History Characters / StevenUniverseStevenQuartzUniverse

** ''Future'' has him [[spoiler:more or less finally achieving peace throughout the galaxy and facilitating a peaceful coexistence between human and Gemkind. Only now that all major conflicts have been resolved, and his friends have overcome enough of their previous baggage to achieve real autonomy, he finds himself now disconnected from his loved ones and DesperatelySeekingAPurposeInLife.]]

* DesperatelySeekingAPurposeInLife: The crux of his internal conflict in ''Future''. He has no idea what to do with himself now that everyone else around him has managed to find contentment in their lives, as his life previously [[ChronicHeroSyndrome had been spent helping them through their problems]].

* ReincarnatedAsTheOppositeSex: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Steven's unique relationship with his mother has elements of {{Reincarnation}}, as she effectively gave up her life energy and power gem to him to give him life. He is also able to access certain memories and devices of hers. However, it is made clear that even if Steven can be considered a reincarnation, DeathOfPersonality applies as he and Rose are clearly different people.

* {{Reincarnation}}: [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E35Lion3StraightToVideo "Lion 3: Direct to Video"]] reveals that his birth involved his mother's [[HeartDrive gem]] becoming part of his body. He could be considered both Rose Quartz's son and reincarnation.

* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: His WeaponOfChoice, summoned from the gem on his stomach. Steven starts out not knowing how to summon it, to being able to shrug off ship-based cannons and using it offensively.

* AmbiguousDisorder:
** After five seasons of being a LivingEmotionalCrutch, neglect of Steven's needs (from both him and the Gems), and the Gems' issues at caretaking, his underlying trauma from being a KidHero and other problems are finally catching up to him with disastrous results. Not only has this given him severe emotional issues expressed through the rage-powered Pink Steven form, but - as a result of the frankly insane amount of responsibility placed on Steven's shoulders - he shows traits of both [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parentification parentification]] and the [[https://novantinuum.tumblr.com/post/190115019709/the-atlas-personality-drawing-on-the-myth-of-the 'Atlas' personality type]], taking on a pattern of compulsive caregiving and workaholism, with difficulty asserting his own needs. Furthermore, this is underlined by his unique nature of being a Gem/Human hybrid, which gives him a set of problems and capabilities that neither Gem nor Human fully understand and provides an immense source of fear and isolation for Steven. In fact, he even shares this with his mother [[spoiler:Pink Diamond, albeit in a different case. Pink may have been a Gem, but as a Diamond, she really could not interact with any other Gem as equals as many of them acted as subordinates to her and doctrine forbade them from further intimate or casual relations. And while she may have been a Diamond, she was the BabyOfTheBunch and treated more as a party planner than a real Diamond. Blue and Yellow Diamond had each other and White lorded over everyone and detached from them, even if she did have some favoritism toward Pink. This left Pink with no one as an equal.]]
** In "[[Recap/StevenUniverseFutureS1E14GrowingPains Growing Pains]]", all of this is revealed to have ''physical'' repercussions as well, his body chemistry reacting disproportionately to stressful situations (since he has become accustomed to high-stress situations) and giving him massive anxiety attacks in the form of PowerIncontinence, implying that he suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The show actually ''explicitly'' uses the related term "adverse childhood experiences".

* AnimalMotifs: Cats always seem to pop up in Steven's life somewhere. Examples include Steven's Cookie Cat admiration, his adventures in [[BodyHorror spawning cats from his body]], his Tiger Millionaire persona, the tiger bell on his bike, his alarm clock, his lion, and the facial hair he grew when aged into a teenager [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/steven-universe/images/5/58/So_Many_Birthdays_103.png/revision/latest?cb=20151218194245 looks like cat whiskers]]. Even the scratches on his cheeks he gained during [[spoiler:his fight with Bismuth]] resemble whiskers. This is fitting: Steven shares [[AmbiguousDisorder Borderline tendencies]] with his mother, who is classified as a [[https://outofthefog.website/personality-disorders-1/borderline-mother-types "hermit"]] type, often referred to as "kittens" or "cats."

