their personalities. Pink tried and failed to adapt to her role in the class-based hierarchy expected of her leadership, leading to her renouncing her status and leaving their society under an assumed identity.
- White leads via the projection of pure superiority — quite literally. No other strategies are needed. She is superior, you are inferior; no other complications need taint the relationship.
- The serious and calculating Yellow leans towards martial-style command. She treats her subjects as rank-and-file soldiers, even those who are not militant in nature, and individualism — imperfection — is crushed quickly. Unlike White, "Change Your Mind" reveals it is not entirely instinctual for Yellow to treat the Gems beneath her as inferior, but she seeks White's approval and her militant behavior and ruthless standards are her way of following White's example.
- The elegant and emotional Blue leans towards emphasizing superiority via social class. She is the queen among the court. It is similarly not entirely instinctual for her to treat the Gems beneath her as worthless, but though she is further away from White's strict, ruthless standards than Yellow is, Blue is able to adapt because of her literally self-centered emotional perspective. Blue only recognizes worth in beings similar to herself, and the further away from her someone is in class, the less equality she can mentally recognize. Being able to force her emotions onto others enables her to subjugate and mentally inferiorize their own feelings. Despite her emotional sensitivity, she suppresses empathy and leads, like Yellow and White, by invalidating the individuality of those she sees as beneath her and forcing them to conform to her needs and purposes.
- The extroverted Pink leans towards a more humble and communal leadership, and because of her non-compatible personality and the uncompromising breakdown of her relationship with the other Diamonds, she ultimately fails to adapt to the role that White's ruling system requires of her. Being the last to emerge, Pink had no equal companionship and grew Lonely at the Top. Though she sought equals for companionship in White, Blue, and Yellow and at one point tried desperately to emulate and socialize with them, their dismissive condescension became too much to bear and Pink instead turned to her supposed inferiors for companionship, which is implied to be why she grew to appreciate their worth far more than the rest of the Diamonds. Because of this, Pink, though instinctually a leader like the other Diamonds, gradually gained a preference for leading among a group of equals rather than over inferiors, and when this reality became impossible in her formal court, created it instead among the Crystal Gems. Rather than seeing the people beneath her as existing for her, Pink, though still by no means perfect, came to be the kind of empathetic leader who sees fulfilling the needs of the people she leads as her job (as Sapphire put it, "she was following us!") — a philosophy of leadership entirely at odds with the other Diamonds. Eventually, Pink decided that the best thing for her colony would be for her to relinquish control of Earth to those who already lived there by faking her death, removing herself from the Diamond Authority entirely.
Lean and Mean: In contrast to Rose and Steven's Big Fun. They're somewhat gaunt, and very, very unpleasant. Subverted with Pink Diamond, Rose's true identity no less, though.
Leitmotif: Fitting for otherworldly alien leaders, they are accompanied by an unmistakable synth surge, made to sound "non-musical". It's an auditory representation of the Diamond Authority's emblem: one high note, two identical mid-notes, one low note. Each Diamond has a distinctive variation of the theme.
Light Is Not Good: Like all Gems, they're essentially light elementals, and also have plenty of divine motifs like halos in their murals and saintly robes. Their epithets are outright related to light. Finally, they have access to a particular type of light power, a flash that turns other Gems into monsters. While they're not entirely evil, something the fifth season wastes absolutely no time proving, they nonetheless are petty conquerors that caused a lot of suffering and oppression.
Lonely at the Top: Because they genuinely believe themselves superior to, and different from, everyone else, they only have each other. Losing one of their own was all the more devastating because there were only four to begin with, and because to them, it was a completely unthinkable, unprecedented disaster that shouldn't have even been possible. They drastically underestimated the threat of a rebellion because they didn't think "lesser" Gems mattered enough to do much serious harm. Nor do they expect anyone else to be able to help or even understand their problems; Blue is openly astonished when a mere human is able to empathize with her. They have no clue how to even start dealing with their grief because they can't grasp that other people have gone through the same thing (or that they've PUT others through the same thing). By this point, Blue and Yellow are too dysfunctional to really help each other, but they have nowhere else to turn. Pink was treated as if she was beneath the other Diamonds but still too good to interact with those socially "beneath" her — thus, despite her extremely extroverted nature, she was allowed no equal at all to interact with in a healthy manner. This began the domino effect of Pink seeking her supposed "inferiors" for company, beginning to identify more with them and care about their plight, and eventually rejecting her status in the Diamond Authority entirely. This finally ends when the Diamonds are removed from their statuses as Homeworld's rulers and reconcile with one another.
