History Characters / StevenUniverseGregUniverse

** To Rose Quartz. For all Rose's personal power and legendary ability, it's Greg's empathy and compassion that makes Steven a hero.

* BreakingTheCycleOfBadParenting: [[spoiler:PlayedWith. His rather loose manner of raising Steven in which he basically left Steven to his own devices and encouraged his freedom is revealed in "Mr. Universe" to be a result of him fighting back against the controlling environment he grew up in under his own. Unfortunately, this causes a whole new set of problems for Steven come ''Future'', as it led to Steven having a very atypical childhood. Due to the trauma that came from that time and his desire to have [[DesperatelySeekingAPurposeInLife some kind of direction in his life]], Steven ends up [[BrokenPedestal losing all respect for Greg]] after he finds out about how Greg ran away from his comparatively mundane home.]]

* NotSoDifferent:
** "Mr. Greg" explores what he has in common with Pearl, even besides their shared interest/loss of Rose. Even before the episode, both of them display interest in mechanics along with insecurities over being good parental figures for Steven.
** "Mr. Universe" revealed that, much like his late love interest herself, Greg grew up in a very restrictive family and was striving for freedom.

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

* InterspeciesRomance: {{Deconstructed|Trope}} with Rose Quartz [[spoiler:(Pink Diamond)]], as the great differences between humans and Gems are shown in flashbacks to have presented great obstacles to the relationship that were not very easy to overcome. However, it's also a {{Reconstructed|Trope}} as it shows how both of them overcame it. Greg's open heart and compassion along with Rose's own allowed to break the barriers and furthermore, influenced them to be better people.

* HonoraryUncle: Although they never share any scenes together, Greg refers to himself as Sour Cream's uncle as he watches over him in "Greg the Babysitter"

* InUniverseNickname: When he was on tour, his manager Marty called him "star child". Greg didn't seem to take issue with it, but it was pretty clear a way to demean him.

* {{Adorkable}}: Despite being a middle aged man, he easily comes off as this through his earnest-but-goofy demeanor. To wit, just look at how he tries to show off for Steven in his and Rose's home video.

-->'''Greg''': We rushed into this too fast.

* ShipperOnDeck: Like the other Crystal Gems, he ships Steven and Connie.

* IJustWantToBeFree: [[spoiler:''Future'' reveals Greg grew up in a strict house and wasn't allowed to anything he liked because his parents always said it was wrong. As such, he craved freedom from their control]].

* PapaWolf: Despite his discomfort with any magical related mission, Greg was the first one to team up with Steven in "Ocean Gem". Also, he ran over a water copy of Steven in order to save his son and Connie. Also,in "Three Gems and a Baby", when the gems kidnapped baby Steven Greg decided to run after them despite the fact that the gems were driving his van and that there was a blizzard.

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

* GoodParents: Greg is a caring, devoted, and supportive father to Steven. He also knows when to discipline Steven when his son starts behaving in a negative manner (i.e., "Beach City Drift"). [[spoiler: "Mr. Universe" [[PlayedWith plays with this]] more however. While Greg definitely is a loving and devoted father, his open-minded and generally hands-off approach to Steven's development, such as never enrolling Steven in a school or taking him to see a doctor, ends up causing Steven [[BrokenPedestal to view him as irresponsible and resent him]] after he finds out about Greg's comparatively more mundane life with his own parents that he ran away from.]]

** As of ''Future'', he becomes the Sensitive Guy to ''Steven's'' Manly Man. Steven becomes more aggressive with his newfound powers and temper issues, while Greg always remains his emotional, encouraging [[GoodParents GoodParent]].

** As of ''Future'', he becomes the Sensitive Guy to ''Steven's'' Manly Man. Steven becomes more aggressive with his newfound powers and temper issues, while Greg always remains his emotional, encouraging GoodParent.

* BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler: In "Mr. Universe", Steven loses all respect for him when he learns that his dad played a part in his recent traumatic upbringing by running away from a controlling household and raising Steven with [[HippieParents very little structure in his life]], leading Steven to believe that he's no better than Rose as a parent. It's more of a fleeting moment than complete estrangement however, as Steven clearly feels guilty about how he lashed out at him in "Everything's Fine"]].

* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The thoughtful, forgiving Sensitive Guy to Andy's ill-tempered, loud Manly Man.

* BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler: In "Mr. Universe", Steven loses all respect for him when he learns that his dad played a part in his recent traumatic upbringing by running away from a controlling household and raising Steven with [[HippieParents very little structure in his life]], leading Steven to believe that he's no better than Rose as a parent. It's more of a fleeting moment that complete estrangement however, as Steven clearly feels guilty about how he lashed out at him in "Everything's Okay"]].

* ManChild: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. He can be a bit immature at times, fooling around with watermelons in "Watermelon Steven", and is "kind of a mess" as described by Amethyst. He has been known to make poor choices, such as dropping out of college or faking an injury to spend time with Steven, but he always takes full responsibility for it afterwards and will do whatever he can to make it up. "Greg the Babysitter" reveals he was worse when he was younger, not having or looking for a job and freeloading off his friend Vidalia. He eventually realizes that he's pretty much a baby and gets his job at It's a Wash. "Mr. Universe" [[PlayedForDrama plays this for drama]], [[spoiler:as it's revealed that his fairly hands-off style of parenting towards Steven was a result of him resenting how his own controlling parents raised him, which recontextualizes some of his actions as basically a teenager rebelling against his parents. Steven ends up [[BrokenPedestal losing all respect for him]] as he feels that Greg failed to take responsibility as a parent and give him a structured childhood.]]

* BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler: In "Mr. Universe", Steven loses all respect for him when he learns that his dad played a part in his recent traumatic upbringing by running away from a controlling household and raising Steven with [[HippieParents very little structure in his life]], leading Steven to believe that he's no better than Rose as a parent]].

* AmbiguouslyJewish: The surname [=DeMayo=] is Sephardic Jewish, and his son sports a Jewfro. Plus, the "sch" at the start of his pet name for Steven, "Schtu-ball", should remind one of Yiddish words that have integrated their way well into modern English such as "schlep", "schlock", and "schmooze". At the same time, he likes hot dogs and other dishes made with pork, so he may just be culturally Jewish if not religiously.

%%Spoilers from leaks are not allowed (promos, however, are okay). Until the episodes have aired, please only add them to the off-site roughdraft at the following link.
%%https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CtFuw0kHNMMIMdueGXXAmjWpITLBOG-J159_xV3Gf54/edit

* GoodParents: Greg is a caring, devoted, and supportive father to Steven. He also knows when to discipline Steven when his son starts behaving in a negative manner (i.e., "Beach City Drift"). [[spoiler: "Mr. Universe" [[PlayedWith plays with this]] more however. While Greg definitely was a loving and devoted father, his open-minded and generally hands-off approach to Steven's development, such as never enrolling Steven in a school or taking him to see a doctor, ends up causing Steven [[BrokenPedestal to view him as irresponsible and resent him]] after he finds out about Greg's comparatively more mundane life with his own parents that he ran away from.]]

* GoodParents: Greg is a caring, devoted, and supportive father to Steven. He also knows when to discipline Steven when his son starts behaving in a negative manner (i.e., "Beach City Drift").

** However, in "Mr. Universe", it turns out to be a [[ZigZaggedTrope zig-zagged]] since Steven realizes how Greg raised his son without structure, pretty much allowing him to do whatever he wanted without precautions, and neglected him a normal childhood. It should be noted that Greg's approach to parenting seems to have been a deliberate attempt at BreakingTheCycleOfBadParenting, as he was miserable living under his controlling parents. There's also the fact that a lot of Steven's actual trauma were tied to events completely outside of Greg's knowledge or control.

* ManChild: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. He can be a bit immature at times, fooling around with watermelons in "Watermelon Steven", and is "kind of a mess" as described by Amethyst. He has been known to make poor choices, such as dropping out of college or faking an injury to spend time with Steven, but he always takes full responsibility for it afterwards and will do whatever he can to make it up. "Greg the Babysitter" reveals he was worse when he was younger, not having or looking for a job and freeloading off his friend Vidalia. He eventually realizes that he's pretty much a baby and gets his job at It's a Wash.

** However, in "Mr. Universe", it turns out to be a [[ZigZaggedTrope zig-zagged]] since Steven realizes how Greg raised his son without structure, pretty much allowing him to do whatever he wanted without precautions, and neglected him a normal childhood. It should be noted that Greg's approach to parenting seems to have been a deliberate attempt to BreakTheCycleOfBadParenting, as he was miserable living under his controlling parents. There's also the fact that a lot of Steven's actual trauma were tied to events completely outside of Greg's knowledge or control.

* BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler: In "Mr. Universe", Steven loses all respect for him when he learns that his dad is mostly responsible for his recent traumatic upbringing just because he ran away from a controlling household and recognizes that he's no better than Rose as a parent]].

** However, in "Mr. Universe", it turns out to be a DoubleSubversion since Steven realizes how Greg really is bumbling in parenting, having raised his son without structure, pretty much allowing him to do whatever he wants without precautions, and neglected him a normal childhood.

* ThePollyanna: A male example. He still remains very optimistic despite everything he's been through and witnessed.