* MadeOfIndestructium: He can create a magic bubble shield that's impossible to pop. Even a direct hit from a harpoon gun simply bounces off of it.

* MagicalBoyfriend: Performs this role for Connie by bringing her into his magical life away from her bored, lonely world.

** {{Gender Inverted|Trope}} with Lapis — Steven is the [[{{Keet}} energetic]], [[ThePollyanna optimistic]] Gentle Boy to Lapis' [[BrokenBird troubled]], {{grumpy|Bear}} Brooding Girl.

** The Sensitive Guy (openly emotional, friendly AllLovingHero) to Lars' Manly Man (rude, abrasive GrumpyBear).

* {{Hypocrite}}:
** In ''Future'', he makes a deal about maturing and moving on in "Snow Day", but "Little Graduation" shows that out of all the characters, ''he's'' the one struggling the most with adjusting to the changes occurring around him.
** He often preaches throughout the series about how people should be honest and open with their feelings. By the time ''Future'' rolls around, Steven resorts to bottling up his own emotions and aggressively refuses help from those who offer it.

* {{Hypocrite}}: In ''Future'', he makes a deal about maturing and moving on in "Snow Day", but "Little Graduation" shows that out of all the characters, ''he's'' the one struggling the most with adjusting to the changes occurring around him. And despite often stating how people should be honest with their feelings, ''Future'' has Steven bottling up his emotions.

* OlderThanHeLooks: Steven looks and largely behaves like a curious, excited child, so Connie does a SpitTake upon learning Steven is actually ''fourteen'', and therefore a little over a year older than her. It turns out that Steven's half-[[TheAgeless Gem]] nature has been impeding his growth since entering adolescence. Greg's photo album shows Steven's appearance has barely aged since he was ''eight''.

* BadassPacifist: Steven starts off as a kid who is the son of a member of an alien race of crystalline warrior women. Unlike his mother (who was a MartialPacifist), Steven deeply dislikes fighting and tries to solve every conflict he faces non-violently. Even his "fighting" reflects this, as it's more blocking blows than attacking. By the end of the series, he has succeeded, [[UpToEleven up to]] [[spoiler:''talking down the Cluster from destroying Earth and convincing it to be his friend instead'' and ''convincing three galactic dictators to see the error of their ways'']].

** It's revealed in [[Recap/StevenUniverseFutureS1E14GrowingPains "Growing Pains"]] [[spoiler:thanks to Dr. Maheswaran's X-ray charts, that Steven's skeleton is full of fractures, particularly in his skull.]] Furthemore, starting from this episode, [[spoiler:his body keeps randomly swelling whenever he is in a great emotional distress.]] Taken UpToEleven at the end of "Everything's Fine" [[spoiler:when during his mental breakdown, he screams that he's a monster and a mass of pink spikes burst out of his back, starting his corruption.]]

** Taken UpToEleven when he [[spoiler:defeats the Cluster by ''befriending it'' and convincing its component shards to be friends with each other and staying in the planet's mantle with each other.]]

* MessianicArchetype: Steven bears many of the criteria for this trope. He is the son of a human (Greg) and a transcendent otherworldly being (Rose Quartz, who is even referred to as a "goddess" by Vidalia in one episode) who comes into his own and learn how to control his otherworldly power, including the power to create food (grow plant life), heal the injured (healing spit) and ultimately revive the virtuous ([[spoiler:brings Lars back to life]]). He befriends and converts followers of his celestial parent's doctrines (Peridot and Lapis Lazuli) and is willing to sacrifice himself to his people's enemy (the Diamonds) and save his world in the process. This is especially telling in "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS4E9ThreeGemsAndABaby Three Gems and a Baby]]", where three ancient beings (Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl) come bearing gifts for Steven and his weathered human parent (Greg) in a place that is not their own (Vidalia's house) set in December. In an interesting inversion of the trope, at the end of the fourth season, he sacrifices himself not to atone for the sins of humanity, but [[spoiler:for those of his "divine" parent]]. Taken UpToEleven in season 5 with [[spoiler:the reveal that his mother was secretly ''[[PhysicalGod Pink Diamond]]'']]. Deconstructed in that one of the main themes of the show is that believing its your duty to sacrifice yourself to save humanity, or to atone for the sins of another, is actually ''really emotionally unhealthy''.