Mad God: Despite being Physical Gods in comparison to normal Gems, the Diamonds have all the issues any mortal would, including mental issues; Yellow is a narcissist with a Hair-Trigger Temper, Blue is a hyper-emotional wreck whose depression leaves her sobbing all day, and White is a weird, robotlike Humanoid Abomination who comes off as more than a little insane. All of them are callous Mood Swingers prone to massive Disproportionate Retribution. Pink was the only exception, but even she was quite naïve and didn't seem to truly understand what it meant to be a leader/god.
Maiden Aunt: Steven turns out to be the son of Pink Diamond, technically making Blue and Yellow his maternal aunts.
Master of All: Peridot describes them in these terms, saying that while all Gems have their strengths and weaknesses, the Diamonds don't have any of the latter ones.
Matriarchy: Homeworld is this by default, since Gems don't actually have a gender due to being sexless sentient rocks, but their projected bodies are always female-presenting and use female pronouns. They aren't better off or worse than humanity due to explicitly being female (again, they're only female by default), but they certainly aren't exactly enlightened. Despite their advanced technology, their race is highly class based and act as viruses by draining a planet's resources to create more Gems, prompting Rose Quartz to lead a rebellion against her (by default) matriarchy.
Meaningful Name:
- Diamonds are one of the hardest known materials in the universe. This also makes them the most brittle, so any flaws in them can be used to crack and break them. Blue and Yellow are both cool and collected for the most part, but Pink Diamond's faked death hit them right where it hurt and has deeply affected them to the present day. Yellow outright admits this is the case in the season 5 finale while confronting White.
- In addition, a Diamond's hardness in practice means it's literally utterly inflexible. The Diamonds have repeatedly shown they are unable to accept change and adapt to changing circumstances.
Monster Progenitor: The other Gems are seemingly an artificial race of their creation. Garnet objects to Peridot's assertion that all Gems live to serve the Diamonds, but not to saying they were all made by the Diamonds. Several diamonds are shown entering "extraction chambers", which appear like giant versions of human water features like spas and saunas, the excess post-extraction liquid contents of which bring a Pebble to life, suggesting other gems are partially made out of the Diamonds. If Gem reproduction and power is translatable through liquid, this would align with Pink's healing tears despite her inorganic nature. They also corrupted most of the Gems left on Earth, creating the Gem monsters.
Moral Myopia: They have no problem shattering their subordinates for defiance and not fitting the mold and exterminate any organic life present on the planets they colonize, and yet think one of them being murdered is completely unforgivable.
Morality Pet:
- If Yellow and Blue are any indication, they are this to each other. Blue is the first character in the show that Yellow seems to care about, and Pink's death hit Blue so hard that she's still mourning her in present day.
- To a lesser extent, their Pearls, who they treat fairly well for servants.
Motion-Capture Mecha: Their personal ships utilize this feature. The ships copy the movements of only the body part they're designed after.
My Beloved Smother: In-between "Change Your Mind" and the movie, Steven has been teaching them how to express their emotions in a healthier manner. By the time the film starts, they are begging for him to stay with them, showing him (and by extension Pink) how much he means to them to the point where Cuddle Bug Steven is unnerved by it.
Mysterious Past: The other Gems were created by the Diamonds, but their origin is a total mystery. It's been vaguely implied that Pink, Yellow, and Blue were made by White similarly to non-Diamond Gems, but if true that just makes White's origin even more mysterious. A timeline printed in End of an Era appears to have a sidebars detailing the Diamond's history, but almost all of it is redacted except for a cryptic drawing of four objects in the Diamonds' colors emerging from an egg-like rock labelled "20,000 years ago."
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: In "That Will Be All", the Diamonds' extreme reactions to insults and failure leaves Holly Blue too afraid to report the Crystal Gems' actions to them, which the Crystal Gems exploit in order to get away successfully with Greg and Steven.
Nigh-Invulnerability: They're obscenely tough by Gem standards. Blue shrugs off having an entire building actively thrown at her head from high in the sky without a scratch then Yellow and Blue's ships crashing on top of her. Yellow likewise shrugs off having her ship thrashed by the Cluster without any injury. Also, Yellow's lightning can poof any normal Gem in one hit, but Blue takes a sustained blast of it and while she's hurt, she still isn't poofed.
Not Now, Kiddo: A major element that led to the falling-out of Pink's relationship with the older Diamonds. Being constantly dismissed, ignored, and having her own authority being treated next to nothing by her own family just for being the smallest and "youngest" Diamond led Pink to secretly lead a rebellion, thinking her family would be better off if she was dead. She was very wrong.
Not So Invincible After All: Despite their god-like reverence and their people's belief they're flawless, perfect beings, Rose was apparently able to kill Pink Diamond. Except that's not what happened.
Nothing Is Scarier: The attack that corrupted lesser Gems into monsters was vaguely described by Centipeedle/Nephrite as only a sound or a song.
Only Friend: It's gradually revealed that because of how the Diamonds genuinely believe themselves superior to, and different from, everyone else, Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond are the only ones who treat each other as equals. This leads to Pink Diamond "dying" when she tries to win her fellow Diamonds' love, only to be rebuffed for not being like them.
Orcus on His Throne: Props for them sitting around on actual thrones. White takes this up to eleven, having stayed within her ship/throne room for eons, seemingly speaking entirely through White Pearl.
Our Giants Are Bigger: Like many Gem fusions, the Diamonds are much larger than any human. Even their smallest member is about 12 feet tall, twice the height of a normal human.
Our Gods Are Different: Though, the Diamonds are not necessarily considered "gods", but some of the Gems who are subordinates to them believe so. Peridot mentions to the Crystal Gems that they are flawless beings.

P-R

Person of Mass Destruction: At least when several are together, they're able to corrupt an entire planet of Gems by themselves. And if Blue and Yellow's demonstrations of power during "The Trial" and Rose's wide variety of abilities are any indication, they aren't too shabby on their own, either. Taken up to eleven in "Reunited", where Blue and Yellow are shown in combat for the first time. Blue's Emotion Bomb completely disables the Crystal Gems and almost allows her to curbstomp them without raising a finger, she casually shatters Rose's sword with one hand like snapping a toothpick, and when it comes to magical brute force she has more firepower than most Gem warships. Yellow, meanwhile, effortlessly tears her way out of her crashed ship with her bare hands and is disturbingly fast for a being of her size, closing the distance between herself and Steven in less than a second and slamming him into the ground through his shield. Both also easily shrug off being hit with entire buildings and their own ships. And while Pink's powers have proven to be largely defensive, "Pink Steven" proved that Pink Diamond's powers, when fueled by anger, can destroy the surrounding environment by screaming and brush off the attacks of all three other Diamonds combined as if they were nothing.
Pet the Dog: In addition to their kindness towards each other, they're fairly kind to their Pearls for the most part. Yellow gives her Pearl meaningful work as a secretary and saved at least one of her selfies, Blue lets her Pearl indulge in her hobby as an artist, and Pink Diamond saw her Pearl as a companion and equal. White Diamond's abuse of White Pearl, whom she has mind controlled, is the one exception, and it's part of what makes White so creepy.
Physical God: They're unaging, gigantic, nearly indestructible, have incredible power, and were able to personally create an empire's worth of Servant Races with incredible powers of their own. One reason why they're defeated by talking them into a Heel–Face Turn is that it's doubtful they can be defeated in battle; the Crystal Gems have only ever managed to hold them off for a few moments.
Planet Looters: Through their order it's implied that they've colonized a countless number of planets in the past for their resources and they planned to do the same with Earth before the rebellion had happened. The possible end result, as shown by a hologram in "It Could've Been Great", would make even the Combine jealous of their steady progress.
Poor Communication Kills: The root of all the Diamonds' problems. Had Blue and Yellow bothered to listen to Pink's concerns and not blow her off every time, she wouldn't have rebelled and staged a huge war, thinking her family would be happy if she was dead. By the time Blue and Yellow realized their mistake, it was far too late to make amends. Even worse, White appears to have known the whole truth about Pink all along somehow, and never once bothered to tell Blue or Yellow, causing them untold amounts of grief for 6,000 years.
Powers Do the Fighting: Both Blue and Yellow's default combat strategy seems to be mostly standing more or less in one spot while using their powers to attack, with no use of a weapon. In "Reunited", Blue is by herself nearly able to defeat the Crystal Gems (now with Bismuth and Lapis among them) with her Emotion Bomb and Beam Spam powers, and when Yellow joins the battle, the Gems can barely hold them back. That said, this is more out of personal preference than inability, as they're both immensely strong and tough, and Yellow showcases surprising speed to something as big as her. Pink/Rose has a Gem Weapon, so the others may as well and just prefer using their powers.
- According to Rebecca Sugar, the Diamonds never had to learn how to use their abilities, so they never explored them to their fullest potential. This is why Rose and Steven demonstrate a much more diverse and full range of abilities and apparently part of why "Pink Steven" was so formidable against the Diamonds; huge parts of both their arcs centered around self-exploration. Steven Universe: The Movie shows that the other 3 Diamonds are no longer using their powers to fight, which is more profound in Steven Universe: Future, where they've also undergone their own self-exploration and have developed new powers which contrast their original powers, using them to help other Gems instead of doing them harm.
Promotion to Opening Titles: Yellow, Blue, and White are all prominently featured in the opening title as of Steven Universe: Future.
Psychic Link: It is implied that all of the Diamonds are capable of communicating telepathically on some level. Steven (who has Pink Diamond's gem) has been shown to be able to read and possess the minds of others while asleep or knocked unconscious, and when Steven tries reasoning with Blue and Yellow telepathically in "Reunited", it takes him considerable effort to get their attention and when they were able to sense his Astral Projection, they were able to locate and attack it before they recognize his "aura".
Psychic Powers: All of the Diamonds appear to have a psychic aura that is unique to them and fuels their other abilities, which in the case of Blue and Yellow manifest as an Emotion Bomb and an Agony Beam respectively. This is also the basis for Steven's Dream Walker and Astral Projection abilities, while both Blue and Yellow were able to detect Steven's aura and counterattack with their own. White Diamond has Mind Control and possibly telepathy and/or clairvoyance.
Psychopathic Womanchild: The over-the-top glowing praise Peridot heaps on the Diamonds, and the worshipful behavior demonstrated by every Gem who has direct contact with them (at least until Peridot's notorious moment of rebellion against Yellow Diamond) hints at the reason behind this: the Diamonds have spent their long, long lives being treated as near-divine beings, and as a result, they're completely unused to being questioned or challenged, and anything and anyone that even so much as annoys them sets off a violently over-the-top response of fury and vengeance.
Pyrrhic Victory: While they technically defeated Rose and almost all of the Crystal Gems with the Corrupting Light, and left behind the Cluster to destroy the planet for good later, from their point of view their victory was nowhere near worth what they got out of it. The war cost them an extremely resource-rich world; led to the bubbling of every still-living Rose Quartz Gem due to Yellow Diamond's Misplaced Retribution; was apparently the trigger for Era 2 of the Gem species, with overall resources at a low; cost them huge numbers of Gems to either death, defections, or their own Bad Boss tendencies when they failed to give their own troops enough time to evacuate the planet before launching the corruption attack (which may still come to bite them later); led to Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond sinking into rage and grief, respectively, which they still haven't recovered from; and the death of Pink Diamond. The "rebel" Crystal Gems being crushed (and without guarantee something similar won't happen in the future) is, at that point, not really much comfort.
Redemption Promotion: After thousands of years remaining stagnate, their redemption results in them, like Pink, learning new powers they didn't know they had that are far more constructive, since they've had time to indulge in self-exploration. While they're not useful against Monster Steven, they're generally more useful for rulers than their original powers.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Diamonds, from most red to most blue: Pink, Yellow, Blue, White.
Repressive, but Efficient: In spite of their shortcomings, the fact that the Empire has been thriving under this system for literal eons before the rebellion on Earth occurs must count for something.
Retired Monster: They were all dictators that ruled for several millennia. By the time of the movie, they are all essentially retired now that they have entered Era 3 and are no longer the rulers of Homeworld and have liberated all their colonies via Steven's request. Though now they have nothing to do with their time but dote over Steven, and when he leaves for Earth it isn't even a full 24 hours until they arrive on Earth, claiming to have gotten bored after he left. As of Future they have found a new purpose in using their powers to help their former subjects: Yellow restores shattered Gems and makes alterations to Gems' physical forms at their request, Blue creates clouds that magically induce happiness for Gems who need an escape, and White has taken to traveling the galaxy acting as a therapist and allowing insecure Gems to pilot her body.
