Crystal Gems (Steven Quartz Universe | Garnet | Amethyst | Pearl | Rose Quartz | Connie Maheswaran | Peridot | Lapis Lazuli) | Gem Fusions | Homeworld Gems | Diamond Authority (Yellow Diamond | Blue Diamond | Pink Diamond | White Diamond) | Yellow Diamond's Court | Blue Diamond's Court | Off Colors | Gem Monsters | Little Homeworld | Humans (Greg Universe) | Other
Homeworld Gems

The original group of Gems based on the Gem Homeworld, who the Crystal Gems diverged from some time in the past. Since then, they've cut off contact with Earth, besides an occasional space-probe, and apparently changed radically as a society.
- Adorable Evil Minions: The Diamonds and Quartzes are plenty intimidating, but a significant portion of the Homeworld military and technical staff appear to be Rubies and Peridots, respectively, both of which are about three feet tall (though Era 1 Peridots may be taller). The Pearls, who are servant Gems by design, can be very cute, too. Eventually, we see that even the "regular" huge Quartzes and the Diamonds themselves can be pretty adorable. That's not even getting into the Topazes.
- Alien Invasion: Invaded Earth around 6,000 years ago, but were repelled by the Crystal Gems.
- Aliens Never Invented the Wheel: Pearl had to explain to Peridot what a wheel was. All Gem vehicles and transportation methods shown involve levitation, robotic legs, and teleportation, so it seems wheels were never invented on Homeworld or became so obsolete as to be forgotten.
- Always Lawful Evil: Subverted. While the Diamonds seem maliciously evil, the rest of Homeworld Gems are not inherently evil, they are merely products of their environment (though a few, like Holly Blue Agate and Aquamarine, are quite unpleasant people). They are also decidedly
lawful with a rigid emphasis on total obedience to their leaders and strict adherence to their Hive Caste System. Eventually we learn that this is not even true of the Diamonds, or at least for Blue and Yellow. Their hatred for Earth and its life was largely driven by their shock at the "murder" of Pink Diamond. Once they learn that Pink faked her shattering and are revealed to be miserable under White's rule, they become much more amenable. White Diamond herself, on the other hand, is another matter. - Arc Symbol:
- A four-pointed diamond seems to symbolize Gemkind in general, as opposed to the five-pointed star of the Crystal Gems. The shape is found on just about every Homeworld uniform, with some, mainly the modern uniforms, being more immediately obvious (such as Peridot, Jasper, all of the Ruby squad sans Doc and Navy, and the Quartz soldiers of the Human Zoo having very visible diamond shapes in the color of their respective diamonds on their outfits) and some more subtle (such as the outfit for Rubies in "The Answer" simply having a vaguely triangular stripe in the center of their tanks, Aquamarine's dress having a pattern consisting of several blue zigzags, and her "undershirt" and the way her dress covers it making part of it form the shape of a blue diamond, something done similarly with Sapphire's dress in her appearance from when she was still with Homeworld).
- A common insignia on things relating to Homeworld is four diamond shapes composing a larger one
◊, with a white one on top, pink on the bottom, and yellow and blue between them left and right respectively. It's mostly present on older Homeworld structures such as the Sky Arena...- ...due to being replaced with another symbol featuring interlocking triangles forming a larger triangle with a small one in the center (with one triangle in blue, white, and yellow
◊) on more modern Homeworld creations, such as the hand ship Peridot and Jasper arrive in. These, rather obviously, represent the Great Diamond Authority, and it's heavily implied that this change was due to the shattering of Pink Diamond.
- ...due to being replaced with another symbol featuring interlocking triangles forming a larger triangle with a small one in the center (with one triangle in blue, white, and yellow
- To a lesser extent, there appears to be a hand motif. The ship Jasper and Peridot arrived in was literally a giant hand, complete with functional fingers, and the largest Cluster manifestation was in the shape of a hand. The Diamonds travel around in giant arm-shaped spaceships.
- Beautiful Slave Girls: This is a Pearl's lot in the Homeworld caste system, made to stand around and look pretty as a status symbol for higher-class Gems. Though the Diamonds' Pearls are an exception, as while still status symbols, they are tasked with other things by their Diamonds, some of which are important, and actually hold authority over other Gems.
- Best Served Cold: They waited five thousand years to get their revenge for being denied Earth.
- Bigger Stick: The main reason that the Crystal Gems are terrified of Homeworld returning is that Gem technology has advanced so far in the time since they were defeated that it makes the Crystal Gems' tech look primitive in comparison. "The Return" validates these fears as they can't even scratch Peridot's spaceship with Opal or an entire battery of Laser Light Cannons (one of which destroyed the Red Eye from early on in the series) and they get stomped into the dirt.
- City with No Name: Apparently, the Gem homeworld either has no name or its name is "Homeworld". They don't refer to it as "the" homeworld. For example, "once we get back to Homeworld", "set a course for Homeworld", "you're from Homeworld", etc. This gets lampshaded when Jamie gets confused at the use of the term, pointing out that for him "Homeworld" means Earth. Their apparent capital city where the Diamond's palace is located is never named either.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Most Gems serving under specific Diamonds are colored or marked in some way that reflects that. Sapphire and Lapis have predominantly blue coloring to signify their service to Blue Diamond, while Jasper, Peridot, and the Ruby Squad have yellow diamonds on their clothing to mark their affiliation to Yellow Diamond. During her life, Pink Diamond's had a pink diamond on their outfit to denote who they belonged to. The two other Pearls belonging to the Diamonds have coloring which reflects that, which raises the question of who Crystal Gem Pearl was made to serve. Eventually we find out that she was Pink Diamond's Pearl.
- Crippling Overspecialization:
- The Gem destabilizer and their ships' prison cells respectively pull a One-Hit Kill on Gems' light forms, but clearly weren't made with organic beings in mind. As Steven is a Half-Human Hybrid, the prison barriers only tickle him, which allows him to escape and hold off Peridot's destabilizer.
- The caste system of the Homeworld makes it illegal for a gem to specialize outside of the role they were created for. This is especially evident with Peridots and Rubies, who were made to be Wrench Wenches and a Redshirt Army, respectively, and have little ability outside of those areas. Most Rubies are not much brighter than an average, non-Gem rock. Peridots have almost no combat ability without technology backing them up, except for being good at taking hits, which is most likely just so they can keep working if heavy equipment falls on them or they're required to work in a dangerous area/situation.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Nearly all non-Diamonds are treated as inferior beings on Homeworld, with Lapis and Peridot being particularly noteworthy. Lapis was trapped in a mirror, mistaken for a Crystal Gem and interrogated for information she didn't have, before being cracked and left on Earth for millennia. Peridot's upbringing, meanwhile, was so implicitly harsh and militaristic that she questions whether every item in a typical bathroom is a weapon. Pearls reportedly have it even worse than Peridots.
- Dramatically Missing the Point:
- No matter how many times it's displayed that fusion is more than just a combat technique, they don't seem to get it.
- It also seems that Homeworld never got why Rose rebelled in the first place, completely glossing over her desire to defend Earth or her belief that Grew Beyond Their Programming is entirely possible for a Gem.
- The Dreaded: All of the Crystal Gems are terrified at the thought of them returning to Earth, to the point they are willing to blow up the Galaxy Warp to stop them from coming back (even though it might not even work permanently).
- Dress-Coded for Your Convenience: In addition to displaying their Diamond's sigil somewhere on their bodies, gems from the same court typically have a few features in common.
- Many Blue Court gems have bangs or wear clothing that obscures their eyes in some way. The higher-ranking Gems in the Blue Court also tend to favor dresses or skirts, most likely to imitate Blue Diamond's robes.
- Several Yellow Court gems have Shoulders of Doom like Yellow Diamond or wear visors over their eyes (the visors, in particular, seem to indicate military rank, such as with "Doc" Ruby). Jasper and Hessonite also wear capes, although at least in the case of Jasper the cape seems to be an actual physical accessory and not part of her default appearance.
- Pink Court gems often have long hair or Regal Ringlets and full lips (Amethysts, Jaspers, Nephrites).
- Dystopia: Lapis Lazuli as a Fish out of Temporal Water can't recognize the changes Homeworld has gone through and Garnet and Pearl, who were part of Rose's rebellion, are terrified of Homeworld returning to Earth. We see more of this later on when Yellow Diamond makes it abundantly clear that at least she doesn't care at all for the Gems under her. It later turns out that the Hive Caste System is so strict that so much as being born with a birth defect is punishable by death, with Shattering Robonoids roaming Homeworld to execute anyone who doesn't fit the Diamonds' design.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After spending eons suffering under the Diamonds' tyranny, the Homeworld Gems finally get this thanks to Steven due to the Gem Empire and Hive Caste System being abolished, meaning they get more freedom and are allowed to choose their own roles, and the Diamonds being outright removed from power.
- The Empire: The Gem Homeworld is led by the Great Diamond Authority, consisting of Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond, White Diamond and formerly, Pink Diamond. They conquer worlds, sucking the life and energy out of them to make more Gems, and have little to no regard for organic life. Homeworld has a Hive Caste System, lots of Fantastic Racism, especially towards Pearls, and do not have an issue with shattering Gems and using them for the fusion experiments and the Cluster if they don't conform to their standards.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good:
- Homeworld Gems seem to view fusion as a combat technique and nothing else and seem confused by or dismissive of its alternative purpose as an act of pure intimacy and love. They run experiments which forcibly fuse shattered Gems, creating monstrous amalgamations of odd limbs, and Peridot apparently sees no problem with this.
- The truly evil ones seem completely incapable of comprehending why Rose opposed them to save humanity. It becomes especially ironic when Rose turns out to be one of their leaders in disguise.
- Evil Is Petty: They (or at least Yellow Diamond) want the Cluster to destroy the Earth for no other reason than out of spite that they couldn't annex it into their Empire. It is especially petty once Peridot reveals that Homeworld is running low on resources, resulting in the necessity of newer Gems being made of lesser quality compared to older ones, and the Earth has lots of resources that would be a boon to Homeworld. That said, Rose's Rebellion led to Rose shattering Pink Diamond, which is more understandable, but still a pretty petty motivation. It now seems Yellow Diamond wants to destroy Earth out of a mix of revenge for Rose shattering Pink Diamond, along with Pink Diamond's subjects and zoo facility, and simply wanting to remove everything that reminds her of her dead comrade so she can forget about her and not have to hurt anymore.
- Evil Plan: At first, the Crystal Gems assume they are trying to reactivate the Kindergarten to produce more Gems. It's later revealed that they were actually using the Kindergarten for experiments in forcing (Crystal) Gem shards to undergo fusion, all to create the Cluster, a gigantic Gem shard mutant that has been incubating inside the Earth's core for 5000 years. When the Cluster is awakened, it will tear the Earth apart like a chick breaking out of an egg.
- Fantastic Honorifics:
According to Rebecca Sugar, the phrase "My (Gem's name here)" is only used to address superiors, never by a superior about their inferior, not even a Pearl they own. This is most often seen by Gems towards the Diamonds. When Rose called Pearl "My Pearl", she meant it as a term of respect
. - Fantastic Racism: They really don't care for any other types of life besides (loyal) Gems. Even among loyal Gems, there's a heavy expectation to follow their Hive Caste System. Higher castes often look down on the lower, while the lower Caste often sees themselves as quite expendable. The Diamonds, in particular, look down on all other forms of life and Gems, even loyal ones, to the point they used a combined attack to corrupt (meant to obliterate) most of the Gems on Earth after they fled, regardless of the loyalty of the Gems affected).
- Fascist, but Inefficient: Due to the strict nature of the caste system, most Gems that fail to match a specific criteria (either due to physical abnormalities or abnormalities in their abilities) or behave in a manner foreign to their assigned roles and station (Gems that refuse to do their jobs or are incapable of doing so) are usually shattered on-site. This has also led to fusion being taboo, being only allowed between members of the same gem-type (Rubies fusing with Rubies for instance), and even then is only allowed between situations that require them. Any inter-Gem fusions (like Garnet for example) are forbidden and are subject to Fantastic Racism at best, shattering on-site at worst. This is especially vexing considering that compared to same-Gem fusions, inter-Gem fusions are more diverse, powerful and unpredictable, fusions like Garnet, Stevonnie and Smoky Quartz having defeated Jasper (who is established as being an Ultimate Life Form by Homeworld standards) in nearly every turn. While a justice system does exist (usually a trial with Defense and Prosecutor Zircons), the efficacy of this is questionable if gems of a superior station (like the Diamonds) are able to waive these rules and leave such a system pointless.
- Feudal Future: They're an interstellar empire with a caste system and nobility, though their agelessness and Bizarre Alien Reproduction mean the rule isn't exactly hereditary. And most of their soldiers use melee weaponry.
- From Bad to Worse: As bad as they were when they originally fought the Crystal Gems, they've become even more advanced and powerful in the following 6,000 years if Lapis' message is anything to go by.
- Greater-Scope Villain: As a whole, they are responsible for the Kindergarten and were once in conflict with the Crystal Gems, but there is much about them still shrouded in mystery, particularly where the Diamonds are concerned.
- Happiness in Slavery: Much to the chagrin of the Crystal Gems, most Homeworld Gems are perfectly content to let themselves be slaves to the Diamonds. Rose apparently shattering Pink Diamond wasn't seen as a source of jubilation but a rallying cry for vengeance and retribution.
- Heel–Race Turn: Happens to them en masse following White Diamond's own Heel–Face Turn in Change Your Mind. While there are a few known number of Gems that dislike this disruption of the status quo, the vast majority of Gems are quite happy to no longer be forced into upholding White Diamond's original oppressive and controlling regime.
- Hidden Agenda Villain: Their motives for exploiting Earth were unknown for quite a while: they wanted to drain all life from the planet to make more Gems, then hollow out the remains for a new colony. Now they just want it destroyed.
- Higher-Tech Species: The aforementioned disdain for other lifeforms, the Magitek ability to easily traverse intergalactic space, the dogmatic drive in their destructive quests to propagate. Homeworld Gems seem to fit the criteria.
- Hive Caste System: Homeworld has a rigid caste system where different Gem types work in different positions and have powers designed for whatever their task is. Though there are tremendous physical differences between the castes, it also resembles a Fantastic Caste System, in that its positions have a significant variation in prestige attached and mostly correspond to human jobs. As of Era 3, there is no more caste system, meaning the Homeworld Gems get to choose their own roles and/or live in Little Homeworld.
- Diamonds are the matriarchs of Gem society, and collectively are called the Great Diamond Authority. Some of the other gems have a colored diamond on their clothing to denote which Diamond they follow. Sapphire used to follow Blue Diamond and had a corresponding blue diamond on the top of her dress to match (just like Lapis has one on her torso), Peridot and Jasper have yellow diamonds on their outfits since they follow Yellow Diamond, etc. The Gems are also unique as only four seem to exist period.
- Sapphires have Seer powers and are very rare Gems overall, so they are courtiers and nobility. Their duty seems to be being advisors to the diamonds, predicting the future so the diamonds can plan for it.
- Garnets (technically unrelated to the character Garnet) are a category of Gems, which includes Hessonites, Demantoids, and Pyropes. Hessonites at least are physically powerful military commanders, and the others probably have similar or identical roles.
- Emeralds are admirals, commanding fleets of space ships.
- Aquamarines are another high-ranking gem type, though the one we've seen took all her power from her non-gem weapon. Their current role is unknown, although they seem to work directly under the Diamonds.
- Morganites are designers, and are high-ranking enough that at least one owns both a Ruby and a Pearl.
- Jades are another type of gem seen as courtiers, though to what purpose is unknown. They seem to have a pretty significant amount of variety for a single type, including armless ones that look like living cogs
. - Lapis Lazulis are used to terraform colony worlds. They're considered extremely important.

- Topazes are elite guards and soldiers that seem to act as Secret Service to the Diamonds on Homeworld, taking orders and missions only from their Diamond directly. On missions, they generally act as brute muscle.
- Nephrites serve as pilots and explorers.
- Zircons are lawyers.
- Quartzes are the main warrior caste, which seems to be divided into sub-caste depending on what type of Quartz gem (there are a lot).
- Agates are meant to be supervisors of lesser Quartz gems, terrifying their subordinates into submission.
- Jaspers are apparently made to be The Determinator.
- Citrines are guards.
- Rose Quartzes appear to have a defensive role.
- Amethysts, Carnelians, Flints, and Cherts are known to exist as part of the general "Quartz" caste, but their specific role is unknown. Though not shown, Tiger's Eye is another gem that is mentioned and presumably a quartz.
- Bismuths are builders and architects, responsible for building all the structures used by the high-class Gems.
- Peridots are engineers and technicians. They seem to be considered unimportant, as Peridot was called "a lowly Peridot" by Yellow Diamond and finds the idea of having her own Pearl laughably absurd.
- Rubies are disposable soldiers and bodyguards. They are designed to fuse during combat.
- Pearls are attendants and status symbols for higher-ranking Gems. They're not considered more than fancy objects, effectively putting them at the very bottom of the totem pole. They have to obey the orders of the Gem they're made for without question whether they want to or not. However, it seems Pearls can have some sort of authority by extension of serving their masters, as Yellow Pearl almost denied Peridot access to Yellow Diamond, and according to Defense Zircon, only a Diamond has the authority to dismiss a Diamond's Pearl. White Pearl is even higher, to the point of being White's Mouth of Sauron and being able to dismiss the other Diamonds.
- Pebbles are servants whose jobs range from creating furniture for the Diamonds to sit on or becoming actual tools for them to use. Unusually, they seem to be created directly by the Diamonds and entirely out rock, instead of being made in a Kindergarten and projecting bodies from a Heart Drive. One could wonder if they even count as Gems at all, though officially, they are
. - Spinels are rubbery, cutesy, clown-like Gems meant to be entertaining playmates for high-class Gems.
- Larimars use their claws to carve ice sculptures.
- Snowflake Obsidians have ice powers they use to make ice trenches the army uses.
- There are Gems whose sole purpose is to be used for décor and building material.
- A number of other Gem types are shown or mentionedList, but their positions and roles are unknown.
- Fusions are basically considered to be walking weapons, and cross-Gem fusions are seen as abominations since they're inherently outside of the system.
- Humans are Insects: Homeworld sees organic life as an infestation on planets otherwise ripe for colonizing. Humans are (mostly) no exception.
- Individuality Is Illegal: In the Gem Homeworld, every Gem has an exact purpose they're made for and only that exact purpose is allowed. Jasper implies a punishment for deviating from your "intended" purpose may be death and the Off Colors, a group of fugitive Gems, later confirm this is indeed the case, as is being born with a defect. Naturally, Rose Quartz was able to use this as a fantastic recruiting tool, as she herself believed the exact opposite and encouraged her Crystal Gems to find their own identity and desires. Counterintuitively, most of her subordinates only followed her because she was a very charismatic leader, and others only wanted to bite back at the Gempire, regardless of her actual philosophies; early on in the show, it seems that the remainder of the Crystal Gems only stayed around to protect Earth (and Steven, by extension) because that's what Rose would have wanted them to do.
- Inscrutable Aliens: Actually, humans are this to them. The Homeworld Gems are based on a strict caste hierarchy in which every Gem is created for a specific purpose and is never meant to grow beyond their original programming. The Crystal Gems might not be very familiar with many aspects of human culture, but they've at least tried to learn a bit over the centuries. The Homeworld Gems seemingly reserve art only for the upper class, to the point Peridot found the concept of singing foreign. After defecting to the Crystal Gems and spending some time on Earth exploring their newfound freedom, Peridot and Lapis actually "re-invent" visual art — which Peridot literally describes as "I had this idea: what if we made music, but instead of sounds, we use things?" Having no experience with this new concept, Lapis came up with the name "meepmorp" for what we would call "visual art".
- Insignificant Blue Planet: Most of the Homeworld Gems did not care about sacrificing the Earth to make more of their own kind, with the Crystal Gems branching off from them over this issue. These days, they just want it destroyed to avenge Pink Diamond's death.
- Ironic Name: Rubies in real life are associated with nobility, and are actually more valuable than diamonds, while Homeworld has rubies as an expendable Red Shirt Army caste.
- Large and in Charge: Mostly, but not always, played straight.
- Quartz gems like Jasper are (usually) highly-ranked and typically enormous, appearing to be around seven or eight feet tall. Topazes are even larger and extremely high ranking soldiers. The Diamonds are many times the size of Jasper and Rose, appearing at first look to be around 20 feet during "Message Received" but later appearances depicting them as even larger.
- In contrast, Rubies are the lowest-ranking soldiers and among the smallest gems. Peridots are also short, though they wear "limb enhancers" to appear taller and are somewhat higher-ranked than Rubies.
- Subverted by Sapphire, who we are told in "The Answer" is a high-ranking aristocratic Gem, but she's the same size as a Ruby. Aquamarines also subverts this, as they're the smallest Gems after the Pebbles (and whatever type of Gem the beetles were), but are extremely high ranking Blue Gems.
- Also subverted by Pearls, who are fairly tall (at least 6') but are the lowest-ranked Gems seen so far, even lower than Rubies. (They are, however, also the thinnest Gems seen so far, and thus much smaller when accounting for overall mass). Subverted the other direction with the Diamonds' Pearls, who have authority over other Gems but are no bigger, and White Pearl who has it over the other Diamonds due to acting as White's Mouth of Sauron.
- Light Is Not Good: Homeworld is very shiny and brightly colored (with inhabitants who are essentially light elementals), yet it's the capital of an Evil Empire.
- Locked Out of the Loop: With the exception of the Diamonds and those who fought in the war, the rest of the Gems have no clue about the Crystal Gems' rebellion and were merely told that Earth was not viable to be a colony. It comes back to bite them when Peridot gets stranded on Earth and realizes that it's still full of life and resources that are of use to the Empire, and as such, she sees no reason to let it be destroyed.
- Magitek: In addition to utilizing their supernatural powers, the Gem society has evolved to a point of harnessing advanced technology in their endeavors.
- Meaningful Name: Almost all castes and their roles are based on associations and uses of the minerals they are named after.
- Diamonds are the hardest mineral and are viewed as the most valuable gems in the world (though they are actually somewhat common if found only in specific locations).
- Rubies are hardworking grunts, if somewhat clueless. Ruby is one of the toughest minerals aside from diamond and used as protection from supernatural attacks. It is also associated with fire, and Rubies have heat powers. Ironically, real-life rubies are actually more valuable than diamonds.
- Pearls are servants who are manufactured to serve as status symbols and look pretty but not considered very strong. Pearls are created by life instead of geologically like other minerals, and have no use outside of jewelry.
- Mechanistic Alien Culture: The Gems don't even seem to understand the concept of nicknames, as far as the show indicates, and place a high priority on efficiency, organization, and following orders. It's unclear whether or not things were different before the Rebellion, though.
- Moral Myopia: The common theme of whenever a Gem still loyal to Homeworld talks about the Gem War's events is them mentioning how it's a waste and the damage done to the Gem empire (including Pink Diamond's death). However, they have always overlooked the entire reason Rose rebelled in the first place: if Homeworld's plans had succeeded, then it would have meant planetary genocide to every species living on Earth when they arrived.
- Moe Anthropomorphism: Personified gems who usually resemble attractive women.
- Multicultural Alien Planet: Their Hive Caste System is extremely diverse in terms of size, shape, and color, and Homeworld Gems are also divided into three (formerly four) courts.
- A Nazi by Any Other Name: Subverted: While their Fantastic Racism towards organic life and their invading of planets to secure resources and produce more Gems does bear some resemblance to the practice of Nazi Germany, the comparison falls flat when looking at the rest of their actions. For starters, they don't seem to be motivated by any sort of explicit Master Race ideology, with Yellow Diamond leaving the wildlife on the Jungle Moon base be for the most part, and while she did try and destroy the Earth, that was solely out of revenge for Pink's "death". That and it's confirmed by
Word of God that they never encountered sentient organic life prior to finding Earth. Furthermore, while their practice of purging those that in some way don't fit in with the "order of the Diamonds", such as those born with certain defects or those with behaviors outside their "purpose" does bear some resemblance to eugenics, those practices were hardly exclusive to the Nazis. The Homeworld Gems devotion to their Diamonds, who they refer to as "My Diamond" like how we would say "My Lord" bears more resemblance to the practices of a traditional monarchy than anything else. On the whole, when looking at their overall practices, they seem to bear more resemblance to a standard colonial state/kingdom driven by desire for resources and territory than genocidal fascists. - Necromancer: A Gem shattering is the equivalent of death, but that doesn't keep their forced fusion experiments from bringing them back.
- Non-Uniform Uniform: Though Peridot and Jasper's kind of outfit seems to be standard, especially for soldiers, the two Rubies with different outfits in "Hit the Diamond" imply that alterations are allowed if the standard version would cover the Gemstone.
- No Song for the Wicked: Besides very high ranking Gems, none of them ever sing in this musical show. Each one of them, however, have their own Leitmotif. The only Homeworld Gem that ever gets to sing becomes a Crystal Gem in the very next episode. This case also demonstrates the theme of music being something individual, unique, and beautiful in ways Homeworld doesn't approve of. Four seasons in, the trope is subverted while still keeping with said themes: we hear a Villain Song from Yellow Diamond, about discarding feelings to cope with the death of a loved one, but only because of Steven's Exact Eavesdropping on her expressing herself in a way she would not do in public.
- Ominous Mundanity: Their names for things are exceedingly blunt — their home planet is just called "Homeworld", more of them are made in "Kindergarten", their People Zoo is "the Zoo" — which goes to show they aren't concerned with things like creativity.
- Planet Looters: They tried to use Earth's resources to make more Gems, and certainly nothing's stopping them from doing it to other planets. They are later revealed to be running low on resources, but it's unclear whether this is the cause of their invasion of Earth or a consequence of it, given the only Gem shown to be affected by this was Peridot who was created long after the original war.
- Predecessor Villain: Conflict with them is why the Crystal Gems are on Earth in the first place.
- The Purge: Homeworld's policy for anyone that in some way violates the "order of the Diamonds" appears to be death. This includes Gems like Amethyst who have some form of defect as well as Gems who try to do something other than what they were made for. The Off Colors later confirm this, and live in constant fear of being shattered because of it.Jasper: Every Gem is made for a purpose: to serve the order of the Diamonds. Those who cannot fit inside this order must be purged!
- Rage Quit: When it became clear they would likely never get control of Earth, they incubated the Cluster to destroy it, letting Rose and the Crystal Gems believe they were able to save Earth, unaware of this current threat until Peridot told them. It's revealed during "Monster Reunion" that they were also the ones responsible for corrupting various Gems by releasing a weapon after the Diamonds pulled out.
- Rule of Symbolism: The diamond we see on their outfits symbolizes the creation of life. They did, in fact, create new Gems... by plundering the Earth's resources. There are also parallels that can be drawn with viruses; they use up a planet's resources to make more of themselves and expand their empire, and they're created by Injector machines which look like a bacteriophage virus.
- Scary Dogmatic Aliens: Their Planet Looter tendencies heavily imply they're Aliens as Conquistadores, plundering planets without caring about the life located on them. Some of them may fill the "Aliens as Nazis" mold (Peridot hypocritically refers to human life as an "infestation", while Jasper is The Social Darwinist), but they do so in radically distinct ways, and given how it's still miles beneath their core objective, it's unclear if the whole species truly hates other life or simply regards it as irrelevant.
- Servant Race: The Gems are an artificial race created to be essentially the entire population of an interplanetary empire. There are many different kinds of Gems, each made for a specific task. Some are definitely more "servile" than others (contrast the foot soldiers, builders, technicians, and handmaidens/living status symbols with the aristocrats, generals, and thinkers), but all of them are made to serve the interests of their creators and ruling authority, the Diamonds. It's only the Crystal Gems who decided to stop following their creators' orders and be something other than what they were made for.
- Shocking Defeat Legacy: The Crystal Gems standing up to Homeworld at all was highly unexpected. Losing Earth as a colony and Pink Diamond seems to have weighed heavily on Homeworld's members that survived and society as a whole.
- Sigil Spam: The generic diamond shape, the three triangles, and the four diamonds making one big diamond are very prominent among Homeworld bases.
- Sleeves Are for Wimps: Most of the Gems don't exactly wear long sleeves on their outfits.
- Smug Super: Most of the Homeworld Gems are highly overconfident in their powers.
- Social Darwinism: The core of their Hive Caste System. The Diamonds are supposed to be the most powerful beings in the universe, with White at the top and Pink at the bottom, resulting in the latter's authority being overruled by her superior siblings, much to her resentment. Even the very bottom of the caste, Pearls, look down on organic life possibly as a coping mechanism for being made to obey every order from their owners. When Pink Steven proved to be more powerful than White, it shakes up the caste system as White realizes if she is unable to control Pink Steven, she is essentially flawed for not being the most powerful anymore and has a Villainous Breakdown at this turn of events.
- Sorting Algorithm of Evil: Zig-zagged.
- The first Homeworld Gem we are introduced to is Lapis Lazuli, who is a Person of Mass Destruction who stole a huge portion of the ocean, if not all of it, in the second episode she was in.
- She was followed by Peridot and Jasper, who, while both very competent, did not possess Lapis's massive firepower.
- Afterwards, Lapis and Jasper fused into Malachite, who combined their powers to a greater degree than them separately and was an even bigger threat than either of them, even thought Lapis is forced to represent Homeworld and is no longer considered a villain. And she stayed at the bottom of the sea for a whole season while the Gems mostly focus on finding Peridot despite claiming they're still looking for them, and was eventually beaten by Alexandrite and the Watermelon Stevens in her reappearance.
- The Cluster was introduced shortly after the Crystal Gems captured Peridot, and while it is said to be capable of destroying Earth by merely taking its physical form, Steven manages to convince it to bubble itself, removing any threat it posed without a single punch thrown by the Cluster.
- The Ruby Squad appear shortly after the Cluster is bubbled, and quickly are proven to be Harmless Villains, except for the unhinged Eyeball, who Steven still deals with easily.
- The Cluster and Malachite being dealt with are followed by Jasper having some time in the spotlight, and while powerful enough to defeat Amethyst in a fight, she was beaten thoroughly by Stevonnie and later Smoky Quartz before becoming corrupted due to her own actions.
- Next was Aquamarine and Topaz, who are scarily efficient, although not seeking a direct confrontation.
- After this, the Diamonds themselves finally take center stage.
- Stupid Evil: They tend to be overly destructive to the planets they conquer, leaving them nothing but withered husks of rock and taking everything without thinking about saving resources from them for later. This bites them in the butt as a result, since it means they have a lack of resources instead of a steady supply of them.
- Sufficiently Analyzed Magic: It seems that they've managed to reverse-engineer Gem abilities to some extent. Most notably, the Gem destabilizers seem to be directly based on Yellow Diamond's own abilities.
- Suppressed History: Judging by Rhodonite's comments, the average Gem believes that the Earth was destroyed by "the Diamond attack", which presumably happened at the end of the Gem Rebellion or sometime after. Only a few selected by the Diamonds seem to be aware the Earth is still intact (albeit expecting it to be destroyed by the Cluster soon).
- Sycophantic Servant: All Homeworld Gems were created by the Diamonds to serve them, and all of them regard and treat the Diamonds with god-like reverence. Even the Diamonds themselves see some of it as excessive, though their extremely low tolerance for insults and failure is clearly encouraging such behavior.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: In general, Gems made to serve Yellow Diamond (Peridot, Jasper, Yellow Pearl) are tomboyish to some degree; they're arrogant, rude, assertive, hammy and wear form-fitting suits. Peridot is also a technician/engineer and Jasper is a soldier, jobs that would be considered traditionally male. In contrast, Gems made to serve Blue Diamond (Sapphire, Lapis Lazuli, Blue Pearl) are conventionally feminine, composed, soft-spoken, have a habit of clasping their hands and wear flowing dresses or skirts.
- Underestimating Badassery: Considering that many Homeworld Gems considered they could stop Rose Quartz and her army quite easily (at first), the war-torn battlefield of fallen warriors is more than enough evidence of this trope in action.
- Vast Bureaucracy: Implied given that with an Empire that large somebody has to run it; Jasper and Peridot never got back to Homeworld and nobody there seemed to even notice until Peridot made direct contact with Yellow Diamond.
- Vestigial Empire: They're running low on resources, so new Gems are weaker without the standard abilities possessed in "Era 1", and they have to compensate with high tech prosthetics. However, Peridot developing powers anyway suggests modern Gems have the same potential, they're just being underestimated.
- Walking Spoiler: Directly tied to the backstory of the Crystal Gems.
- You Are Number Six: Gems are identified by their "Gem Type", "Facet", and "Cut" or "Cabochon." (Peridot, for example, identifies herself as "Peridot, Facet 25FL, Cut 5XG"). While an efficient and practical way of differentiating what must be a very large number of otherwise perfectly identical Gems of the same type, it is lacking in the personality that just a Gem type implies. A Gem identifying herself by her gem type is equivalent to a human identifying him/herself as "Builder" or "Engineer".
The Great Diamond Authority
Yellow Court
Blue Court
Pink Court
Rose Quartzes


Blue Diamond: But they were hers.
A caste of Quartz-type Gems created for Pink Diamond. After Rose Quartz (the individual) led the Crystal Gems in driving Homeworld off Earth, all of them were bubbled and kept in the Zoo.
After the events of "Change Your Mind", all of them are released from their bubbles. Two years later, three of them come to Earth with the Zoomans/Famethyst to learn about their saviors the Crystal Gems... which is the last thing any of them need.
- All There in the Script: The three Rose Quartzes in "Rose Buds" are referred to in the credits as Superfan Rose, Hippie Rose, and Shy Rose.
- Ambiguous Situation: It's unclear at what time during the war they were bubbled. The defending Zircon in "The Trial" mentions Pink Diamond didn't have any in her guard or entourage when she was shattered, so they might have been removed already, or could have just never been in those specific positions to begin with.
- Big Beautiful Woman: All Quartz soldiers resemble large, bulky women, but Rose Quartzes in particular look somewhat more human-like and conventionally pretty than the others.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Their bubbled gems appeared in "That Will Be All", and they ended up being the focus of the plot of "Rose Buds" two seasons later.
- Cool Big Sis: Much like Amethyst, they were made by Pink Diamond and are thus the equivalent of Steven's older sisters. However, this time Steven points this out In-Universe.
- Do You Think I Can't Feel: When they realize that they're making everyone feeling awkward, Shy Rose mentions that they aren't oblivious to the response from others. After all, they had to deal with millennia of being scapegoated for Pink Diamond's actions. Even if it's all in the past, it still hurts.
- Et Tu, Brute?: While they have Undying Loyalty towards Homeworld, they admit they were hurt that their own Diamond impersonated them and let them take the fall for her actions. It meant not seeing the Earth for millennia, being threatened with shattering, and realizing they are a walking Trauma Button for practically every modern Gem.
- Freudian Trio: The three Rose Quartzes introduced in "Rose Buds" act as a trio.
- Superfan Rose is The McCoy. She is hyperactive, talkative and tends to behave in the moment with little forethought. Being a Loony Fan of Steven, she has a bad habit of hanging off of everything he does with no sense of personal space.
- Hippie Rose is The Kirk. She is the most chill and goes along with the other two without complaint.
- Shy Rose is The Spock. She is quiet, introverted and is the most conscientious of everyone else, having figured out how uncomfortable they make everyone before the others ever could.
- G-Rated Stoner: The white-haired Rose is extremely chill, and so relaxed that you'd think she was on some kind of drugs were that physically possible. The credits even call her "Hippie Rose".
- Genki Girl: Superfan Rose Quartz is the most excited of them, full of energetic, over-talkative enthusiasm, ready to discover the wonders of Earth.
- Identical Stranger: Shy Rose is nearly identical to the Crystal Gem Rose, having the same hairstyle and Gem placement, but her skin is a slightly darker pink, she lacks Rose's cleavage, and she has a different uniform and voice.
- Innocently Insensitive: All three of them merely existing put the main cast on edge for a number of entirely understandable reasons, but the spunky one has only heard stories about Earth and is acting like an overenthusiastic tourist the entire time.
- Massive Numbered Siblings: By the end of "Rose Buds", Steven begins to consider them as his siblings, due to all of them being created by Pink Diamond. And while Steven only met three of them, there's a lot more of them.
- Misplaced Retribution: All of them are being punished for what Rose did, and Yellow Diamond wants them shattered. Presumably, the Diamonds assumed Rose's "defect" inherent to her Gem type and wanted to feel like they were punishing Pink Diamond's killer. Made even worse when it turns out that Pink wasn't shattered by a Rose Quartz at all.
- Nice Girl: While they may differ in personality, the three Rose Quartzes that come to visit Steven are all kind and welcoming. Also, considering all the other Rose Quartzes are seen either joyfully having fun or relaxing, it implies they're this as well.
- One-Shot Character: Only appeared in person in "Rose Buds".
- The Scapegoat: When Pink Diamond started her rebellion, they were poofed and bubbled en masse for six thousand years. Three Roses admit that it hurt a lot to know that they weren't trusted.
- Sealed Good in a Can: They're bubbled in a secure chamber in the Zoo. Though they presumably worked for Homeworld, the overall portrayal of Homeworld Gems suggests they aren't generally evil, which is confirmed in "Rose Buds".
- Shrinking Violet: The shy Rose Quartz, whose hairstyle and Gem placement is identical to the Crystal Gem Rose.
- Stepford Smiler: While they are genuinely happy to see Steven, three Roses later admit how much it hurts that their Diamond impersonated them, and how they were scapegoated. They were just doing their job when caring for humans on Earth.
- Stone Wall: A Tweet by Ian Jones-Quartey
implies they had a defensive role in Homeworld's military, as seen by our Rose's weapon being a shield. - The Three Faces of Eve: Each member of the Rose Quartz trio from "Rose Buds" represents one of the many masks the Crystal Gem Rose has worn in her life.
- Superfan Rose is the Child, the immature, silly, and excitable one who is always in awe of the wonders of organic life (or at least Steven).
- Shy Rose is the Wife, the wise, dignified, and emotionally mature one who knows what's going on better than anyone.
- Hippie Rose is the Seductress, who at least takes an interest in Pearl, saying in a sensual tone that "if I could have had a Pearl, I would've wanted her to be just like you" and offers Garnet a shoulder-massage in a flirty manner.
- Tragic Keepsake: The only reason they haven't been shattered is so Blue Diamond can visit the Zoo and stare at them to remind herself of their creator.
- Unseen No More: Before Future, we only saw them in gem form, and had to guess their appearance based on the Crystal Gem Rose Quartz (who wasn't a real Rose Quartz).
- Valley Girl: Hippie Rose Quartz has a mellow, laid-back, easygoing, California-like personality.
Pink Diamond's Pearl
WARNING! This character is a Walking Spoiler. Potential unmarked spoilers for season 5 and beyond!

The Pearl owned by Pink Diamond. She is first brought up by Blue Zircon in "The Trial", wondering what she was doing that would prevent her from noticing Rose Quartz's assassination attempt on Pink Diamond. She was unable to attend the trial and give testimony, but flashbacks have expanded on who she was and her role in Pink Diamond's shattering.
- Absence of Evidence: As Defense Zircon pointed out in "The Trial", even if Rose Quartz somehow managed to sneak past the rest of Pink Diamond's entourage, or came upon her when she had sent them away for whatever reason, her Pearl should have been able to give her a warning. The Diamonds take their Pearls with them everywhere they go, even for things that they wouldn't let any other Gem see (Blue Diamond took her Pearl with her to Earth, the Yellow and Blue Pearls were present during the conversation between their respective Diamonds in the bubble room), so there shouldn't have been any circumstance where Pink Diamond sent her Pearl away.
- Ambiguous Situation: Judging by Blue and Yellow Pearls' reactions, something must've happened to her. For whatever reason, she wasn't brought up as eyewitness testimony, meaning either;
- She wasn't present when Pink Diamond got shattered, so her testimony would've been worthless to the investigation. However, as Blue and Yellow Pearls have always been seen in the accompaniment of their Diamonds even when Rose and the Crystal Gems' Pearl attacked the Cloud Arena (meaning that this wasn't a rule modified to fix a loophole in the Pearls' routine), if her Pearl was still alive at the time Pink Diamond was shattered, then where was she? Why didn't she warn Pink that Rose was approaching?
- She was unavailable to provide testimony due to being shattered, defected, corrupted, or some other reason. Due to Homeworld's faster-than-light travel and teleportation as well as rejecting the orders of the Diamonds being considered treasonous, a loyal and intact Pearl should've been able to attend the case. As it turns out, she defected to the Crystal Gems, along with her owner.
- Breaking Old Trends: When we finally get a look at her, we find out that, unlike the other Diamonds' Pearls, she used the colors of all four Diamonds in her appearance and her gem does not match the placement of her Diamond's.
- The Butler Did It: She didn't warn Pink about Rose because "Rose Quartz" was actually her shapeshifted into Rose's form, helping Pink to fake her own shattering.
- The Ghost: She's mentioned when Defense Zircon comments that she didn't warn Pink Diamond that Rose was nearby and armed. Subverted when it turns out she's one of the main characters.
- Giant Poofy Sleeves
- Grew Beyond Their Programming: She was given to Pink thousands of years before her mistress was given the Earth as her first colony. Her sole function was to make Pink happy. Even then, she acted... robotic, and seemed incapable of thinking for herself. Pink's Pearl gradually loosened up as they explored the planet, and even admitted to her Diamond, she was beginning to have fantasies of them running off together. She became horrified at her own confession and fusion attempts requesting she be replaced, but Pink Diamond encouraged her to never stop growing. While she does return to her servant role six millennia later, with Pink Diamond's son Steven becoming her new owner, she does not return to her old robotic personality, even acting more as her Diamond's guide and mother figure than his servant.Pink Diamond's Pearl: [singing] Who do I wanna be? I'm the master of me! And isn't the thought enough to lift me off of the ground?
- Heel–Face Turn: She wasn't exactly a villain, but she did serve Homeworld, specifically Pink Diamond. Eventually, she and her Diamond defected and formed the Crystal Gems in an attempt to save Earth.
- Identity Amnesia: When she's hit by her co-worker Spinel's Gem Rejuvenator, she reverts back to when she was made and comes to believe Greg Universe is her owner due to him unintentionally answering as her master. It's only when Steven and Greg fuse into Steg that they manage to break through to her and restore her memories.
- Kindly Housekeeper: A made-to-order Pearl for a Diamond, she's a perfectionist at everything she does. Even her outfit screams "nanny". It's heavily implied she was made to be a governess for Pink Diamond after the original Pink Pearl became too familiar with her.
- My Master, Right or Wrong
- Mysterious Past: As she explained in "Now We're Only Falling Apart", she was given to Pink Diamond, not created by her own mistress. Given her gem placement and outfit incorporating all the colors of the Diamond Authority, it's highly likely White Diamond made her as a replacement for Pink's original Pearl, who was forcibly removed from her post after fraternizing with Pink Diamond, and made this Pearl's gemstone be on her forehead to remind Pink that she will always be watching her.
- Non-Indicative Name: While she is Pink Diamond's Pearl, she is not Pink Pearl. The original Pink Pearl is another character altogether.
- No-Respect Guy: Homeworld really doesn't seem to be acknowledging that not only is she Pink Diamond's Pearl, but also the one who helped her stage a rebellion as Rose Quartz, fake her death, and live a happier life on Earth, thus more than fulfilling her purpose to make Pink happy. Yellow Diamond poofs her the moment she comes to her Diamond's aid in "Together Alone", and White Diamond mind controls her in "Change Your Mind".
- Only Friend
- Pet the Dog: While she makes a remark towards a very small Amethyst by stating she's "not the best example", she at least isn't outright cruel to her, such as not calling said Amethyst an overcooked runt.
- Pink Means Feminine
- Replacement Goldfish: She was given to Pink Diamond to be a "more sensible" Pearl than her previous one, Pink Pearl, ostensibly with the mission of keeping her in line with White Diamond's will better than Pink Pearl did. Ironically, the original Pink Pearl was replaced for the grievous offense of laughing and playing with Pink Diamond, as well as getting damaged on the job. This Pearl helped Pink create a criminal alias, inspired her to rebel and sabotage her own colony, fell in love with and fused with her (repeatedly), and then conspired to fake her assassination and concealed the truth for 6,000 years afterward. With that said, Pink could never return her Pearl's feelings knowing that she was a replacement and the reason why.
- Right Man in the Wrong Place: It turns out that she was the one who first suggested that Pink Diamond disguise herself as a Quartz and explore Earth in person. The Earth would've been colonized otherwise if she hadn't.
- Team Mom: Seemingly of the Pearls. Not much is shown, but we see both Blue, and even Yellow Pearl, treat her with mutual respect.
- Two Aliases, One Character: "A Single Pale Rose" reveals that she is actually the Crystal Gem Pearl.
- True Blue Femininity:
- Undying Loyalty:
- Defense Zircon at the trial pointed out one of the biggest discrepancies in Pink Diamond's assassination; she, as the made-to-order handmaiden of a Diamond, should have been there by her side. Blue and Yellow Pearl acknowledged this much with an expression. As Defense Zircon points out, even if Rose could have gotten past all of Pink Diamond's security, at the very least, Pink's Pearl would have been able to warn her owner of Rose approaching. Only another Diamond would have had the authority to dismiss her. In reality, she was there by Pink Diamond's side all along — but she didn't warn Pink about Rose because Pink is Rose, and they were working together to frame Pink's death.
- When Greg unintentionally answers as her master, she vows to serve him as long as he exists. This becomes exploited by Steven, who fuses with his father, which, in a way, causes him to no longer exist and allows their fusion to finally break through to her.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: She suggested the Rose Quartz form to her Diamond, which Pink recreated down to the smallest hairs so that she could visit Earth in disguise. This led to all the other Roses getting scapegoated, poofed and bubbled. No wonder Pearl looks awkward and guilty on seeing them when they come for dinner.
- Walking Spoiler: Even mentioning her brings up the uncertainty of Pink Diamond's killer. And it's hard to say much about this Pearl without revealing that she's... our Pearl. She's also not Pink Pearl, whom she replaced, likely for getting too familiar with Pink Diamond.
Nephrite Facet-413 Cabochon-12

"No please no, we're all gonna be...
No please no, we're all gonna be...
No please no, we're all gonna be..."
A dropship captain serving Pink Diamond during the rebellion, she was caught up in the corruption wave while trying to rescue her crew, becoming the Gem Monster known as "Centipeetle".
Pebbles

Small sapient rocks created by Pink Diamond, who were also her playmates. While on Homeworld, Steven accidentally creates another Pebble, Baby.
- Ambiguous Gender: While Gems have female voice actors and use feminine pronouns, Fisto is voiced by Zach Callison and wears pajama-like clothing instead of the dresses that the other Pebbles wear.
- Ambiguous Situation: Pebbles are so different than previously established Gems, both in terms of physiology (entirely made of stone instead of Hard Light from a gemstone Heart Drive) and creation (spontaneously made by the Diamonds, like Steven and Rose's plant creatures, no Injectors or Kindergarten involved), it's hard to say if they even are "Gems". It doesn't help that they're not generally acknowledged, basically being treated like furniture. The official word is that they are Gems.

- Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: Brainy and Noggin have their gems on the top of and the back of their heads, respectively making them look like hair buns fit for a servant.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: The littlest ones shy away or hide from anyone other than Pink Diamond and her son Steven. This is because Pink treated them as people, not objects. It's heavily implied they were her only friends besides Spinel once she was disseized of her Pink Pearl, long before she was given her replacement Pearl.
- Fantastic Racism: Even more so than Pearls, Homeworld treat Pebbles like objects — often literally. They're quite surprised when Steven (and Pink Diamond before him) said "thank you". Peridot and Squaridot even use "pebble" as a Fantastic Slur.
- House Fey: They live in the walls and do various chores, much like brownies.
- Lilliputians: Tiny, lumpy rocks that live in the walls and do odd jobs for their Diamond.
- Meaningful Name: All of them except Patch and Baby are named after where their gems are. Patch, whose gem replaces her eye, is named after an eyepatch, while Baby is the youngest of the Pebbles.
- Mistaken Identity: They think that Steven is Pink Diamond all because he said "thank you" to them and believe that Pink's just playing games with them again. They do appear to have realized that Steven doesn't have Pink's memories when he sings "Familiar", though, but one of the Pebbles still refers to Steven as "Pink" in "Together Alone".
- Mouse World: They live and work in the machinery that makes up the buildings and structures of the Gem Homeworld. You can't see them, not unless you look for them.
- No Name Given: Unlike the Ruby Squad, they're never given individual names and are referred to as a group. Quidd, a collectible trading app with connections to Cartoon Network, gives them names that presumably come from the show's model sheets.
- The Noseless: They don't have noses, though Nosey does have her gem positioned like one.
- No Sense of Personal Space: They have no qualms about getting inside "Pink"'s mouth, and one of them even builds a house in there.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Tiny people with simple designs and proportionally large heads. Steven thinks they're cute.
- Rock Monster: Unlike most Gems, who project Hard Light bodies, the Pebbles' bodies seem to be actual pebbles, though they still have gemstones.
- Rubber Man: Another use of their shapeshifting powers is stretching their limbs so they can rappel down objects.
- Servant Race: They are the lowliest class of Gem who live in the walls of the Diamond palace. They seem to be made by Diamonds from a bowl of small rocks to perform various tasks, such as reconfiguring their rooms, tailoring outfits, acting as combs, and harmonizing when their Diamond starts singing. They tend to stay out of sight unless requested, although they will come out to actively interact with people they're fond of. Pink Diamond ended up with many as her playmates, and they quickly warm up to Steven too.
- Shapeshifter Weapon: Like Bismuth, they can form tools with their hands. So far, there have been examples of hammers, sewing needles, knives, hooks, and scissors.
- Shout-Out: They're tiny, friendly servants with squeaky voices who live in the walls, a clear parallel to Cinderella's mice friends. At one point they even stitch a pink dress together out of random scraps of repurposed cloth.
- Significant Double Casting: They have the same voice actors as Rose (just like Pink Diamond) and Steven (just like Steven's plant creatures) — except for Blue Diamond's comb, which has the same voice actor as she does.
- Silicon-Based Life: They're small rocks given life by Pink's sweat.
- Token Good Teammate: Unlike most Homeworld Gems, who have an arrogant and/or mean streak, the Pebbles are very friendly and kind. They're seen as very enthusiastic and cheering when Steven plans to halt the Gem empire invading other worlds.
Spinel
WARNING! Unmarked spoilers for season 5 and Steven Universe: The Movie!
Voiced by: Sarah Stiles; Taryn Szpilman (Brazilian Portuguese dub)

I'm the loser of the game you didn't know you were playing!
Let's play another game, this time, I get to win!
Lives on the line, winner takes all,
Ready or not, let's begin!"
The main antagonist of Steven Universe: The Movie, a pink Gem with long, rubbery limbs. She holds a deep grudge against Steven for some reason and wants to perform a Happy Ending Override by destroying him and all organic life on Earth with a giant injector.
In truth, though, her grudge lies with Steven's mother, Pink Diamond (a.k.a. Rose Quartz), as Spinel was created to be her playmate. Now, she seeks revenge on Steven because his mother abandoned her 6,000 years ago when she first got her colony on Earth.
- All for Nothing: Her motives for attacking Steven stem from Pink Diamond's last order for her; Pink would only come back to play with her after leaving to work on her brand new colony if Spinel stayed put in her garden and did not move. One series and a movie opening sequence 6,000 years later, Spinel, who has vines growing all over her because she has not moved from her spot, finds out that not only is her Diamond no more, she made other friends...
- Amnesiac Villain Joins the Heroes: Her Identity Amnesia-inducing Rejuvenator scythe gets used against her, resetting her to her original friendly and childish personality, and she immediately decides to be Steven's friend. However, Steven has to restore her memories to get rid of the injector, as she's the only one who knows how to control it. He's at first able to do so without making her his enemy again; however, Spinel's trust in Steven falls apart because she concludes he was just using her, and afterward would deliberately erase her memories again to keep her a gullible idiot and/or abandon her entirely.
- And I Must Scream: Pink ordered her to remain standing in her garden until Pink came back for her. For over 6,000 years, Spinel remained at her station, alone, all the while believing that her Diamond would return, and wondering if she had done something wrong to cause her mistress to leave her for so long.
- Animal Motif: Her hair resembles bunny ears in both of her forms, which is especially noticeable with her lengthy pigtails in her present form. Given her status as a walking cartoon, this might call to mind a certain wascally wabbit in particular, but several of her 'Mickey-esque' design elements such as her puffy shorts combined with being abandoned and forgotten for so long make this feel like a tragic parallel to Oswald, especially to how he appeared in Epic Mickey.
- Anti-Villain: Spinel is less acting out of malice and more out of pain at 6000 years of torture and being abandoned by the person she cared about most. At the climax she agonizes over not knowing why she’s attacking Steven even after realizing she doesn’t want to.
- Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: Both her toy-like appearance and animation styled after 20's and 30's cartoons reference that she has been abandoned long ago by her owner who had since moved on to grown-up activities.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Spinel was originally quite easily distracted, prone to bouncing all over the place, very goofy, and had poor social skills.
- Ax-Crazy: Her deranged laughter and brutal tactics against the heroes make it clear that she has more than a few screws loose. Then again, considering she spent 6,000 years alone in an abandoned garden, of course she would have lost her sanity. She does fortunately lose this after her Heel–Face Turn.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: While she becomes dirtier after staying in an abandoned garden alone for 6,000 years and also becomes rooted to the ground, her cute appearance stays cute. This is also true for the creepier appearance she takes after turning evil, which Blue Diamond finds "adorable".
- Berserk Button: When she arrives and fights the Crystal Gems, at first she just toys with them until Steven lets slip that he has no idea who she is and by implication that his mother never spoke of her once on Earth (despite, unknown to him at the time, her having built her identity around being Pink Diamond's best friend), at which point she pulls out a weapon and attacks in earnest.Spinel, with eye twitch: Who am I? WHO AM I?! What are you even saying?
- Beware the Silly Ones: She's Homeworld's equivalent of a court jester and looks and moves like a character from an old 1930s cartoon. She quickly establishes herself as one of the most dangerous characters in the series, swiftly defeating the Crystal Gems and coming dangerously close to destroying Earth. Especially notable is that thanks to the lesser censorship of the movie, she actually explicitly says she wants to kill Steven, and even makes him bleed.
- Big Bad: She is the main antagonist of the movie, with a plan to destroy all life on Earth via "bio-poison", although not without reason...
- Big "SHUT UP!": She fiercely rebukes Steven's initial attempts to reform her.Spinel: Just can it, won't ya?! You can't just make everything better by singing some STUPID SONG!
- Bigger Stick: Her abilities make her pretty formidable in a fight, but what made her especially dangerous during her first confrontation with the Crystal Gems was that she had brought along a Rejuvenator, which inflicts a One-Hit KO and Identity Amnesia on any Gem it hits. Unfortunately for Spinel, she ends up in a rematch with the Crystal Gems without it, and gets pretty decisively thrashed. As a non-combat oriented gem with no apparent training or experience, it makes sense she would use an overpowered weapon as a crutch and be less effective without it.
- Birds of a Feather: Part of the reason Spinel instantly bonds with the rest of the Diamonds and decides to go back to Homeworld with them is that both parties recognise they share similar experiences with Pink. Despite being abandoned by her both Spinel and the Diamonds still miss Pink and want to fill that void with somebody similar, though not 100% the same as, their lost friend/family member.
- Blow That Horn: Horn of Destruction variant; she controls her super injector by blowing a horn she forms by stretching out her pinky. In the climax she commands it to dump its entire payload at once with an even larger horn she made out of all her fingers.
- Body Motifs: Hearts and, to a lesser extent, limbs:
- She was designed to be Pink Diamond's personal best friend, acting as her jester, her playmate, and her biggest supporter. Effectively, she was The Heart for Pink, and wore her emotions on her sleeve. When Pink got her first colony Spinel was ecstatic for her Diamond and expected to come along with her best friend, but Pink had seemingly grown bored with her (like a child losing interest in an old toy after a new, better one is given to them), and told Spinel to wait for her in the Garden until she came back. She optimistically believed that Pink would be back any day for her, believing with all her heart that it would be any day now. When Steven's message finally arrived 6,000 years later, she was heartbroken to learn that Pink had abandoned her, and flipped her gem as well as her demeanor, growing obsessed with destroying everything that Pink loved more than her. Ultimately, it's Steven reminding Spinel that she's supposed to be The Heart that finally gets her to relent, but her trauma is going to take a long time to heal fully.
- Most of her offensive capability comes from how malleable and far-reaching her limbs are, and she often uses them to wrap up other characters. For her original self, it showed how affectionate and huggy she could be, since she just wants to be friends with everyone and make people laugh with her japes and antics. After Pink's abandonment, she becomes a Yandere that wants to wring the life out of the one thing Pink loved more than her; the Earth.
- Bookends: Her emotional arc in the Movie. It begins with her finding out Pink Diamond abandoned her and replaced her with other friends. It ends with the other Diamonds welcoming her into their family, not as a replacement for Pink, but as another friend.
- Boring, but Practical: Her plan involves poisoning all life on Earth with what amounts to a super injector full of bio-poison, all to kill Steven in what Peridot estimates to be about 41 hours. Compared to Yellow Diamond's plan to use the Cluster to blow up the Earth, using millions of gem shards and waiting thousands of years for it to hatch, Spinel's plan was much less showy, but gave the Crystal Gems a lot less time to work with, and, more importantly, could have killed Steven.
- Break the Cutie: Big-time in her backstory. She was made to be Pink Diamond's adorable playmate and best friend, but once Pink got her own colony, she "outgrew" the purpose Spinel was made for, and left her behind in their garden, telling her to wait there until Pink came back. Except she never did, so Spinel stood rooted to the spot (eventually literally) for 6,000 years, only eventually finding out what happened to Pink via Steven's universe-wide transmission. She could only break down in tears when she realized she'd spent all that time waiting for someone who was never coming back for her, and the trauma and emotional turmoil causes her to just poof.
- Broken Bird: Beneath all of her madness and hatred towards Steven and Pink Diamond, Spinel is a traumatized and emotionally scarred Gem that’s lashing out over being abandoned and left alone for six millennia.
- Broken Tears: Due to her tragic background, Spinel sheds these quite a few times during the movie. This is especially true during her Villainous Breakdown, where she admits she doesn't know why she's attacking Steven since he's been nothing but nice to her, and that all Spinel really wants is just to be a friend.
- Brooklyn Rage: A subtler example than most, but she occasionally manifests a Brooklyn accent when particularly excited or upset, befitting of her status as a homage to classic cartoons.Steven: ♫Cause you~... you can make a change.♫
Spinel: JUST CAN IT, WON'TCHA? - The Cameo: In the story book "The Tale of Steven'' written by Sugar, White Diamond describes the ways the other Diamonds spoiled Pink. A picture of the garden is shown and Spinel's silhouette is seen in the background.
- Character Development:
- In "Homeworld Bound", she's willing to leave Steven and White some time to themselves, whereas before she always wanted to be by Pink's side.
- In "I Am My Monster", she's shown to have developed enough of a conscience to deeply regret her actions from The Movie, blaming herself for Steven becoming a monster.
- Character Tic: Her shoes make squeaky sounds when she walks, adding to her old-timey cartoon aesthetic.
- Cheated Angle: Spinel's pigtails always stay the same, no matter what angle you're looking at her from. This may be a reference to Mickey Mouse's ears and how they always stay in profile, since Spinel herself is one big shout out to classic cartoons.
- Cheery Pink: What she was before she got her heart broken.
- Confusion Fu: All Gems* can shapeshift, but Spinel makes extensive use of her rubbery stretching powers to entertain Pink Diamond. When she goes mad and takes on the Crystal Gems, she's able to run circles around the far more seasoned warriors thanks to her random, chaotic nature.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist:
- The Diamond Authority was a group of powerful leaders, relied primarily on their subjects until they're pushed into fighting by themselves, and all have unique abilities. Spinel, on the other hand, was effectively Pink's court jester, more independent, and her primary means of fighting are a variation of the natural shapeshifting abilities of Gemkind.
- Furthermore, while previous villains were enemies with Rose Quartz unaware of her real identity, and White Diamond's antagonism was born out of the mistaken belief Steven was Pink Diamond, Spinel's personal grudge is against Pink Diamond herself for abandoning her.
- Also, unlike all previous villains, she fully comprehends that Steven is a human/Gem hybrid and not a full Gem like his mother and bases her plan off that.
- Spinel's Non-Standard Character Design emphasizes her cartoony characteristics, in contrast to the more realistic or detailed looks of the Diamonds.
- Court Jester: She served as a playmate to Pink Diamond, and was supposed to amuse her. Her clothes resemble a classic jester outfit, with pigtails instead of a two-pointed jester hat. As Pink Diamond was a monarch, it is fitting for her to have had a court jester.
- Creepy Cute: While she herself may be ashamed of it, her second form is seen as this in-universe, with Blue Diamond cooing that she's "adorable" after seeing her clown around.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Spinel was created to entertain Pink Diamond, and when doing so she acted cheerful, silly, and dumb at all times. In her current state, she's skilled at wielding her Rejuvenator scythe and has learned to utilize her deformable body to attack and evade erratically enough that the Crystal Gems couldn't land a hit on her when she first arrived.
- Cry Laughing: What she's reduced to in her final battle with Steven, as she realizes that she's essentially hurting someone who just wants to be the thing that she needs most... a friend.
- Cuddle Bug: Spinel's default state is very physically affectionate with her "best friend", with her immediate action after reforming post-rejuvenation being to Glomp Steven while giggling wildly, and affectionately holding onto him (and, from what we see of their time together, Pink Diamond) quite a few times before her memories are restored. Lapses into No Sense of Personal Space with how this is usually met with varying degrees of uncomfortability combined with Spinel's general personality.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Thanks to her wacky movements catching them off guard and the fact that they hadn't gotten into a fight in ages, her first fight with the Crystal Gems ends with her poofing them and wiping their memories. Once they regain their memories, they waste no time returning the favor.
- Curb-Stomp Cushion: Even after Steven regains his powers, she manages to hold her own quite well and even gets a few hits in, though this is in part due to Steven just defending himself and not really fighting back.
- Cute and Psycho: Played With. In her original form, she's a pink girly Gem who was cute, goofy, and cheerful. Even in her more menacing form, she can still manage to be cute at times. However, the trauma she went through has caused her to have a psychotic break and go dangerously insane.
- Cute Bruiser: She may look adorable and harmless even in her current form, but don't let that fool you into thinking that she can't pack quite a punch.
- Cute, but Cacophonic: Her personality was The Pollyanna by default, and while she's fun, energetic and optimistic, she doesn't have an off-switch and tends to continue her antics at inappropriate times.
- The Cutie: Very much so in her original innocent form. She was originally a Gem designed to make Pink Diamond happy, frequently having fun with her and making silly faces while acting clingy towards her. The way she's portrayed after losing her memories is absolutely adorable. However, after Pink Diamond abandoned her, replaced her with "other friends", and made her stand in the same exact spot for 6,000 years, all of Spinel's adorableness goes down the drain and she begins her Start of Darkness. Thankfully, it starts to return by the film's end and fully returns in Future.
- Death by Despair: According to Rebecca Sugar at a book signing, her new form is the result of her being in such emotional distress from finding out Pink's fate she poofed from what amounts to a Gem version of broken heart syndrome.
- Death Glare: During her Villain Song "Other Friends", when Pearl reacts in shock to her presence and Steven questions who she is, thus confirming that Pink never even mentioned her to her "other friends", Spinel gives a vicious one before whipping out the Rejuvenataor.
- Defeat Equals Friendship: After Steven shows he genuinely cares about her feelings and wants to be her friend, Spinel relents and has a proper Heel–Face Turn.
- Demoted to Comic Relief: Spinel suffers this pretty badly in Future, where almost all hints of Spinel's trauma is gone, she's goofier, lively, and seems to only provide comedy when Steven is increasingly desperate to handle his own building trauma. Even more blatant when he asks her what happened to her vengeful thoughts, Spinel playfully tells Steven he helped her get rid of them, even though the movie heavily implied Spinel was still healing from her experience.
- Deranged Animation: Her limbs move more like Rubber-Hose Limbs than the structured motions of other characters and are animated using archaic and exaggerated Squash and Smear techniques instead of the more modern and subtle versions of the same techniques the rest of the cast is animated with, giving an unsettling feel to her. Her abnormal movements are basically one huge homage to early cartoons... that become quite deadly when used seriously.
- Die Laughing: Her reaction to being sliced with the Rejuvenator is mad laughter, as she must have figured that wouldn't stop her plans for revenge, and could have even helped them.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Spinel's original reason to coming to Earth was this: She had found out she had been abandoned, and within the same day, decided the appropriate thing to do was hunt down Steven and attempt to poison all life on the planet with her Injector.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: "Found" is about Steven encouraging Spinel that someone will love and care for her even after she had been abandoned and that pain she felt will fade. However, while Steven is singing about taking time to find someone else, Spinel takes that to mean he is that person and immediately attaches herself to him and ignores the fact that he has his own pressing issues that prevent him from reciprocating.
- Dub Name Change: Spinel is among the gems who have a faithfully translated name in the Latin American dub, Espinela.
- Dynamic Entry: She arrives on top of her injector ship, turns her hand into a megaphone to drill it into the ground, then jumps towards the ground to start a fight and her Villain Song.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After all the trauma she went through due to Pink abandoning her, Spinel, in the end, gets a second chance in life after the Diamonds invite her to live with them on Homeworld.
-
Easily Forgiven: Downplayed. While Steven and his friends do indeed forgive Spinel, she's aware that she's already caused too much harm on Earth to just stay around like nothing happened and decides that the best course of action is to find another place to start over and make new friends. Luckily for her, the Diamonds just arrived... - End of an Era: Her arrival puts an end to the two years of peace on Earth, and reminds the Crystal Gems that no, it's not over just yet. Ironically, realizing this is what helps Steven regain his powers.
- The End of the World as We Know It: She hoped to kill Steven and everything on Earth with her injector.
- Establishing Character Moment: Her first onscreen appearance has Spinel arriving to Earth on her Injector and launching straight into her Villain Song about how much she's going to enjoy killing Steven and his friends, demonstrating a demented sense of showmanship and showing that beneath the cartoonish façade lies a Gem seething with hatred.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: She doesn't understand why, after trying to kill Steven, that he still wants to be friends with her. What's more, she doesn't understand at first that he sympathizes with her plight.
- Evil Costume Switch: Spinel's second form is far more menacing than her first, exchanging her light pinks for darks and overall becoming rougher and pointier. Her gem even turned upside-down to emphasize the change.
- Evil Is Bigger: Her natural size seems to be a little shorter than Steven and she tends to revert to this size during her calmer and saner moments, but while in her insane and villainous mode she tends to make herself about the same size as Pearl.
- Evil Is Hammy: She has the exaggerated body language of an 1920s cartoon character, combined with a bombastic voice, and she serves as the Big Bad of the movie.
- Evil Overlooker: Her shadowed figure looms over Steven and the Crystal Gems on the movie poster.
- Evil Plan: Slowly murder Steven and all of planet Earth with her injector.
- Expressive Hair: After learning of Pink Diamond's death, her heart-shaped buns become messy pigtails which can move on their own according to her mood.
- Facial Markings: She has three black lines going from her eyes to her cheeks. When taking into account her backstory, these black lines could be seen as something akin to Your Makeup Is Running or Berserker Tears. They remain when she reappears in Homeworld Bound, though they don't reflect her personality anymore as she's returned back to being the Fun Personified.
- Fatal Flaw: Her Ax-Crazy tendencies and her desire for Revenge, which cause her to obtain a misguided approach and lead to her wanting to kill Steven, whom she knows is not responsible for Pink Diamond's actions, even if she doesn't want to.
- Faux Affably Evil: She spends her introduction and the entirety of "Other Friends" with a mocking, jovial façade over her all-consuming hatred for Pink Diamond and all the people she replaced Spinel with. Considering she used to be a Nice Girl before her Start of Darkness, it's fitting. She does lose this after her Heel–Face Turn though where she returns to being a genuinely nice and friendly Gem.
- Feet-First Introduction: During Steven's broadcast at the beginning of the movie, it cuts to Spinel's dirty, vine-overrun foot.
- Fighting Clown: She is the Homeworld equivalent of a jester, and it shows in how she acts even after snapping. Her constant use of Deranged Animation actually catches the Crystal Gems off-guard enough for her to quickly defeat them the first time.
- Final Solution: She decides to wipe out Earth and all of its inhabitants as a way to spite Pink Diamond from beyond the grave.
- Fish Eyes: In both forms, her eyes will suddenly jiggle around and point in opposite directions at various points.
- Five Stages of Grief: Well, considering she had to go through this with the revelation that the Diamond she was made for abandoned her, left her to stand still all alone in a garden for 6,000 years, replaced her with other friends, and doesn't exist anymore, let's say that it wasn't an easy journey for poor Spinel.
- Denial: Implied, at least. Once she receives Steven's transmission and finds out what happened to Pink Diamond, she desperately runs towards the transmitter, as though she was hoping it was a joke.Spinel: Isn't that lovely!? Isn't that cool!?
- Anger: After finding out about it all, she takes a huge Injector and a Gem Rejuvenator before traveling to Earth in hopes of destroying the "precious" planet Pink abandoned her for, in addition to attacking Steven and the Crystal Gems.Spinel: I just love that part, where Pink Diamond spends the rest of her days on this nowhere planet, with a bunch of nobodies!
- Bargaining: After Steven manages to befriend her the first time, she comes to attach herself towards him and see him as a Replacement Goldfish for Pink, even turning off the Injector because that's what he told her to do.Spinel: Aw, gee. What are friends for?
- Depression: She goes through this stage twice. The first time is when she breaks down in tears after finding out what became of Pink Diamond, and the second time is when she breaks down again over not being good enough for Pink and realizing she just wants to be Steven's friend.Spinel: I used to be just not good enough, just not good enough for Pink!
- Acceptance: Spinel ultimately comes to accept that Pink abandoned her and is given a chance to go back to Homeworld with the three other Diamonds, finally giving her a chance to be happy again.Spinel: Today, right here, right now, I'll love again. I've already found someone.
- Denial: Implied, at least. Once she receives Steven's transmission and finds out what happened to Pink Diamond, she desperately runs towards the transmitter, as though she was hoping it was a joke.
- Foil:
- To Pearl. Both were abandoned by Pink Diamond and were deeply hurt by her actions. However, while Pearl had her friends to help her move on from the pain of that loss, Spinel had no one else and was left completely alone. Not only that, but the last order their Diamond ever gave them caused them nothing but grief, Pearl's order to never tell anyone the truth of Rose's identity caused her to watch Steven flounder about trying to comprehend the magnitude of his mother's actions and unable to do anything about it, while Spinel was told to stay where she was and literally did so for 6,000 years. Also, both were noncombatant Gems who figured out ways to use their abilities effectively in combat, with Pearl adapting her natural grace and agility from dancing into her fighting style while Spinel uses her cartoonish physiology to confuse and evade her opponents.
- To Steven. Both of them were kind, goofy, and playful beings who were negatively affected by Pink Diamond's actions, and lost their cheerfulness over time in addition to undergoing Sanity Slippage. But while Steven deals with his grief by burying his emotions and refusing to come clean to others about his problems, Spinel deals with her grief by lashing out onto others (and the Earth) over her problems. Despite acting otherwise, neither Spinel nor Steven's ways of coping with their trauma are healthy for themselves or those around them in the slightest.
- Forgotten Friend, New Foe: Once Pink Diamond's closest playmate, she was abandoned by her to remain in her garden for six millennia. After she realized Pink left her behind, she decided to destroy the Earth in revenge.
- Freak Out: While spending 6,000 years rooted to a single spot probably meant her sanity wasn't in good shape to begin with, learning that Pink Diamond was gone forever, that her long waiting had been All for Nothing, and that Pink had abandoned her caused her to snap, hard.
- Freakiness Shame: By the climax of the movie, after she has undergone her Heel–Face Turn, Spinel is shown to be very self conscious of her current form compared to her more innocent and softer original appearance and was hesitant of coming out to meet the Diamonds because of it. Fortunately, the Diamonds find her very adorable in her current form and adopt her on the spot.
- Freudian Excuse: She was left behind in Pink Diamond's garden by Pink herself and just stood there for 6,000 years because she honestly believed that Pink was just playing a game with her. Finding out that Pink Diamond actually left her and that she doesn't even exist anymore caused Spinel to go through a major Break the Cutie moment that turned her into the bitter, psychotic and spiteful gem you see in the movie.
- Freudian Trio: Of the Gems who were close to Pink Diamond, Spinel (Id) follows her desires for Revenge and attempts to destroy Earth after having went mad, Crystal Gem Pearl (Superego) is The Smart Guy of the Crystal Gems, and Pink Pearl/Volleyball (Ego) has a balanced and playful personality.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Started as a simple playmate for Pink Diamond, who ended up being one of the biggest threats the Crystal Gems have faced.
- Fun Personified: Her literal job is to be a charming and entertaining Cloudcuckoolander, but being abandoned turns her into a much more twisted kind of "fun".
- Genki Girl: After she is poofed by Steven and reverts to her original form, she is cheerful and chipper towards him, until she reverts back to her sinister self when she suspects that Steven will try to desert her after the Injector is deactivated. After her Heel–Face Turn, Blue, White, and Yellow Diamond agree to welcome her to their court since she reminds them so much of Pink Diamond. In Future, she seems to have reverted back to this trope, acting extremely energetic, jovial, and friendly around Steven.
- Giggling Villain: Spends the entire teaser giggling uncontrollably.
- Girlish Pigtails: She's a Gem who looks a bit more feminine than usual, and she sports a pair of pigtails. This hairstyle is actually part of her Evil Costume Switch, since she originally had heart-shaped odango hair.
- Girly Bruiser: She has girly mannerisms and can also hit hard enough to make Steven bleed.
- Girl with Psycho Weapon: She uses a huge scythe as a weapon, which causes Identity Amnesia, if it hits a gem. She loses said weapon at the climax of the film due to Steven breaking it.
- Go Mad from the Isolation: Although she snaps upon learning that Pink Diamond is gone, spending 6,000 years completely alone cannot have helped.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: Upon realizing that not only is Pink Diamond dead, but that she'd waited 6,000 years for her mistress to return all for nothing, Spinel lost her kindness and sanity and swore revenge.
- Good Costume Switch: Zig-zagged; when Spinel's memories are erased and she joins Steven, her Madness Makeover is completely reversed. However, once her memories are restored and her darker form along with it, Steven has to convince Spinel people would be her friend even the way she is now. After that, Spinel looks the same except her eyes are wider and have a visible gleam instead of being narrow and beady.
- Green-Eyed Monster: She was a companion of Pink Diamond who decides to take revenge for Pink's actions on the Crystal Gems because she sees them as replacing her.
- Grew Beyond Their Programming: Played for Drama. She was initially an innocent, goofy, and playful Gem who wasn't meant to be the least bit serious. However, after being made to stand still for 6,000 years by her owner Pink Diamond, among other things, she became an Ax-Crazy threat to be taken seriously and was bent on destroying Earth, as well as Steven Universe.
- Happily Adopted: The Diamonds invite her to join their court on Homeworld at the end of the movie.
- Happiness in Slavery: She was pretty pleased with her role in Gem society and was happy to stick to it. Of course, unlike other Gems, her role was to make people happy through jokes and games as opposed to hard labor.
- Hates Being Alone: Spinel gets very distressed at the thought of being cast aside by someone she considers a friend (even if it's temporary), due to the trauma product of Pink's abandonment.
- Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: How her whole gambit against the Crystal Gems went down: Either she wipes the gem's memories and they forget each other like she was forgotten, or she's poofed and the drill poisons the planet with no way to stop it.
- Heel–Face Turn: After her redemption takes full effect, Spinel apologizes for what she put Steven and the others through and decides to leave since she believes she doesn't deserve to be with them. Fortunately, the Diamonds show up just before she's about to leave and decide to take her back to Homeworld so they can love her as much as they loved Pink Diamond (even though they never truly expressed it).
- Heel Realization:
- After her redemption takes full effect, Spinel is horrified with herself and how her actions have nearly destroyed the planet and ruined Steven's "happily ever after".
- Her Character Development in Future involves acknowledging that she hurt Steven in the movie for no reason when he lashes out at everyone in his corrupted form.
- Hide and No Seek: In order to get Spinel to leave her alone while she worked on her colony, Pink made up a game where Spinel would stand still until she got back.
- Hoist by Her Own Petard: Steven manages to hit her with her own Rejuvenator, though her expression after getting sliced with it suggests she let him.
- Homage: Spinel's design and Rubber-Hose Limbs are a homage to 1930s animation — and particularly, in her original form, her design recalls that of Mickey Mouse, with her pigtails as the ears.
- Humanizing Tears: Many times, but particularly after "Drift Away" and at the very end when she finally realizes she doesn't actually know why she's being so awful to Steven.
- Identity Amnesia: She brings along a "Rejuvenator" scythe in her attack on Earth that basically restores a Gem to their original state from when they first emerged, and slices through Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. It can't poof Steven's organic body, but it completely screws up his control over his powers, resetting them to where he was at the start of the series. It quickly gets used on her, but she may not have cared by that point.
- If I Can't Have You…: Furious at being abandoned, and that Pink made new friends without her, Spinel vows to ruin Steven's "Happily Ever After". To destroy the Earth and purge the memories of the Crystal Gems to rid herself of everything Pink Diamond replaced her with.
- Ignorance Is Bliss: Spinel refers to her old, endlessly cheery self as stupid, yet at the same time she hates what she's become and wants to be that person again, even telling Steven to Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred! despite having turned on him because the Rejuvenator fell out of his pocket and she thought that he was going to use it on her.
- I Hate Past Me: As much as Spinel hates what she is now, she still thinks her past self was a gullible idiot for trusting Pink Diamond and was paranoid that Steven would use the Rejuvenator on her again to take advantage of her.Spinel: I'm a little flattered that you liked the old me. Innocent... Loving... Stupid!
- I Just Want to Be Loved: She latches on to who she sees as her chosen friend and does everything she can to help them and play with them but responds very badly to them trying to leave her, even if it's just temporary. By the end of the movie, it's clear that for all of her problems and everything she's done, she just wants to have fun with others again instead of being a broken lunatic that wants to destroy everything.
- I Will Wait for You: Pink told her to stand still and not move a muscle, and Spinel did. For 6,000 years.
- Inkblot Cartoon Style: Her design is heavily influenced by silent-era cartoons: Rubber-Hose Limbs (because she's a literal Rubber Woman), near-monochrome color palette (albeit with shades of pink instead of black and white), and (off-)White Gloves. Her original form was also Pie-Eyed. The accurate details of her design is even extended to her actual animation, in that her pigtails/odango hair employ the classic Cheated Angle technique where they always face the camera which was frequently applied to many characters of that era, and when moving fast, she's even rendered using the same exaggerated and archaic Squash, Smear, and Multiples animation techniques used during the era she takes inspiration from, which further enhances how... wrong Spinel is compared to the rest of the cast.
- Innocently Insensitive:
- While she only wanted to spend time with her beloved Diamond, she ended up greatly annoying her with her antics and never took the hint, prompting Pink to abandon Spinel.
- After being reset, she goofily tries to play with the Crystal Gems, even singing "here we are in the future and it's wroooong," gleefully oblivious to the fact that she caused their problems in the first place.
- Likewise, she irritates Steven quite a bit as well in "Homeworld Bound".
- Insane Equals Violent: She used to be a goofy but harmless Gem, but when she becomes insane, she's a dangerous threat who manages to curb stomp the Crystal Gems in combat and tries to kill everyone on Earth.
- Irony:
- When Garnet comments that Spinel is delivering a Curb-Stomp Battle to the Crystal Gems, Amethyst defensively retorts about being out of practice after two years of peace compared to their apparently more active opponent. As we'd later find out, Spinel hadn't fought or done much of anything for 6,000 years (not to mention unlike Amethyst but similar to Pearl, Spinel was never meant for combat in the first place).
- For all her resentfulness toward Pink Diamond over how she feels replaced by the Crystal Gems, there's heavy implications that she (along with Pearl) were made to replace Pink Pearl (as a best friend and confidant respectably).
- She successfully curb-stomped the Gems, even a confused Steven, to vent her abandonment issues on them. The roles get reversed when a corrupted Steven curb-stomps her and the Gems while lashing out from trauma.
- It's All My Fault: When Spinel discovers Steven had self-corrupted into a giant gem monster in I Am My Monster, she falls into sobbing hysterics thinking that her actions during the movie sowed the seeds that led to it happening in the first place.
- Joisey: Her voice seems to slip into this pretty thick on occasion.
- Just Toying with Them: Her first battle with the Crystal Gems consists solely of her playing with them so aggressively that she's able to poof them with little effort.
- Kawaiiko: Pre Face–Heel Turn, she was one, with a pink design and very cutesy mannerisms.
- Kick the Dog: In addition to trying to kill all life on Earth slowly and painfully just to spite Pink Diamond for leaving her to protect it from Homeworld, she also refers to her master's beloved home as a "nowhere planet" and her genuine friends as a "bunch of nobodies", even primarily targeting Steven, whom she knows that is her son.
- Kill All Humans: She wants to make Earth uninhabitable to all organic life just to make sure Steven would die.
- Kill the God: Well, demigod in Steven's case, since she's explicitly trying to kill him, a half-Diamond, essentially the Gems' version of a god.
- Knight of Cerebus: The film starts with Steven and the Crystal Gems celebrating two years of galactic peace... then Spinel comes along with her plan to destroy the Earth and things take a much darker turn as she quickly cements herself as one of the darkest villains in the franchise.
- Lack of Empathy: Downplayed and justified (to a degree).
- While she notes that Pink Diamond was lonely and sad on Homeworld, she thinks cheering her up and playing with her was the only way to make her happy, not realizing that Pink needed more than just that. However, this is completely justified, considering she was only doing what she was literally programmed to do.
- When Spinel becomes insane from Pink leaving her, she loses all sympathy for her former master and made her vengeance to be all about herself, not caring anymore about what Pink has been through (and changed for the better after becoming Rose Quartz) even before Spinel was made or how much the Earth and her new friends and family meant to her. Then again, this too is understandable, considering the mental toll her standing alone in one spot for 6,000 years caused her, and how she can't reasonably be expected to sympathize with Pink given what she's been through because of her (not to mention she only found out about the progress Pink has made as Rose from a video broadcast). But it still wouldn't excuse trying to kill everyone Pink genuinely loved.
- Completely averted in "I Am My Monster", where she has a My God, What Have I Done? moment and blames herself for Steven's corruption, to the point of breaking down in tears.
- Large Ham: Sarah Stiles was clearly having fun voicing Spinel, as everything Spinel says and does is done with a cartoonish sense of showmanship and aplomb. Spinel makes her arrival on Earth by riding in on her giant Injector and jumping straight into her Villain Song. Justified as she was primarily created to entertain Pink Diamond.
- Laser Blade: Her Rejuvenator appears to have a blade made of crackling white energy.
- Laser-Guided Karma:
- An oddly benevolent example for a villain. She worries that after nearly destroying the Earth that it isn't a good idea to try and make friends there. The Diamonds, however, also did try to destroy the Earth, and they also want to spend time with Steven way beyond his comfort zone. They take her in readily, though Steven warns her that they can be smothering. Spinel doesn't mind, since she and the Diamonds know what it was like to have Pink abandon them.
- It is played straighter in Future where in "I Am My Monster" Monster Steven thrashes her and the Diamonds when they try to contain him out of trauma and fear, just as she thrashed the Gems from a similar set of feelings. Spinel even realizes this and laments that she must have caused Steven's corruption by hurting him.
- Laughably Evil: She is essentially a jester who moves like a 1920s/1930s cartoon character and behaves like a playful child (her voice actress, Sarah Stiles, said that her agent shorthanded Rebecca Sugar's description of the character down to "like an evil Betty Boop.") That doesn't make her any less dangerous and creepy though.
- Laughing Mad: Even after going completely mad from spending 6,000 years alone, she keeps her clownish nature and her laughter.
- Leitmotif: A bouncy chiptune for her original form and distorted mellotron strings for her current from. Both motifs are prominent in "Other Friends".
- Lethal Joke Character: Spinel qualifies as one of these. She looks like a 1920's cartoon character who wouldn't be out of place in an early Disney short, but she handily wipes the floor with the main cast within minutes of meeting them. To put this in perspective, the Crystal Gems have won numerous battles against powerful opponents, have a powerful team dynamic and some have millennia of battle experience. Spinel is essentially an insane court jester fueled by rage with no combat training or experience at all.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: When she first arrives on Earth, Spinel spends most of her first fight with the Crystal Gems toying with them up until she gets confirmation that Pink never mentioned her to her "other friends". Once she hears this, she almost immediately whips out her Rejuvenator and cuts the Crystal Gems down in retaliation.
- Literal-Minded:
- While amnesiac, her response to Amethyst calling her a monster is to say that she doesn't see a monster. After being told "You're it!", she assumes they're playing tag.
- This trait is also part of what caused her Start of Darkness. Pink Diamond told her to stay put as part of a game in the garden until she returned from working on her colony. Because Spinel was designed expressly to follow Pink's commands and make her happy by playing with her, she proceeded to literally stand completely still and alone in the garden for thousands of years, uselessly waiting for Pink to return and never even trying to leave or find her. No wonder she goes crazy when she learns Pink is never coming back.
- Living Toy: As a Gem made to be a playmate and friend, with the Gems' rigid caste system treating her as an object to fulfill that role, she is functionally a toy that's incidentally alive. Her squeaky shoes and googly eyes help sell the effect that she's the Gem equivalent of a doll. And, just like toys forgotten when their owners outgrow them, she was left behind in Pink Diamond's garden for 6,000 years.
- Madness Makeover: Originally, Spinel had the appearance of a cute little girl with Mickey Mouse-esque Girlish Pigtails in the shape of hearts. After finding out that Pink abandoned her, she reformed (according to Rebecca Sugar, this was because her grief caused her to poof from the Gem equivalent of broken heart syndrome) into an Uncanny Valley Girl with messier pigtails and lines on her face that give off the appearance of ruined mascara.
- Madness Mantra: She had Steven's message to the universe on loop, particularly the bit from White Diamond's story about Steven where her mistress, Pink, spent the rest of her days making a new home on Earth to the point where she made new life by giving up her existence to give birth to Steven, passing down her Gem into his body as well. In other words, Spinel found out that Pink essentially replaced everything she had on Homeworld for everything she had on Earth before she replaced herself with Steven. More importantly, Pink replaced Spinel with brand-new friends after she abandoned Spinel in her garden for 6,000 years, until it got to the point where she would literally never come back for her because she doesn't exist anymore. Needless to say, it drove her mad.
- Meaningful Name: Spinels are often used as false diamonds in jewelry. At the end of The Movie, Spinel becomes a Pink Diamond replacement for the other Diamonds.
- Memory Gambit: Her plan is to set up a Time Bomb that only she can deactivate, then allow Steven to wipe her memories with her Rejuvenator. This combined with the Crystal Gems having their memories wiped makes it incredibly difficult for Steven to disable her Injector.
- Misplaced Retribution:
- Her reaction to finding out her Diamond has long abandoned her and is now essentially gone forever? Take out her wrath by killing every living organic being on Earth with bio-poison from an injector, and wiping Steven's friends' memories away with a Rejuvenator. Her shame and guilt later hits her so hard, she cannot bring herself to have a second chance on the planet. Fortunately, the Diamonds, still fawning over Pink's son and longing for anything that reminds them of their youngest sibling, happily take Spinel in as a Replacement Goldfish, giving her a much-needed fresh start to heal her past trauma.
- While Pink Diamond was directly responsible for abandoning her, Spinel seems to place the blame entirely on Pink herself, never considering that she couldn't have came up with the idea of abandoning Spinel on her own, as her fellow Diamonds have done it to her so many times she picked it up from them (but fortunately stopped doing after she became Rose Quartz). White even admits in "I Am My Monster" that she and the others basically took Pink away from Spinel because the Diamonds abandoned her too.
- Mocky Mouse: She is heavily based on the Inkblot Cartoon Style in general and has White Gloves and a high-pitched voice to go with it, but her first form in particular invokes this with her happy-go-lucky personality and heart-shaped pigtails that always look the same no matter which angle she is facing.
- Monster Clown: She wasn't originally like this, but after her treatment at the hands of Pink Diamond, she becomes a bloodthirsty and enraged killer who never loses her silly, cartoony edge.
- Mood-Swinger: As a sign of her mental instability, Spinel's mood can change at the drop of a hat. She can be violently angry one moment, then borderline manic the next. When Steven gently asks her amnesiac self to stay put, she immediately lashes out, then quickly becomes happy when he lets her tag along. During her Villainous Breakdown, she goes from furious, to sad, to amused, and back to sad in the span of a minute.
- Morph Weapon: She can change her body parts into various forms, such as changing her eye into a telescope to get a closer look at the Crystal Gems, turning her arm into a fishing rod to save Steven from falling in bio-poison, and turning her pinky into a bullhorn to activate her injector.
- Mundane Utility: She shapeshifts her pinky finger to use as a bullhorn when activating and deactivating her injector.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Future shows that she's become deeply embarrassed over her past mistakes, especially trying to kill Steven, with "I Am My Monster" even having her break down in Tears of Remorse (albeit in the form of Inelegant Blubbering) when faced with the consequences to Steven her actions posed.
- My Name Is ???: In order to hide her identity, the movie's website initially listed her as "????".
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain!:
- While amnesiac, she suggests that all of the rejuvenated Gems can be restored by reminding them of the life experiences they've forgotten.
- Her insulting Steven and having a laugh at how "a wimp like him" spread peace across the galaxy leads to him finding his "missing piece" and regaining his powers, allowing him to put up a much better fight against Spinel. At the end of her rope, she slams Steven into her ship, utterly trashing the top. The damage then causes it to explode.
- Her damaging the Earth convinces the Diamonds, who decided to just come and move in with Steven, to abort that plan and return to Homeworld with her. Steven is relieved, though he makes sure that Spinel is okay with the smothering attention.
- Nice, Mean, and In-Between: Of the Gems who took on the "Pink Diamond" role on Homeworld, Steven (nice) is an All-Loving Hero who is kind to everyone and accepts others no matter what, Pink/Rose (in-between), despite being a Benevolent Boss who seeks to protect Earth and the Crystal Gems, can be insensitive towards the feelings of others and has a tendency to make careless decisions, and Spinel (mean) is the Ax-Crazy Big Bad who wants to destroy Earth as a result of being abandoned by Pink and having went mad. Played With, as Steven undergoes Sanity Slippage once Spinel has already made a Heel–Face Turn, and Spinel was even more innocent than Pink by the time she was abandoned by her.
- Nice Girl: After her Heel–Face Turn, Spinel becomes very supportive and friendly to not only Steven but to his friends and allies as well.
- Nonchalant Dodge: Her Rubber Woman abilities allow her to casually dodge Garnet's attacks, at least at the beginning.
- Non-Ironic Clown: Was genuinely sweet and playful to Pink (and later Steven) and loved making them happy by playing games and doing tricks. Of course, after six thousand years of unintended torture she started to veer into a different trope...
- Non-Standard Character Design: Much like White Diamond in her debut episode, Spinel's appearance alone waves a red flag that something is seriously wrong with her. She is one of the few characters with distinct irises and pupils, which when combined with her constant Slasher Smile leads to some unnerving facial expressions. She's also heavily influenced by Inkblot Cartoon Style, with much more fluid animation emphasizing her Rubber Woman abilities. However, the end result is unsettling rather than endearing, at least in her "evil" form. Her original form is much more adorable, with Pie Eyes and cartoony eyelashes.
- No Sense of Personal Space:
- When she lacks her memories, she's often very close to Steven, at one point even literally wrapping herself around him, and was presumably similarly clingy to Pink, which might be part of why she left her behind. Even in her present state, she gets rather close to Steven and the others several times, and one of her tactics in combat is to wrap her arms around her foe.
- As mentioned under the Cuddle Bug entry, this continues even after her reform. Her first instinct upon seeing Steven for the first time in Homeworld Bound? She makes heart eyes at him and immediately pounces on him, giving Steven a big kiss on the face and wrapping her arms around him. It's likely that even if Steven wasn't in a bad state mentally, he would have found this mildly uncomfortable.
- One-Woman Army: She takes out Garnet, Anethyst, and Pearl simultaneously simply by playing with them. Once she reaches her Villainous Breakdown in the climax, she becomes even more dangerous.
- Outside-Context Problem: Serves as an In-Universe example. Considering that the Diamonds have dismantled their empire and made peace with Steven, a Gem still being willing to attack the Earth — heck, being willing to attack Steven — was thought to not be possible anymore, and yet she sure as hell tried.
- Out-of-Genre Experience: Spinel curb-stomps the Crystal Gems because she is an Deranged Animation Rubber-Hose Limbs character out from the 20' and 30's.
- Pie-Eyed: Her original form has a piece taken out of the iris of each eye (though sometimes it's a more explicitly drawn gleam), which is yet another example of how her design is inspired by cartoons from the 30s and 40s.
- Pink Heroine: Inverted. She's the villain.
- Pink Means Feminine: Like Pink Diamond, Spinel is one of the more feminine Gems in the show, with pigtails, mascara lines, and a heart theme.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Her original purpose, and what she tries to be to Steven and the Gems when her memory is erased. Even when in her evil mode, she still cracks jokes. The whole movie serves as a look at the dark side of this trope.
- Power Born of Madness: Going insane caused her to go from a jester or clown to being capable of fighting all the Crystal Gems at once and being one of the most dangerous threats in the series.
- Power Nullifier: Her scythe can't poof Steven, but it does disrupt his powers, setting them back to before he could reliably make use of any of them.
- Princesses Prefer Pink: When introducing her, brainwashed Pearl sings, "She's pink as well!" implying that Pink Diamond (a "princess" for all intents and purposes) preferred Gems of the same color as her.
- Psychological Projection: Spinel's Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred! moment towards Steven using the Rejuvenator on her, despite her paranoid reaction to him still having it earlier, seems to be a result of her assuming he'd also want to erase her pain at Pink's betrayal.
- Psychopathic Womanchild: She is very childlike, both appearance-wise and personality-wise - the fact that she keeps refering to her initial Curb-Stomp Battle with the Crystal Gems as a "game" should tell you enough - and wants to kill all life on Earth. Justified, as she was made as a "toy" for Pink Diamond... a Living Toy that ended up snapping after finding out that Pink abandoned her and that she spent 6,000 years waiting for nothing.
- Punny Name: Her name alludes to "spinning", which is one of her signature moves. Notably, the first time her name is spoken (by Pearl, in a song), she spins around for emphasis.
- Put the "Laughter" in "Slaughter": Her laughing fit across the teaser trailer, as well as her Kill All Humans Evil Plan, more or less makes it clear this is the case for her.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Steven's Blue. Spinel is very open about her feelings and trauma, in addition to being Ax-Crazy, while Steven is calmer than her and tries to talk her down. Fittingly, Steven wears a blue shirt, and Spinel has a reddish coloring.
- Reluctant Psycho: Deep down, Spinel is disgusted with herself for reacting to Pink Diamond's actions by becoming a revenge-obsessed maniac. When Steven tells her she can change, Spinel counters that she did change, for the worse.
- Remember the New Guy?: Played for Drama. She shows up out of nowhere and was never mentioned in the show but Pearl seemingly recognizes her. This is because she used to Pink Diamond's playmate that Pink just left in her garden and then didn't come back for.
- Replacement Goldfish:
- She acts as one for, ironically enough, Pink Diamond to the remaining Diamonds after her Heel–Face Turn.
- In a tragic way, Steven is briefly hers — when she first becomes "friends" with him, it's shown that Spinel isn't actually dealing with her own grief and self-loathing, just transferring those insecurities to a new, unhealthy relationship by trying to please him however she can, just like she did for Pink. This only makes Steven's perceived betrayal hurt her all the more.Steven: Spinel, can I ask you a favor?
Spinel: Are you kidding? Anything.
- The Resenter: She states that she wants to kill Steven even more after seeing his relationships with his friends, something she desperately wants for herself but feels she can't have any more.
- Revenge: She wants revenge against Steven and the Crystal Gems. More specifically against Pink, for abandoning her when she left the garden.
- Rose-Haired Sweetie: Again, what Spinel used to be before her fall into darkness. To symbolize the negative change, her hair turned a darker shade of pink.
- Rubber-Hose Limbs: This is the way her arms are animated, and gives a rather clear indication of her Rubber Woman capabilities.
- Rubber Woman: She can stretch her limbs and morph them into various forms. They're also animated like Rubber-Hose Limbs, and her movements are even shown to make cartoonish rubbery sounds, such as her footsteps squeaking like dog toys or her fingers snapping like balloons.
- Rule of Symbolism:
- Her heart-shaped gemstone being flipped after learning the truth about her abandonment is a direct reference to her broken heart.
- Her Facial Markings resemble tear-stained mascara, also referencing her heartbreak. Notably, when Steven gets through to her, they shrink considerably.
- Sad Clown: When not acting like a Monster Clown, Spinel's personality is more like this. She uses her Fun Personified personality to hide the fact that she's a Tragic Villain who was abandoned by Pink Diamond and spent 6,000 years waiting for her, and at many times her laughter and delivery comes off as if she's stifling back tears.
- Self-Deprecation: Constantly. Spinel has a love-hate complex not just with Pink, but herself as well. She believes herself to be completely unlovable the way she is now, as if she preferred being the way she was, but she also hates the way she was considering herself to have been stupid - so she constantly takes shots at herself in between threats towards others. Learning to love herself is one the key things she had to do to switch sides.
- Self-Inflicted Hell: The most humiliating part of Spinel's time waiting in the garden was that nothing was physically keeping her there, she was just trying as hard as possible to do what Pink Diamond told her. On top of wasting a maddeningly-long length of her life, she ends up feeling like a complete idiot.
- Shadow Archetype:
- Original Spinel is exactly the spontaneous, fun-loving Gem that Pink Diamond wished the other Diamonds didn't see her as. Pink chose to resent and neglect Spinel over this, showing how Pink's initial attempts at becoming more mature proved her to be anything but.
- Present Spinel and Rose Quartz are constructed identities from their former selves that were used to hide who they used to be. However, Rose would've been like Spinel if she let her trauma of abuse take over her mentality to enact vengeance against the Diamond Authority for everything they did to her former identity. Also, Spinel's statements to have changed for the worse and being not good enough was exactly how Rose felt about herself.
- Spinel also serves as a dark reflection of what Pearl could've been had she not had the Crystal Gems to help her through the pain of being abandoned by Pink Diamond.
- She is also this to Pink Pearl/Volleyball, being what the latter would've become had she gave in to her trauma and anger over what Pink Diamond did to her and sought revenge against Steven, Pearl, and the Earth. In contrast to Spinel, Volleyball brushed it off like it was nothing, tried to defend Pink Diamond's abuse, and held absolutely no grudges.
- Shapeshifting Trickster: Spinel is a Rubber Woman who frequently plays games and jokes by stretching around. Even as a villainess, she couldn't help from wildly flailing around like a jack-in-the-box just to scare Steven.
- Shrinking Violet: Surprisingly, when she isn't angry, present-day Spinel is rather shy and awkward, especially around new people; she's extremely aware of how people perceive her, making her quite self-conscious.
- Sigil Spam: Her injector has a red gemstone at the top, her gem is a Wicked Heart Symbol, and she originally wore her hair in heart-shaped buns.
- Signature Laugh: In her previous form, she has an adorable, childlike giggle, the first sound heard when she emerges from her gem after being poofed.
- Sinister Scythe: She brings a scythe with an energy blade called a "Rejuvenator" that can instantly poof a Gem and erase their memory, resetting them to when they first formed.
- Sins of Our Fathers: Spinel has a chip on her shoulder for Pink Diamond leaving her behind, and she knows Steven is actually Pink's son rather than a case of Mistaken Identity, as with most Homeworld Gems. Spinel doesn't hide her desire to kill him regardless. Spinel wants to reap Pink's "sins" by not just taking her murderous grudge out on Pink's son, but on all of Earth out her desire for vengeance.
- Slasher Smile: Her constant expression is a wide, unnerving smile.
- Smarter Than You Look: She's much more intelligent than her behavior suggests, as she was somehow able to obtain and operate her injector, and she devised a Memory Gambit to defeat Steven. She's also the first new Gem introduced who fully understands that Steven is absolutely not his mother and that his human body will likely not poof when hit. Keep in mind she'd only moved away from where Pink Diamond left her a matter of hours before coming to Earth.
- Something We Forgot: A really tragic example. Pink left her in her garden 6,000 years ago and then never came back for her. However, it's unknown if Pink really forgot about her or if she wanted to come back for her but just couldn't. Either way, Spinel does feel abandoned and for a good reason.
- Spectacular Spinning: She can attack others just by spinning really fast and uses said spinning a lot during her final battle with Steven.
- Start of Darkness: Finding out that Pink Diamond, who left her in her garden 6,000 years ago, isn't even alive anymore caused her to snap and change from a friendly Genki Girl to a vengeful Monster Clown.
- Stepford Smiler: Before she loses her memory, she has a constant unnerving grin. It's easy to assume this is a result of her being a little nuts, but once you learn how Pink abandoned her, it becomes clear she's putting on a mask to hide her hurt.Steven: Listen to me, Spinel. I understand. After everything you've been through, you must be in a lot of pain!
- Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred!: Tries to taunt Steven into using the Rejuvenator on her again near the climax of the film, presumably hoping that if he did so, he'd be unable to restore her memories again in time to get her to stop the injector, though there's also the implication that she honestly hates her current state and wishes to forget the pain Pink caused by abandoning her.
- Stronger Than They Look: Her Rubber-Hose Limbs would make one assume she's no stronger than the likes of Pearl physically, but in addition to her Confusion Fu, she's strong enough to destroy her Injector by slamming down onto it, something the Crystal Gems doubted they could stop in any way.
- Super Gullible: Tragically, Spinel is easily tricked into playing a "game" with Pink that involves her standing very still until she returns. She's so convinced it's a game that she remains blissfully unaware of the circumstances of her abandonment until 6,000 years later.
- Super-Powered Robot Meter Maids: Spinel is a perfectly-cut Era 1 Gem with boundless energy and shapeshifting abilities, potentially putting her near or even past the power level of a Quartz, but was never intended to be anything more than a "friend" to Pink — an exquisitely made toy, who would use those same abilities to "endlessly entertain" her. The only thing that kept her from ever becoming a dangerous threat, as opposed to an occasionally mischievous hanger-on, was her innocence.
- Tears of Joy: Sheds these during her (very brief) first redemption, while singing that she finally feels "found" by Steven.
- Tempting Fate: After Pink Diamond told her to play a game in which Spinel would have to stay still until she returned, Spinel exclaimed "This'll be so much fun!" It wasn't.
- Thanatos Gambit: Of a sort. When Steven poofed using her own scythe, she's not bothered by this since she knows that she was going to undergo a personality reset like the other Gems did and she understands the drill won't stop without her.
- The Thing That Would Not Leave: She would never leave Pink Diamond's side, and acts the same to Steven when reset. Tragically, Pink Diamond seemed to be getting annoyed by her, and when she was finally allowed to have her own colony, she left Spinel behind. When it's Steven's turn to have her good side, trying to push her away or even imply she's not needed around anymore only ends up making her furious, though him still having the Rejuvenator due to being unable to store it earlier didn't help matters.
- Tombstone Teeth: She's often shown with teeth more detailed and numerous than the usual Tooth Strip, but they're always all rectangular.
- Took a Level in Kindness: In Future, she becomes far more helpful and affectionate towards Steven than she was in The Movie, and is closer to her original form than the bitter Gem she was before.
- Top-Heavy Guy: She temporarily becomes one in "Homeworld Bound" when Yellow Diamond demonstrates her new powers to alter a Gem's physical form, turning Spinel's arms large and thick and her legs small and spindly.
- Tragic Villain: Her entire existence was playing with Pink Diamond and making her happy, giving Pink a sorely needed escape from her troubles. Then Pink convinced Spinel to stay behind in her garden, which she did for 6,000 years. Spinel stayed in the exact same spot for all of that time, waiting for Pink to return, only to discover that the very being she was created for had fled everything and everyone she once knew and gave up her very existence to create Steven. She pretty much broke in half at that revelation and everything she does after is essentially someone whose whole motivation is that the one person they loved and was their whole reason for existing just threw them away. And it's shown that for all of her rage, Spinel bitterly hates what she's become and desperately wants to go back to simpler times when she was happy and made others happy. This reflects heavily in both of her songs (despite the first one being an energetic Villain Song) and they are laced with her feelings of self-loathing and bitterness. Her second song "Drift Away" is easily one of the saddest in the whole series.
- Trauma Button:
- Abandonment. During the movie when Steven is about to search for Amethyst, the then very innocent Spinel offers to come along, and when Steven asks her to stay put, she immediately lashes out. The full extent of this isn't explained until her relationship with Pink is revealed.
- Being forgotten seems to be this, to a lesser extent and for identical reasons. When it becomes clear that only Pearl knows who she is, she realizes Pink Diamond didn't even mention her to her "other friends" and goes from maliciously playful to eye-twitchingly unhinged.
- Troubled Abuser: Rebecca Sugar described
Spinel as such, with the tragedy of her character juxtaposing the fact that Spinel came to Earth solely with the desire to hurt people, whereas most other villains had goals that they could rationalize as noble."The thing about Spinel is that she's a really toxic person. She's so toxic that she's literally trying to poison people. In my interactions with friends who have had a history difficult enough to make it hard for them to trust other people and sometimes even actively want to hurt others, it's just a very difficult situation to navigate... She really wants to hurt Steven, and there's a reason that she does — because she's in so much pain." - Tsundere: A non-romantic example... and, interestingly played both ways. In her original form, Spinel is a sweet, bubbly Gem who's chipper and friendly to everyone, but turns angry if the notion of being left behind is brought up at all (though this could also be explained as her getting her first piece back). In her present form, however, Spinel is caustic and mocking in her demeanor, but this is just a mask to hide how lonely and miserable she really is, and how much she'd like to trust in others again.
- Ultimate Lifeform: Pearl refers to her as being perfectly cut. The only other non-Diamond Gem to be referred to as perfect in this regard is Jasper. This implies that, like her, Spinel is a "perfect" example of her Gem type. Her surprising combat capability for what amounts to a clown in Homeworld's hierarchy further suggests this is the case.
- Unblockable Attack: Her Rejuvenator cuts right through Steven's shield.
- Uncanny Valley: Post-Face–Heel Turn Spinel's Inkblot Cartoon Style animation looks incredibly out-of-place in the world of Steven Universe. Combine that with her blatantly unhinged personality, and Spinel becomes one of the most unsettling characters in the franchise. She does completely lose this after both of her Heel Face Turns though where she returns to looking adorable and innocent like her past self.
- Unishment: Inverted. Before the Diamonds take in Spinel and smother her with affection, Steven warns her that they can be overbearing. He doesn't want Spinel to suffer more than she has so that her fate isn't a punishment. It is technically exile from Earth, however, for nearly trying to kill everyone, since the Diamonds don't want to stay.
- Unskilled, but Strong: Spinel was created to be an entertainer, not a warrior. While she's a surprisingly capable fighter, her "fighting style" basically revolves around using her bizarre movements to throw opponents off. She only won her initial fight with the Crystal Gems thanks to her wacky movements and her Rejuvenator (helped by the fact that two years of peace have made the Crystal Gems rusty, as Amethyst says). Once they regain their memories in their second fight, Spinel is soundly defeated as she doesn't have her Rejuvenator and the Crystal Gems are better prepared to counter her rubbery abilities (made worse by the fact that Spinel is undergoing an extreme emotional and mental breakdown as opposed to her first battle, where she was focused solely on killing them). During her final battle with Steven, she only held her own because Steven was more focused on defending himself and trying to talk her down.
- Even her rather impressive skill with her Rejuvenator scythe (a type of weapon that is not inherently intuitive to utilize as a weapon like, say, a sword or spear is) could be chalked up to utilizing her in-built dexterity that she would use to entertain Pink Diamond, such as juggling acts, meaning she has no actual training in the use of weaponry nor built to handle weapons, but instead leverages the abilities she was made to have in order to make up for it.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: With Pink Diamond, she was like a joyful kid, happily playing and goofing around with her, to the point that Pearl is shocked and shaken to see her as the Ax-Crazy Big Bad. Six thousand years of being left alone and the sudden realization that Pink abandoned her left her with rage against Pink, against Earth, against Steven, against everything.
- Played for Drama; She's convinced that nobody would want her the way she is now compared to her original state, to the point that she's willing to try to kill Steven over the mere suspicion that he might use the Rejuvenator on her again.Spinel: You really expect me to believe you want me like this?!
- Played for Drama; She's convinced that nobody would want her the way she is now compared to her original state, to the point that she's willing to try to kill Steven over the mere suspicion that he might use the Rejuvenator on her again.
- Vengeful Abandoned Toy: The vicious Spinel turns out to have once been a cheerful, friendly jester specifically created to be Pink Diamond's sentient plaything and best friend. When Pink decided she wanted a colony of her own, she abandoned Spinel like a child would a toy they were bored with. To make matters worse, rather than tell Spinel the truth, Pink claimed that they were going to play a new game: Spinel had to stand in one place until Pink got back. And so Spinel stood there...for six thousand years. Once she finally learned she'd been ditched, the isolation and grief drove her insane and pushed her to go to Earth for revenge against Pink's son Steven. The plot was inspired by a real incident where Rebecca Sugar discovered her old toy bunny in the garden and wondered what it would've have felt about being forgotten.
- Verbal Tic: She tends to use words like "gee" and "swell" in her sentences, like a 1920s rubberhose cartoon character.
- Villainous Breakdown: Steven constantly trying to get through to her tips her over the breaking point, causing her to rage at him while trying to keep fighting. It helps that Steven intentionally doesn't put up any offense, only blocking or deflecting everything Spinel throws at him. This leads to Spinel talking herself down when she realizes just how far she's fallen.Spinel: [seethes angrily] All that stuff's easy for you to say! [sneers mockingly] When you change, you change for the better! [turns furious, lunging at Steven] When I change, I CHANGE FOR THE WORSE! [starts pounding on Steven's shield] I used to be Just! Not! Good enough! Just not good enough for Pink! But now... [her voice starts to waver as she slams both fists down on Steven's shield] Now... I'M NOT GOOD AT ALL! [...] [starts to giggle sadly] That's funny, right? At least you found me entertaining. You actually... liked me... didn't you? [her voice breaks into sobs] What am I doing? Why do I wanna hurt you so bad?? I'm supposed to be a friend. I just wanna be a friend...
- Villainous Lament: "Drift Away", during which she explains her Start of Darkness and tragic backstory.
- Villainous Widow's Peak: Her hairline is in this shape, more prominently in her current form as it emphasizes her scowling.
- Villain Song: "Other Friends", sung upon her arrival on Earth during her first fight with the Crystal Gems, is all about how "swell" she finds it to meet Pink's, well, other friends... and how swell she also finds it to beat them all to a pulp.
- Vocal Dissonance: Spinel will occasionally slip into an excessively cute tone of voice reminiscent of Darla Dimple, making the actions she takes while doing so all the more unnerving.
- What Have I Become?: At the end of her fight with Steven, she slowly realizes that her desire for revenge completely twisted her into a gem who wants to take her anger out on a bunch of innocent people and breaks down, admitting that she just wants to be Steven's friend.
- Went Crazy When They Left: When Spinel finds out that Pink Diamond abandoned her and had no intention of coming back, she snapped. Now, Spinel's worries about being abandoned again are so strong, she lets out a Big "NO!" at the mere suggestion of being left alone for a few minutes.
- Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?: Notably, Spinel's scythe is not a weapon from her gem, but an old tool used on Gems years before the series' start. Similarly, the injector was nowhere to be seen before her introduction. Where exactly she got both these things is up in the air, as there is no evidence or explanation in the movie but both are incredibly powerful and are used to devastating effect.note
- Why Can't I Hate You?: For all her deranged and homicidal actions, for all the things she's said and done to him, she doesn't actually hold any real animosity towards Steven. She's just lashing out over being rejected by Pink Diamond. In fact, when she's pressed, she admits that she has no idea why she's trying to hurt him and what's more, after being abandoned by Pink Diamond, she deeply appreciates the fact that he liked her and honestly wants to accept his offer of friendship.
- Wicked Heart Symbol: Her Gem is in the shape of a heart, which was right-side up in her original form. 6,000 years later, Spinel ended up going through a Madness Makeover after feeling crushed by the emotional pressure of being abandoned by her mistress/playmate, Pink Diamond, with part of this makeover having her rotate her Gem upside-down, symbolizing how twisted and insane she became. The top of her injector has a symbol similar to her Gem in its current state.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: She tried to destroy Earth as a knee-jerk reaction to learning that she had been abandoned by the person she cared most about and being subject to 6000 years of torture.
- Worf Had the Flu: The first time around in fighting the Crystal Gems, Spinel mops the floor with them thanks to the group being rusty after two years of peace, and her own movements and Rejuvenator catching them off-guard. The second fight goes poorly for her in comparison, because she's lacking the Rejuvenator, the Crystal Gems were back in full force (sans Steven), and also because she was in no small amount of emotional turmoil at the time compared to the first go-around, where she was just dead-set on killing everyone outright.
- She's even worse off in her second fight with Steven. After he regains control over his powers, she can't touch him anymore, and even her most powerful attacks are shrugged off like nothing (as Steven is literally Made of Diamond by this point in the narrative). Ironically, Steven's ability to No-Sell her attacks is the exact thing she needs to realize the futility of her situation and she eventually stands down.
Rebecca Sugar herself points this out in an interview about the film.Rebecca Sugar: Ultimately, he can’t really convince her to change. It’s something she’ll have to want for herself. But what he can do is protect himself from her, making it impossible for her to hurt him.
- She's even worse off in her second fight with Steven. After he regains control over his powers, she can't touch him anymore, and even her most powerful attacks are shrugged off like nothing (as Steven is literally Made of Diamond by this point in the narrative). Ironically, Steven's ability to No-Sell her attacks is the exact thing she needs to realize the futility of her situation and she eventually stands down.
- Wrecked Weapon: Steven destroys her Rejuvenator to prove he would never intentionally use it on her.
- Yandere: A platonic example. She wants to kill Steven because Pink Diamond, his mother, abandoned her and left her in their garden for 6,000 years. She's heartbroken not just because Pink Diamond abandoned her, but because she abandoned her for new friends, the very thing she was made to be. Also, she has a brief Heel–Face Turn after Steven tells her that she will one day find someone who actually likes her and she attaches herself to him... Only for her to have a panic attack when Steven (accidentally) makes her think that he wants to erase her memories and leave her alone again, causing her to have a relapse that makes her want to kill Steven even more.
- Your Makeup Is Running: What the black streaks on her face are revealed to symbolize — her broken heart and the tears she's shed after realizing that she waited for eons for a friend who had long forgotten about her.
- Your Size May Vary: When she's acting as an antagonist, she's around Pearl's height, but when she's acting on the heroes' side, she's around Steven's height. Justified, as her stretching powers making her size inherently non-static.
White Court
White Pearl/Pink Pearl/Volleyball

"I was badly hurt. How did you stop hurting?"
An aberrant Pearl owned by White Diamond, who serves as her representative. She used to belong to Pink Diamond, and was mind controlled by White Diamond, only being freed from her control thousands of years later.
During the events of Steven Universe Future, she lives on Earth and starts going by the nickname "Volleyball".
- All There in the Script: Called "White Pearl" in the credits for "Legs From Here to Homeworld", and Pink Pearlnote in the credits for "Together Alone" and "Change Your Mind".
- Alternate Identity Amnesia: Has no idea what happened to her for the last eight millennia White Diamond was controlling her.Steven: Can you remember anything that happened while you were under White Diamond's control?
Volleyball: Nope! Eight thousand years, just—blip—gone! - Angst? What Angst?: In-universe, Pearl and Steven find it rather disturbing that Pink Pearl talks very calmly about her time as being White Diamond's Meat Puppet and how Pink Diamond hurt her. In fact, this becomes a plot point in "Volleyball". It takes Pearl fusing with her and talking it out for them to acknowledge the shared trauma.
- Badly Battered Babysitter: She was made to serve an immature god-like being with a tendency to destroy things during her tantrums. Since the other Diamonds kept Pink Diamond isolated, Pink Pearl was the only Gem around to calm her down after her tantrums. Unfortunately, one time she was too close when the tantrum started and permanently lost her left eye.
- Blemished Beauty: She has a scar all across her left eye. Considering a gem's physical projection cannot normally gets scarred, it can come off as weird and unsettling. That doesn't make her look any less adorable, however.
- The Confidant: If Steven's flashback dream is any indication, she was a playmate and confidant of Pink Diamond's during her time as Pink Pearl.
- Deliberately Monochrome: Like White Diamond, White Pearl's color scheme is all white, black, and gray. This is a result of being mind controlled by White Diamond; every other Gem who gets mind controlled by her gains the same colors.
- Dissonant Serenity: She constantly speaks in a near-emotionless condescending tone, despite the obvious terror of the subjects around her. Carries over even after she is freed from White Diamond's control. It becomes especially distressing when she describes getting hit with Pink's Sonic Scream with the exact same tone of voice.
- The Dragon: She could be considered this to White Diamond, being the one White controlled and used to monitor what goes on in Homeworld. White Pearl even manages to downplay the presence of Yellow and Blue Diamond with them not even retorting back, which goes to show that in spite of her rank, White Diamond’s Pearl is feared by Yellow and Blue but not to the extent of White Diamond herself.
- Empty Shell: She appears to be devoid of any thought or emotion other than what she is made to be. She was anything but this back when she was Pink Pearl. Luckily, once White Diamond is defeated, her original personality returns.
- Enigmatic Minion: Pearls are normally low-ranking, homogenized, anthropomorphized fashion accessories. White Pearl possesses seemingly vast power, a voice distinct from every other Pearl seen thus far, and countermands the authority of both Yellow and Blue Diamond without so much as a word of protest from either. Later, she sits on White Diamond's throne in White's stead. Again, no one protests to this. "Change Your Mind" reveals that White Pearl isn't so much a "minion" as a physical extension of White Diamond herself.
- Eye Scream: There are scars where her left eye would be. Oddly, the way it's drawn almost makes it look like the intact eye is just painted on. "Volleyball" reveals that she got the scar from Pink Diamond lashing out at her during one of her tantrums.
- Facial Horror: Half her face is covered in what are either scars or cracks. They somehow extend not only where she would have an eye, but into her hair. She did not have this feature back when she was Pink Pearl, and she still has it when she becomes Pink Pearl again in "Change Your Mind". Not only that, the crack on her left eye worsens in Steven Universe Future.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: Even aside from the fact that she will discover and have to accept that Pink Diamond is gone and that she was replaced, she will likely learn the changes made on Homeworld since Era 1.
- Foil: To the Crystal Gem Pearl, her successor. While the Crystal Gem Pearl acted robotic towards Pink Diamond, but eventually grew beyond her role and helped her stage a rebellion, Pink Pearl acted playful towards Pink Diamond, only to be forcibly removed from her and given to White Diamond.
- Freudian Trio: Of the Gems who were close to Pink Diamond, Spinel (Id) follows her desires for Revenge and attempts to destroy Earth after having Gone Mad From The Isolation, Crystal Gem Pearl (Superego) is The Smart Guy of the Crystal Gems, and Pink Pearl/Volleyball (Ego) has a balanced and playful personality.
- The Gadfly:
- In "Together Alone", she shows up to Steven's Era 3 ball to deliver this gem: "To those in attendance of the Era 3 ball, White Diamond... has more important things to attend to", though it's actually White Diamond herself being a Troll given that White Pearl's being controlled by her.
- Given that Blue Diamond mentions that the caterpillar-like alien creatures Pink Diamond brought to the ball are chasing the Pearls down the halls and that if she keeps up her misbehavior, White will take away her Pearl, it's implied that Pink Pearl had a hand in helping Pink Diamond release those creatures at the ball, if not outright persuaded her to do it.
- Ghostly Glide: She glides about everywhere on the tips of her toes. In fact, the only part of her body that moves individually is her mouth. The whole effect makes her rather eerie. As Pink Pearl, she appears to move more naturally. In "Change Your Mind", when White Diamond becomes more animated, so too does White Pearl in response.
- Innocently Insensitive: Unintentionally pushes both Steven and Pearl's buttons by praising Pink Diamond constantly and making excuses for her behavior.
- Line-of-Sight Name: Steven nicknames her "Volleyball" to differentiate her from the Crystal Gem Pearl because Pearl was coaching a volleyball game between Quartzes before he went to talk to her.
- Lipstick Lesbian: She's one of the more girly Pearls we've seen, and, as our Pearl puts it, she's "still got it bad" for Pink Diamond.
- Living Statue: Her extreme rigidity, monochrome color palette, and seemingly cracked face (and hair) make White Pearl resemble a porcelain doll.
- Love Martyr: She deeply loved Pink Diamond despite her mistress having a bad habit of lashing out in a sudden temper tantrum and destroying things, even if it were an accident. One time, she was badly hurt when she was standing too close to Pink Diamond after White Diamond ignored her demands for a colony of her own. The psychological trauma manifests in her physical form even after her gem was repaired.
- Meat Puppet: "Change Your Mind" confirms that White is not just speaking through her Pearl, but actually controlling her like a puppet while staying in her room. She not only speaks with the same voice but gives orders in her place, even going as far as to sit on White Diamond's throne. Until the end of "Change Your Mind", everything she says as White Pearl is actually White Diamond talking.
- Morality Pet: It's revealed she was this to Pink Diamond before the latter's Heel–Face Turn. Pink greatly treasured her Pearl's friendship and tried to be kind to her. White took away Pink Pearl not only out of punishment towards Pink, but also because Pink scarred her Pearl to the point where she couldn't function and the Reef can't heal her. Pink Diamond felt extremely guilty about hurting her only friend, and more so that White took her.
- Mouth of Sauron: Since White Diamond doesn't leave her ship, she sends her Pearl out to speak to anyone outside like the other Diamonds, and she even takes White's place at the Era 3 Ball, including sitting on her throne. To hammer this home, White Pearl, instead of being voiced by Deedee Magno-Hall like the other Pearls, has the same voice as her mistress, Christine Ebersole. It's later revealed that White Pearl is merely a Meat Puppet of White Diamond.
- Mysterious Past: Steven has a dream where he and White Pearl play happily together, the latter tinted pink (and credited as "Pink Pearl") and lacking her scar. Given most of his other dreams were Past-Life Memories, it suggests she used to belong to Pink Diamond and was taken away and repurposed into White Pearl by White Diamond, which is later confirmed.
- Nice Girl: In Unleash the Light, she acts friendly towards Steven and is very happy about Homeworld changing for the better. In "Volleyball," she's perfectly cordial to the other Pearl, if Innocently Insensitive about their mutual baggage, and says she considers warping her to the Reef a trivial matter that Steven need not have concerned himself with.
- Non-Standard Character Design: Aside from her scarred face, she is an audible variant. Instead of being voiced by Deedee Magno-Hall like all other Pearls seen so far, she is instead voiced by Christine Ebersole, who also voices White Diamond. This is because she's being mind controlled by White Diamond.
- Not Quite Back to Normal: When freed from White Diamond's control, Pink Pearl regains her original color scheme, but her face is still damaged since it was caused by Pink, not White.
- Not So Stoic: When Steven and Connie interrupt the usual order of a ball to dance together and accidentally fuse in the process, her facial expression dramatically switches from a smile to a frown, though it's actually White Diamond's frown given that she's controlling White Pearl.
- Only Friend: She and Pink Diamond used to be this for each other.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When she stops smiling in "Volleyball," it means things are about to get serious. It's when the Reef tells her that the damage to her face is psychological, and Pink Pearl refuses to believe that. Then she breaks down when Steven uses his sonic scream in a fit of anger.
- Perpetual Smiler:
- Like her Diamond, she usually has a serene, unflinching smile. When she stops smiling, it tells that something went horribly, horribly wrong in that regard, such as seeing Steven and Connie fuse together.
- The flashback of her as Pink Pearl shows her usually smiling as a sign of her jovial nature, but it's a lot more natural and changes normally.
- Physical Scars, Psychological Scars: In "Volleyball" Pink Diamond's original Pearl reveals that the scar covering her eye was given to her by Pink Diamond during a tantrum. Steven is unable to heal it, and it is eventually revealed that this is because the scar psychological in nature.
- Pinocchio Nose: A very twisted variant; the further Volleyball denies and makes excuses for Pink Diamond's past behavior and how she was (unintentionally) hurt by her, the worse the cracks on her face grow.
- Secret Relationship: As seen in Steven's dreams, she and Pink were close, but Gems fraternizing with Diamonds is strictly forbidden in Homeworld's social strata, so they had to keep their friendship a secret (tricking Yellow into thinking Pink Pearl was merely being subservient).
- Ship Tease: With the Crystal Gem Pearl. They end up sharing a strong emotional bond over their mutual past and emotional trauma with Pink Diamond, and they even become a fusion at one point.
- Significant Double Casting: Notably averted, but also played straight. She's the first Gem not to have the same voice actor as the other Gems of the same type (all the other Pearls being voiced by Deedee Magno-Hall). Instead, she has the same voice actor as her master, White Diamond. Deedee Magno-Hall voices her during her time as Pink Pearl. Her original voice and personality were overridden by White Diamond's when she was taken away from Pink Diamond and made into White's Mouth of Sauron, returning only when freed from her control.
- Sinister Surveillance: She claims to be sitting in for White Diamond at the Era 3 Ball, as White is too busy to attend herself. She then spends the entirety of the ball silently staring down at the proceedings, judging everything and everyone beneath her. The heavy implication is that White Diamond is indeed in the room, regardless. "Change Your Mind" outright confirms this.
- Small Role, Big Impact: She has very little screentime, but reveals that Pink Diamond got her Character Development to become nice because Pink hurt her by accident and greatly regretted it. Not to mention her getting replaced led to our Pearl inspiring Pink Diamond to visit the Earth.
- Stepford Smiler: Depressed variety. She never stops smiling even when talking about how Pink Diamond had dangerously destructive tantrums whenever the other Diamonds didn't give her what she wanted. She tries to pass off the fact that she was a victim of Pink Diamond's violence at least once and how this caused permanent damage to her face as a "funny story". Her unwillingness to admit Pink deeply hurt her caused the cracks to worsen instead of heal.
- Straight to the Pointe: She is always standing on the tips of her toes, even when moving. She moved more naturally as Pink Pearl before White Diamond took control of her.
- Subordinate Excuse: It's implied in "Volleyball" that her feelings for Pink were more than platonic.
- Trauma Conga Line: Let's see... she was hurt and traumatized by Pink Diamond's tantrums, then was ripped away from her mistress and possessed by White Diamond for eight millennia, forced to be her Meat Puppet and representative in court manners. After all this, she wakes up after Steven frees her from White Diamond's control, confused about what happened and not knowing where she is. Which means very soon she's going to learn that Pink Diamond is dead, that she was replaced with another Pearl, and that she was used as an avatar of White's tyrannical rule so most of Homeworld now lives in fear of her.
- Uncanny Valley Girl: White Pearl is a rather unsettling presence, with the multitude of scars over what used to be her left eye, stilted speech, limited facial movement, and just floating around without changing the posture of her body when moving. Altogether, she resembles a porcelain doll that's been damaged. Everything excluding her cracked eye is justified by the fact that White Diamond is mind controlling her.
- Uncatty Resemblance:
- Besides sharing a color scheme, White Pearl shares White Diamond's Perpetual Smile and immobility, though White Pearl still moves around, just by way of an unsettling Ghostly Glide.
- When still serving Pink Diamond, she had her color scheme except with some black. Even after, she still has the same gem placement and clothing that exposes it.
- Unknown Rival: Unintentionally antagonizes Crystal Gem Pearl by talking about how close she was to Pink, though this quickly fades.
- Used to Be More Social: Seen laughing and playing games with Pink Diamond in happier times before Pink scarred her and White turned her into an emotionless Mouth of Sauron.
- Vocal Dissonance: White Diamond's mature, seductive voice does not match White Pearl's waifish appearance at all.
- Walking Spoiler: It took until the last several episodes of the fifth season for White Diamond to even be as so much as referred to by name within the show. In addition to being her personal handmaid, White Pearl is the first member of her court to be recognized at all, though she is originally from Pink Diamond's court. It is also difficult to talk about White Pearl for an extended period without mentioning that she was once Pink Pearl.
- When She Smiles: Is seen laughing and playing with Pink Diamond (in the dream guise of Steven) as Pink Pearl.
- Wound That Will Not Heal: White Pearl is missing an eye from when Pink Diamond yelled in frustration after White refused to give her her own colony. Even when freed from White Diamond's control, the cracks remain, and it in fact worsens in Steven Universe Future. Not even Steven or the Reef (where Pearls were made and repaired) can fix her, and it's shown to be psychological. We never see if it ever healed or not.
- Your Mind Makes It Real: Steven Universe Future implies that the crack on her face is a psychological effect originating from when Pink accidentally injured her. It traumatized her so badly that she subconsciously keeps the crack from healing, and it even gets worse at one point in "Volleyball" when she denies there's a problem.
Unknown or Multiple Courts
Morganite

A Homeworld Gem that was the former superior of a Ruby and a Pearl until she kicked them out for Fusing into Rhodonite.
- Aborted Arc: She was mentioned to set up an episode
about Rhodonite's backstory that never made it past the development stage. - