History Woobie / StevenUniverse

** Both of the get this taken UpToEleven in "The New Lars". Sadie has been jerked around by Lars so long that when Steven (in Lars body) tells her he loves her in a misguided attempt to bring Lars and Sadie together, she assumes he's either trying to get into her pants or hurt her. Lars meanwhile gets accidentally possessed by Steven and is understandably angry when he wakes up... only to find his friends and family defending Steven and saying they preferred Steven's version, leaving him utterly dejected the next day that almost no one in his life likes him.

** In "Growing Pains" it turns out that Steven is suffering from a severe case of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), due to his untreated trauma from everything that happened to him in the original series, that causes him, because of his Gem-half, to glow pink and to [[TransformationHorror randomly swell whenever he is in a emotional distress]], and his body reacts as if he is in a life threatening situation, even when it’s just a minor problem. He tries to solve his issues in his own ways, but they all fail and put himself and everyone around him into danger (like crashing the van after a fight with his dad, shattering Jasper by accident, and trying to shatter White Diamond only to injure himself), as his mental state gets worse. It reaches a breaking point in "Everything’s Fine", when he, at first, goes into manic state, and then after the Crystal Gems, Connie and Greg finally decide to confront him about what’s going to him, [[InternalReveal he confesses everything]] and, after hearing his mistakes aloud, [[DespairEventHorizon he comes to the conclusion that he’s no longer the sweet kid he used to be, but he thinks himself as a fraud]], and [[IAmAMonster a monster just like his mother]]. Unfortunately, this belief corrupts him and turns him into a literal monster resembling a pink Godzilla. He gets better, thanks to his loved ones (and therapy).

** In “Growing Pains” it turns out that Steven is suffering from a severe case of C-PTSD, due to his untreated trauma from everything that happened to him in the original series, that causes him, because of his Gem-half, to glow pink and to randomly swell whenever he is in a emotional distress, and his body reacts as if he is in a life threatening situation, even when it’s just a minor problem. He tries to solve his issues in his own ways, but they all fail and put himself and everyone around him into danger (like crashing the van after a fight with his dad, shattering Jasper by accident, and trying to shatter White Diamond only to injure himself), as his mental state gets worse. It reaches a breaking point in “Everything’s Fine”, when he, at first, goes into manic state, and then after the Crystal Gems, Connie and Greg finally decide to confront him about what’s going to him, he confesses everything and, after hearing his mistakes aloud, he comes to the conclusion that he’s no longer the sweet kid he used to be, but he thinks himself as a fraud, and a monster just like his mother. Unfortunately, this belief corrupts him and turns him into a literal monster resembling a pink Godzilla. He gets better, thanks to his loved ones (and therapy).

In a series that loves to show characters' good and not so good qualities and regularly puts them through the emotional wringer, you can be sure a page was needed to list them.

%%Good Afternoon Editors, If you wish to add more woobies, please consult the cleanup thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=15391212720A38366900
%%
%%
%%
%%

** In “Growing Pains” it turns out that Steven is suffering from a severe case of C-PTSD, due to his untreated trauma from everything that happened to him in the original series, that causes him, because of his Gem-half,to glow pink and to randomly swell whenever he is in a emotional distress, and his body reacts as if he is in a life threatening situation, even when it’s just a minor problem. He tries to solve his issues in his own ways, but they all fail and put himself and everyone around him into danger (like crashing the van after a fight with his dad, shattering Jasper by accident, and trying to shatter White Diamond only to injure himself), as his mental state gets worse. It reaches a breaking point in “Everything’s Fine”, when he, at first, goes into manic state, and then after the Crystal Gems, Connie and Greg finally decide to confront him about what’s going to him, he confesses everything and, after hearing his mistakes aloud, he comes to the conclusion that he’s no longer the sweet kid he used to be, but he thinks himself as a fraud, and a monster just like his mother. Unfortunately, this belief corrupts him and turns him into a literal monster resembling a pink Godzilla. He gets better, thanks to his loved ones (and therapy).

** In “Growing Pains” it turns out that Steven is suffering from a severe case of C-PTSD, due to his untreated trauma from everything that happened to him in the original series, that causes him, because of his Gem-half,to glow pink and to randomly swell whenever he is in a emotional distress, and his body reacts as if he is in a life threatening situation, even when it’s just a minor problem. He tries to solve his issues in his own ways, but they all fail and put himself and everyone around him into danger (like crashing the van after a fight with his dad, shattering Jasper by accident, and trying to shatter White Diamond only to injure himself), as his mental state gets worse. It reaches a breaking point in “Everything’s Fine”, when he, at first, goes into manic state, and then after the Crystal Gems, Connie and Greg finally decide to confront him about what’s going to him, he confesses everything and, after hearing his mistakes aloud, he comes to the conclusion that he’s no longer the sweet kid he used to be, but he thinks himself as a fraud, and a monster. Unfortunately, this believe corrupts him and turns him into a literal monster. He gets better, thanks to his loved ones (and therapy).

* Blue Diamond is an obvious example, despite being the [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds destroyer of worlds type]]. Having spent 6000 years grieving for her sister Pink Diamond, it's almost impossible not to sympathize with her, especially considering the result is that she's become so broken inside that just about anything can make her cry. So much so that Yellow, the only person that could open her eyes, doesn't cause she's afraid of breaking Blue even further. discovering that [[spoiler: Reunited even reveals that, despite her unreasonable aggression towards the crystal gems, it only worsened her desire to see Pink again.]]

** In “Growing Pains” it turns out that Steven is suffering from a severe case of C-PTSD, due to his untreated trauma from everything that happened to him in the original series, that causes him, because of his Gem-half,to glow pink and to randomly swell whenever he is in a emotional distress, and his body reacts as if he is in a life threatening situation, even when it’s just a minor problem. He tries to solve his issues in his own ways, but they all fail and put himself and everyone around him into danger (like crashing the van after a fight with his dad, shattering Jasper by accident, and trying to shatter White Diamond only to injure himself), as his mental state gets worse. It reaches a breaking point in “Everything’s Fine”, when he, at first, goes into manic state, and then after the Crystal Gems, Connie and Greg finally decide to confront him about what’s going to him, he confesses everything and, after hearing his mistakes aloud, he comes to the conclusion that he’s no longer the sweet kid he used to be, but he thinks himself as a fraud, and a monster. Unfortunately, this believe corrupts him and turns him into a literal monster. Luckily he gets better.

** In “Growing Pains” it turns out that Steven is suffering from a severe case of C-PTSD, due to his untreated trauma from everything that happened to him in the original series, that causes him, because of his Gem-half,to glow pink and to randomly swell whenever he is in a emotional distress, and his body reacts as if he is in a life threatening situation, even when it’s just a minor problem. He tries to solve his issues in his own way, but they all fail and put himself and everyone around him into danger (like crashing the van after a fight with his dad, shattering Jasper by accident, and trying to shatter White Diamond only to injure himself), as his mental state gets worse. It reaches a breaking point in “Everything’s Fine”, when he, at first, goes into manic state, and then after the Crystal Gems, Connie and Greg finally decide to confront him about what’s going to him, he confesses everything and, after hearing his mistakes aloud, he comes to the conclusion that he’s no longer the sweet kid he used to be, but he thinks himself as a fraud, and a monster. Unfortunately, this believe corrupts him and turns him into a literal monster. Luckily he gets better.

** In “Growing Pains” it turns out that Steven is suffering from a severe case of C-PTSD, due to his untreated trauma from everything that happened to him in the original series, that causes him, because of his Gem-half,to glow pink and to swell randomly whenever he is in a emotional distress, and his body reacts as if he is in a life threatening situation, even when it’s just a minor problem. He tries to solve his issues in his own way, but they all fail and put himself and everyone around him into danger (like crashing the van after a fight with his dad, shattering Jasper by accident, and trying to shatter White Diamond only to injure himself), as his mental state gets worse. It reaches a breaking point in “Everything’s Fine”, when he, at first, goes into manic state, and then after the Crystal Gems, Connie and Greg finally decide to confront him about what’s going to him, he confesses everything and, after hearing his mistakes aloud, he comes to the conclusion that he’s no longer the sweet kid he used to be, but he thinks himself as a fraud, and a monster. Unfortunately, this believe corrupts him and turns him into a literal monster. Luckily he gets better.

** In “Growing Pains” it turns out that Steven is suffering from a severe case of C-PTSD, due to his untreated trauma from everything that happened to him in the original series, that causes him, because of his Gem-half,to glow pink and to swell randomly whenever he is in a emotional distress, and his body reacts as if he is in a life threatening situation, even when it’s just a minor problem. He tries to solve his issues in his own way, but they all fail and put himself and everyone around him into danger (like crashing the van after a fight with his dad, shattering Jasper by accident, and trying to shatter White Diamond only to injure himself), as his mental state gets worse. It reaches a breaking point in “Everything’s Fine”, when he, at first, goes into manic state, and then after the Crystal Gems, Connie and Greg finally decide to confront him about what’s going to him, he confesses everything and, after hearing his mistakes aloud, he comes to the conclusion that he’s no longer the sweet kid he used to be, but he thinks himself as a fraud, and a monster. Unfortunately, this believe corrupts him and turns him literally into a monster. Luckily he gets better.

** In “Growing Pains” it turns out that Steven is suffering from a severe case of C-PTSD, due to his untreated trauma from everything that happened to him in the original series, that causes him, because of his Gem-half,to glow pink and to swell randomly whenever he is in a emotional distress, and his body reacts as if he is in a life threatening situation, even when it’s just a minor problem. He tries to solve his issues in his own way, but they all fail and put himself and everyone around him into danger (like crashing the van after a fight with his dad, shattering Jasper by accident, and trying to shatter White Diamond only to injure himself), as his mental state gets worse. It reaches a breaking point in “Everything’s Fine”, when he, at first, goes into manic state, and then after the Crystal Gems, Connie and Greg finally decide to confront him about what’s going to him, he confesses everything and, hearing his mistakes aloud, he comes to the conclusion that he’s no longer the sweet kid he used to be, but he thinks himself as a fraud, and a monster. Unfortunately, this believe corrupts him and turns him literally into a monster. Luckily he gets better.

** Just when it seems like Steven can finally catch a break in ''[[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture Future]]'', problems just keep popping up that he either has to or feels like he ''needs'' to deal with, [[spoiler:including Jasper [[RedemptionRejection still being against him]] [[HazyFeelTurn (at first)]], continuing to have his mother's past and mistakes smack him in the face, Eyeball and Aquamarine seeking {{Revenge}} against him and attempting to use his own father against him, and everybody moving on and changing without him.]] In addition, his going through the typical trials of growing into an adult and dealing with change are complicated by his powers overreacting to the wild emotional roller coaster that comes with being a teenager, making his very feelings ''dangerous'' and him even more unwilling to try and handle them.

* [[IronWoobie Steven]]. He tries so hard, and it's impossible to not feel bad for him when he messes something up (especially since he's self-conscious about it). There's also the fact that he never got to know his mother. Additionally, one can feel for the fact that he constantly feels pressured to measure up to her. He also thinks that Gems might resent him because he is the reason Rose is no longer around. And in "Steven's Birthday", we also learn that his physical age seems to be a state of mind, making it possible that he may ''never'' grow up, which could seriously harm his relationship with Connie in the long run. Also, despite it all being self-defense, in "Mindful Education" it's revealed he outright blames himself for doing what he did against Bismuth, Eyeball, and Jasper, and is suffering from a severe BrokenPedestal a la his mom. He has a serious GuiltComplex because of this. And then he discovers that Rose [[spoiler: was Pink Diamond]], so now he feels like he has to live up to the expectations of [[spoiler: the rest of the Diamond Authority]] too. Overall, underneath that sometimes genuine cheerful smile and attitude is a sad, traumatized, possibly depressed little boy who hates himself.

* Another WoobieSpecies are the [[spoiler:bubbled Rose Quartzes in the zoo. They had nothing to do with the rebellion; it wasn't their fault Pink Diamond and Pearl impersonated one of them and faked her death]]!
* If we take one of Steven's visions at face value, [[spoiler:[[StoicWoobie White/Pink Pearl]] becomes this. According to the dream, she once belonged to Pink, and they loved each other but had to hide their fun from the Diamonds, this later gets confirmed and somehow made worse in Future as it's revealed that Pink caused her damaged face accidentally, not to mention that she tries to act out that everything is fine despite that she was psychologically traumatized by the experience as shown in the Reef scene]].