* SignificantBirthDate: Steven's birthday is on August 15th, which is the same day when Rebecca Sugar's brother was born.

* TeensAreMonsters: {{Downplayed|Trope}} in ''Future'', in which the 16-year-old Steven suffers a nasty case of SanitySlippage, gaining temper issues in the process with his powers spiraling out of control. [[spoiler:Heck, he becomes a literal monster at the end of "Everything's Fine".]]

* ChronicHeroSyndrome: {{Deconstructed|Trope}} over time. Steven has an ''intense'' desire to help other and their problems, but this causes him more than not to push his boundaries, do and/or say something insensitive, or even outright manipulate people or the situation to his advantage.

* DarkIsEvil: {{Downplayed}}. Steven's outfit in ''Future'' has him supporting a black shirt, which coincides with him suffering a bad case of SanitySlippage, [[TookALevelInJerkass gaining temper problems]], and [[spoiler:becoming a monster.]]

** ''Future'' deconstructs his KidHero nature in the earlier seasons, showing that not only did those incidents harm him internally, in the form of various fractures, but [[ConditionedToAcceptHorror constantly being exposed to genuine threats from a young age]] means that Steven is having trouble dealing with the stress by more minor, day-to-day stuff where his life ''isn't'' at risk, the implication being that he has genuine PTSD.

** As much as he is a CuddleBug, even he find the Diamonds' behavior towards him to be far too overbearing.

** As ''Future'' shows, Steven's still has his [[ChronicHeroSyndrome near-pathological need to help everybody]], even when they don't really need it, or need help specifically from ''him''. However, it leads him to suffer ExistentialHorror and confronting his long repressed problems and issues. Issues and problems that have been worse by having his powers now react to his ''negative'' emotions. Out of a mix of not wanting to be a burden and fear of no one understanding (which is itself caused by his hybrid status and growing power), he has been trying to bottle his issues and venting them out just led to such a disaster that it reinforced his prior conviction of keeping it bottled.

* GuiltComplex: He takes more responsibility for things than he should. He blames himself for Lapis Lazuli [[ItMakesSenseInContext stealing the ocean]] in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E26OceanGem "Ocean Gem"]] ("I was the one who let Lapis out of the mirror. It's my fault the ocean's gone.") and Greg's leg being broken during the battle of that episode in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E27HouseGuest "House Guest"]] ("I'm sorry that you hurt your leg and that your van got smashed up because of me." Greg himself [[LampshadeHanging tells Steven]] in this instance he [[ApologizesALot apologizes too much]].), he blames himself for the fight between Ruby and Sapphire in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E15KeystoneMotel "Keystone Motel"]] ("I don't understand, is it... Is it me?"), and [[Recap/StevenUniverseS4E4MindfulEducation "Mindful Education"]] reveals he most likely blames himself for [[spoiler:the corruption, poofing and being launched into space of Jasper, Bismuth and the Eyeball-Ruby respectively. This is shown as Stevonnie (the fusion of Steven and Connie) begins to vividly hallucinate the three surrounding them, looking [[KickTheDog helpless]].]] This complex likely stems from the fact that Rose Quartz (the former leader of the Crystal Gems, and Steven's mother) had to give up her physical form to make Steven. [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E3JoyRide "Joy Ride"]] reveals that Steven feels that the rest of the Gems sometimes blame him for her not being around anymore, and he seems to be pretty hung up about it as well. Amethyst finally calls him out on it in "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E20WhatsYourProblem What's Your Problem?]]", bluntly telling Steven that he is ''not'' responsible for other people's actions, and blaming himself for the bad things that happen to everybody is not only unfair to himself, but is extremely emotionally unhealthy.

** Like Greg, he shares an inclination for music. In the extended opening, Steven is the one who wrote the Gems' song, and he appeared to be quite young when he did it. Also like Greg, he is as pure a pacifist as can be, but can step up when needed.

** [[NiceGuy Compassion]] runs in Steven's family, and as mentioned above, he got it from both his father Greg, and his deceased mother Rose. In regards to Rose, he has the tendency to get starry-eyed when excited and/or happy, and go out of his way to help people in need. [[spoiler:And like Rose, who is actually Pink Diamond, Steven struggled to fulfill his family's expectations of him, which went to tragic extremes in Pink's case when she was alive.]]

* SoWhatDoWeDoNow: The entirety of ''Future'' offers a deconstruction of Steven's life so far by [[spoiler: slotting Steven in a world where intergalactic peace is ensured, he no longer has to face danger at every corner and can finally think about himself... something he's never even ''considered'' doing in the first place in the span of 5 seasons and a movie. This causes his brain, once trained on ChronicHeroSyndrome steroids, to suddenly be hit ''hard'' by every single traumatic experience that has happened in his life in the span of 4 years tops and make him experience severe PTSD manifested as PowerIncontinence, where every instance of stress, no matter how minor, will send him into a frenzy, while simultaneously being incapable of dealing with a reality where he doesn't have to be everyone's savior anymore.]] Ultimately by the end of the series, [[spoiler: Steven does get the help that he needs, and also figures out what to do with himself- leave Beach City on a cross-country tour. Of course his friends and family will still always be there for him when he needs it.]]

* SuperpoweredEvilSide: [[spoiler: In "[[Recap/StevenUniverseFutureS1E19IAmMyMonster I Am My Monster]]", Steven's rage and self-hatred come to a boil and he transforms into a giant, corrupted monster. While [[UnstoppableRage mindless]], in this form he is larger than the temple, [[TheWorfEffect is strong enough to overpower Alexandrite and the Cluster and shrugs off the Diamond's powers]].]]

* TheUnchosenOne: As opposed to Connie, the Gems, Steven himself and part of the audience thinking Steven has some great, planned destiny ahead of him, Rose had no such expectations (not even in regards to his gender). She just wanted him to live his life happy as himself. Steven is shown taking comfort in this knowledge, since it means a huge weight has been lifted off his shoulders in regards to possibly not living up to some great destiny Rose had planned for him and disappointing her, especially since after learning about her darker secrets he had started to think that the only reason she gave birth to him was because she wanted to dump all her problems on someone else's shoulders. That said, it still ultimately falls to Steven to do what his mother couldn't and right the wrongs of the Diamonds [[spoiler:including Rose/Pink]] because they keep coming after him through either MistakenIdentity or RevengeByProxy, things made possible only because of his unique circumstances. ''Steven Universe Future'' still hangs a weight on this as he has been imposing himself expectations of this and responsibilities at the cost of neglecting his mental health that it's hurting him.

* UnskilledButStrong: Not Steven has multiple abilities that are both unique to him and potentially really useful, including a powerful shield, healing spit, and a GreenThumb that can create hordes of monsters that can easily overwhelm the Crystal Gems, but initially lacked the know-how to use most of it. Connie becoming Pearl's apprentice spurred him onto training more seriously, after which he becoming increasingly StrongAndSkilled.

* VegetarianForADay: He decides to try vegetarianism shortly after turning 17, and has stuck to it for a month as of [[Recap/StevenUniverseFutureS1E7SnowDay "Snow Day"]]. Garnet muses that she thought they were in a "pepperoni timeline" after mistakenly predicting he would want pepperoni pizza, suggesting multiple timelines where he abandons or never commits to the decision. Later in "Mr. Universe" he was seen eating a burger (though it could potentially be a veggie burger) and in "Fragments", when training out in the woods, he caught and cooked a fish, considering Steven specifically Vegatarian instead of Vegan it’s likely he was only Vegatarian for the diet and not for any morality reasons.

* HybridPower: Initially, being half-human seems entirely detrimental compared to being a full Gem: his powers and body develop slowly instead of being like that from the beginning, he needs to eat and sleep, he might be as short-lived as a human (and can even accidentally cause his own death by old age ''prematurely'', though he can also seemingly reverse it) and may not be able to regenerate his body like full Gems do. Later, it's revealed his body has some advantages no Gem has had before, including being able to fuse with humans (and according to Rebecca Sugar, organic beings in general, theoretically including animals like Lion) and immunity to technology that destroys Gems' bodies. He also has the power to talk to other Gems in his dreams, which is something totally unique to him since Gems don't even need to sleep. But perhaps the biggest advantage has nothing to do with his powers at all: [[ChildOfTwoWorlds being raised with Gems and humans]] leaves him as basically the only one in the world [[TheHeart who can easily understand and empathize with both]]. This ties into another major ability he has: Gems [[StaticCharacter are expected to never change]] and have that drilled into them by Homeworld's society, but being human, Steven's ''natural'' state is change. And as shown with the Crystal Gems, this makes him very capable to instigate change and growth in Gems on a level even his mother couldn't do. Notably, Rose considered this ''the'' most amazing thing Steven's hybrid nature would give him. [[spoiler:The power displayed by Pink Steven suggests that his true potential might ''exceed White Diamond''. This is because he not only inherited the sheer power of his Diamond mother, but the ability to change and ''grow'' from his father, something White lacked.]]

* VegetarianForADay: He decides to try vegetarianism shortly after turning 17, and has stuck to it for a month as of [[Recap/StevenUniverseFutureS1E7SnowDay "Snow Day"]]. Garnet muses that she thought they were in a "pepperoni timeline" after mistakenly predicting he would want pepperoni pizza, suggesting multiple timelines where he abandons or never commits to the decision. Later in "Fragments", when training out in the woods, he caught and cooked a fish, considering Steven specifically Vegatarian instead of Vegan it’s likely he was only Vegatarian for the diet and not for any morality reasons.

* ColorMotif: Pink. He wore a pink shirt in the original series. Many important scenes with him involve the color pink. He has a pink gem. His mother's hair was [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair pink]]. His shield and other weapons he create are pink. If his gem is pulled out, a pink version of himself comes out. By the movie, he now sports a pink jacket. [[spoiler:Even in his corrupted form, he's still pink.]]

** One of those rare mother-son combos and is not remotely played for laughs except in a few instances of BlackComedy, due to being [[MoralityChainBeyondTheGrave posthumous]]. Steven's mother, the saintly and flawless Gem revolutionary leader Rose Quartz, [[NotQuiteDead is not strictly speaking "dead"]] and still exists in some ways in Steven himself; Steven understandably feels enormous pressure to live up to her legacy, complicated immensely [[ParentsAsPeople when he begins to discover that his legendary mother]] [[FeetOfClay had more than a few skeletons in her closet]] [[ShootTheDog and did things that]] [[AllLovingHero Steven]] [[IDidWhatIHadToDo can't wrap his head around, justify or understand]]. Him failing to follow in her footsteps leads to him fearing that whatever aspect of her that survived judges him for not being like her.

* AdorablyPrecociousChild: Zig-Zagged and deconstructed. At the start of the series, [[InnocentProdigy while extremely well-homeschooled due to the gems teaching]], Steven is 13 going on 14 but acts like an eight-year-old due to the gems sheltering him. However, when they ''stop'' doing so, Steven is violently thrust into situations far too intense for a tween, and [[spoiler: develops [=PTSD=] because of it.]]