Royal Blood: Diamonds are part of the royalty caste, which would make all members this by default. The Reveal in "A Single Pale Rose" would make Steven this, as the son of a former "queen".
Royally Screwed Up: Where to begin? Blue Diamond has been neglecting her job for millennia to mourn and was willing to shatter Ruby for a minor accident. Yellow, on the other hand, appears to be a fairly rational and pragmatic leader... until she isn't. The Earth and Pink Diamond are major Berserk Buttons for her, and any Gem who says the wrong thing at the wrong time will bear the full brunt of her repressed rage. Pink, meanwhile, was a problem child who demanded her own colony, only to try to abandon it by Faking the Dead and lying to all of her friends and allies. Which she only tried because she assumed that Blue and Yellow didn't care about her and they totally ignored or misinterpreted her requests to stop the plans and leave Earth alone. Last but not least is White Diamond, who is notably absent from all scenes with the authority including the murder trial of Pink's alleged murderer, and wasn't acknowledged in conversation by the other Diamonds until circumstances led to the point she was absolutely needed.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: They have Gem armies who tend to their every whim, but aren't afraid to get their hands dirty if the situation calls for it. Heaven help those who are the reason for upsetting the Diamonds enough to get directly involved. Blue and Yellow both decided in "Reunited" to finish Earth and its rebel Gems off personally, without any assistance, as they needed the closure.
Rule of Symbolism:
- The positions of the Diamonds on artworks in ruins and murals in the Moon base directly correspond to the positions of their gemstones on their bodies. At the top we have White Diamond, whose gem is directly on her forehead. Both Blue and Yellow Diamond respectively have theirs on their chests. Lastly, Pink Diamond has hers located lower down on her navel. Altogether, they make up the shape of one giant multi-colored diamond. The symbolism seems to be ruined as Pink Diamond is removed from the later murals, leaving an unequal three and causing a desecration of the original Gem work of art.
- Their thrones on Homeworld, as revealed in "Together Alone", are positioned in the shape of the Diamond Authority symbol, with White's as the biggest and on top in such a way that Pink's throne, which is both the smallest and the only one actually on the ground, looks like it would be blocked by White's legs. It signifies how Pink's authority was overshadowed by the authority of the other Diamonds, and how she was neglected and ignored despite being the emotional support for the other Diamonds.
- Pink's symbol is at the bottom of the Diamond Authority's emblem, her throne is beneath the others', and she is the only Diamond without a sharp point at the visual base of her gem. Instead, her five-sided brilliant-cut diamond has its flat side facing downwards, similar to the shape and position of a pyramid — a visual symbol of stability. Though easily overlooked by them, Pink was literally and figuratively their base of stability; without her, they fell apart. Similarly, White's precariously positioned Gem, which visually appears to balance on a sharp point like a top, implies instability: White is the source of the dictatorial standards that drive the oppressive state of the Gempire and the toxic strains between the Diamonds. By the present, she's also clearly the least mentally stable of the four. And while Pink was literally overlooked on her throne, White is the one on the throne directly above her literally doing the overlooking — she's missing key parts of the picture despite assuming she has the best vantage point to see all.
- Before their Heel–Face Turn, each Diamond (sans Pink Diamond) represents and uses a different form of abuse: Yellow Diamond inflicts physical abuse, Blue Diamond inflicts emotional abuse, and White Diamond inflicts psychological abuse. After their Heel–Face Turn, they represent and use three (sometimes superficial) solutions to mental healing: Yellow is "changing appearence or making a makeover", Blue is "medication" and White is "taking it out on others".
Rule of Three: At the very least, since modern Homeworld Arc Symbols depict each Diamond of corresponding color.
Running Gag: A member of the Diamond Authority saying (or yelling) the word "enough" appears to be this. Yellow Diamond does it in "Message Received" and "The Trial", Blue Diamond does it in "Can't Go Back" and "Change Your Mind", White Diamond does it in "Change Your Mind", and Steven does it in Steven Universe: The Movie.

Sanity Slippage: Pink Diamond's death have made the other Diamonds even more mentally unstable than they already were. Yellow Diamond wants the Earth destroyed out of spite, Blue Diamond has been reduced to The Eeyore, and White Diamond presumably has just gone insane and shut away herself further. Finding out the truth reverses this for Yellow and Blue, but White appears to be in heavy denial about the whole thing.
Shadow Archetype:
- To the Crystal Gems both individually and as a group. The big comparison is that both butt heads and have character flaws that negatively impact the others, but the Crystal Gems have Steven to help them work through those issues while the Diamonds still struggle with theirs to this very day.
- To the Maheswaran family; the parents are strict and unintentionally abusive to their child, controlling her life choices and constantly wanting what's best for her. However, the Diamonds are much more toxic in contrast to the Maheswarans' ability to realize what they're doing is wrong and willingness to change. Otherwise, they would've repeated history with the Diamonds if Connie told her parents the truth about her adventures with Steven in "Nightmare Hospital", but they still refused to relent on her; taking away her membership in the Crystal Gems and forbidding her from seeing Steven again for her own good, leading her to believe they never cared about her at all...
Share Phrase: "That's enough!" or a variation of it.
She Who Must Not Be Seen:
- White Diamond's existence was completely unacknowledged until the final episodes of Season 5, although she can be seen in murals and her name is confirmed in the art book.
- Though her existence is heavily foreshadowed in the symbolism of Diamond architecture, Pink Diamond was only acknowledged as late as the last episode of Season 3, and her only appearance (until Season 5) had been on her mural in the Moon base — and even then, her mural was conspicuously avoided by the episode that introduced it, showing White, Yellow, and Blue in full, but only showing Pink's legs; the mural was later revealed in its entirety in "Back to the Moon". We eventually get to see what she really looked like through a dream sequence of Stevonnie's (implied to be a vision of the past) and through Pearl's memories. Even after her appearance was revealed, the show avoids having her voice be heard before we see her in Pearl's memories, since it's a dead giveaway that she's Rose Quartz.
Shocking Defeat Legacy: Their reputation and streak as Planet Looters took a major hit with the Crystal Gem Rebellion, which resulted in the shattering of Pink Diamond and the sudden retributive decision to corrupt all remaining gem life and destroy the planet outright by planting a slowly expanding Gem Cluster at its core.
Shonen Hair:
- Yellow Diamond has a double pompadour that would make Josuke Higashikata doubly envious.
- Pink Diamond had mostly normal hair, save for how much it spiked in her mural. In reality it was more floofy, though still high in volume.
- A special mention goes to White Diamond, whose hair is so spiky that it looks like she's constantly a Super Saiyan (or Vegeta).
Sibling Seniority Squabble: Nominally, the are supposed to be equals, but the youngest one, Pink, often found herself overruled by her older fellow Diamonds Yellow and Blue. To the point that they usurped control of the Earth from her when she decided that the native Earth life should be allowed to thrive in peace without Gem interference. Later, it's shown that despite their alleged equal standing, White is obviously the one in charge.
Single Specimen Species: Unlike the other Gems, there seems to only be one of each kind of Diamond, which may partially be to help further the idea among the other Gems that the Diamonds are their leaders. In "Change Your Mind", White gives the implication that the other Diamonds are aspects of herself she separated in her quest for perfection.
Skewed Priorities: They're especially guilty of this when Steven and Connie dance and fuse into Stevonnie, with Yellow Diamond shouting "Pink, you've gone too far, even for you!"; it REALLY hasn't set in for the other Diamonds that Pink Diamond was Rose Quartz, who started a civil war for the freedom of her planet, removed a Diamond from power and inadvertently ended the first Era, and spread a message of love and individuality that has never and likely will never be fully eradicated from Homeworld itself.
Statuesque Stunner: The Diamonds are several stories taller than their Gem underlines, and very beautiful.
Stupid Evil: One of the Diamonds' fatal flaws is their habit of putting revenge and spite before reason, even if it works to their detriment.
- "The Answer" shows that before the war, Blue Diamond was willing to shatter perfectly healthy and intact Gems for minor slights.
- Before dropping the Corruption attack on Earth, they did not give their own forces enough time to escape the planet, resulting in many of their own loyal and healthy soldiers getting caught in the attack and being transformed into monsters. The exact number of Homeworld Gems that were lost to the Corruption attack is unknown, but it's implied to be extremely high, considering that the remaining Crystal Gems still haven't found and bubbled all the monsters on the planet even after actively hunting them for thousands of years. Lampshaded by Blue and Yellow Diamond themselves, though Yellow blames Pink for it.
- Cross-Gem fusion is punishable by shattering on Homeworld for Hive Caste System reasons, at least until the end of "Change Your Mind", even though it could give them bigger and stronger soldiers (which they need, considering how weak and puny modern-day Gems are shown to be).
- Their completely uncaring attitude towards individual Gems comes back to bite them thousands of years later, when they find themselves running out of resources to create more Gems. As a result, modern "Era 2" Gems are smaller, weaker, unable to shapeshift, have more limited powers, and are more heavily reliant on Homeworld technology than their Era 1 predecessors.
- Even after hearing from Peridot that Earth is rich in resources, which the Gem Empire desperately needs to make more Gems, Yellow Diamond decides to destroy the planet with the Cluster, just to spite Rose Quartz and her love for Earth's organic life (as well as so that she won't have to think about the location of Pink Diamond's death any more).
Sugar-and-Ice Personality: To their servants, the Diamonds are demanding, brash, and cold. With one another or someone else, they are openly vulnerable and caring.
Superpower Lottery: They have all the standard Gem powers, powerful Elemental Powers, the planet wide corruption attack they can perform together, and are so physically powerful they can poof a normal Gem with a Finger Poke of Doom and are Nigh-Invulnerable. If the number of powers Pink Diamond has is standard among the Diamonds, Blue, Yellow, and White likely have way more than they've shown.
Super-Strength: They're incredibly strong to the point Yellow can poof a normal Gem with a finger. Blue is capable of snapping Rose's Sword like a twig and breaking out of Lapis' water chains without much effort.
Sympathy for the Devil: They're galactic, genocidal tyrants, but their grief over the death of Pink Diamond is genuine, and both Greg and Steven show sympathy towards them for it. Steven also feels sympathy for Yellow and Blue after finding out that they're suffering under White's rule.

T-Y

Tall Is Intimidating: It's hard to tell how much this is at play when mixed with their immense power and authority, but their physical size is also quite intimidating to several characters.
Tarot Motifs: Yellow is the Hierophant, Blue is the High Priestess, White is the Emperor, and Pink is the Magician. Rose Quartz is the Empress, and Steven is the Fool.
Those Two Guys: In the present day, Blue and Yellow are almost never seen separately.
The Three Faces of Eve:
- White Diamond: The beautiful, vain Seductress.
- Yellow and Blue Diamond: The Wives, being the ones mainly in charge of looking after and guiding the Child (Pink).
- Pink Diamond: The immature, playful Child.
Time Abyss: They invaded Earth about 6,000 years ago, but they'd already built an intergalactic empire by that point and, judging by Peridot's words, are the oldest Gems in existence. In The Movie, Yellow considers 6,000 years nothing, implying the Diamonds are far older than that. A staff timeline printed in End of an Era implies they emerged 20,000 years ago, though that's not necessarily canon.
Took a Level in Kindness: After Steven convinces them to heal all of Earth’s corrupted gems, they become far more benevolent people with some heavy implications they’re undoing all of the damage they’ve caused over 6000 years such as Yellow Diamond being seen restoring shattered Gems, liberating all colonies they’ve formed, stepping down as leaders and giving Gems on Homeworld democracy and freedom, and repurposing their powers that will benefit gemkind. While Steven is still clearly uncomfortable being around them given understandable reasons and they’re still flawed people, their attempts to change are sincere and they legitimately care about Steven.
Tough Leader Façade: Despite outwardly portraying themselves as all-powerful, perfect, and unbreakable, in private, Yellow and especially Blue Diamond are deeply affected by the loss of their youngest family member, Pink Diamond, and deal with it in their own ways. And Pink Diamond herself hated what the Gems were doing to the planets they colonized, but couldn't express it as a Diamond.
Town Girls: White Diamond and Blue Diamond (Femme), Pink Diamond (Neither), and Yellow Diamond (Butch).
True Companions: Implied — it's shown that even with all their villainy, at least Blue, Yellow and Pink Diamond cared for one another like a family, and Pink's death affected both Blue and Yellow very severely. Though she's somewhat harsh about it, Yellow does genuinely seem to want to comfort Blue over the whole thing and makes it clear that she misses Pink as much as Blue does. And while White is almost never around, she still showed up to aid Yellow and Blue in unleashing the planet-wide corruption attack in retaliation for Pink's death.
Yellow Diamond: Yes, of course we still love her and we're always thinking of her...
Ultimate Life Form: In Peridot's words, they're "completely flawless beings". It's implied that being The Needless and their disdain for organic life helps fuel this belief. Though they are definitely the most powerful singular Gems revealed in the show, in terms of personality, this description is distinctly more propaganda than fact. Blue and Yellow seem aware of this to some extent, though White honestly believed it until Steven proved otherwise.
Villain Has a Point: Neither Yellow or Blue's way of coping with Pink Diamond's death is emotionally healthy, but they do have their merits — while it's important to move on and continue living, having a time to grieve and remember dead loved ones is good, too, if only for closure. It's how they practice it in the extremes that's unhealthy.
Villain with Good Publicity: All Diamonds are regarded quite highly, to the point of inspiring Blind Obedience from other Gems, even though their actions and behavior beg to differ. The only ones who don't like them are driven underground for fear of death.
Villain World: They rule Homeworld with absolute power and authority, with those who don't fit their mold being driven underground or shattered without any consequence.
Yellow Diamond: Let's make a plan of attack! Start looking forward and stop looking back!
Wants a Prize for Basic Decency: Played for Laughs in the Movie. When Steven announces that he intends to go back to Earth, White, Yellow and Blue plead for him to stay with them, citing that they have stopped conquering planets, killing and emotionally-torturing their subjects and are being more polite to those they deem their inferiors (as well as getting out of calling them inferior) just like he wanted.
The Weird Sisters: A trio (formerly a quartet) of mysterious supernatural women.
Wonder Twin Powers: In spite of their diversity in design and abilities, they also possess similar abilities that seem to amplify when used together.
- When they believed Pink Diamond was shattered, White, Yellow and Blue use their corrupting light to essentially nuke the Earth, only to accidentally corrupt the Gems there instead, implying that it actually would have completely obliterated the Gems if it was all four of them.
- Rose and Steven's attempts at healing the Gems individually were useless, their healing powers only able to temporarily heal them partially before reverting to their fully-corrupted forms as was the case with Centipeetle. In "Legs From Here to Homeworld", Yellow was able to uncorrupt Centipeetle's body, Blue returned her consciousness back to the moment when she was corrupted and Steven was able to heal her mind completely, but she reverted back into her fully-corrupted state when they ceased touching her, prompting their return to Homeworld to ask for White Diamond's help.
World's Strongest Woman: The Diamonds are undoubtedly the strongest Gems in existence, with even their weakest member being magnitudes stronger than any other Gem.
Yank the Dog's Chain: Downplayed. After grieving over Pink for millenia, Blue and Yellow are delighted to find her alive in the form of Steven and try to conform him to Homeworld. Yet, Steven (in Yellow and Blue's view, anyway) turns out to be even worse than Pink, and Blue and Yellow later accept that he is a seperate entity from Pink, meaning they could never personally apologize to her for what they had done. Same for White, who initially tried to rip out Steven's gemstone to bring Pink back, but it only produces a full-gem version of Steven, much to her dismay.
You Don't Look Like You: In "Serious Steven", their murals seem significantly different than the ones on the Moon Base (and the actual appearance of two of them), but both are abstract works of art subject to in-universe Artistic License. In the case of the Moon Base murals, only Yellow Diamond's design had been finalized at the time the murals for the other three Diamonds were designed. The in-universe explanation is seemingly that because Yellow Diamond was the most publicly visible of the Diamonds, her portrait was the most accurate of the four. Blue never appeared in public without her shroud, so her exact features were harder to pin down. Pink was seemingly sequestered from public view by the other Diamonds prior to and even during the colonization of Earth, so no one really knew what she looked like either. And White had never even left her palace, let alone Homeworld in an unfathomable amount of time either, so good luck getting that right one too, Gem muralists!

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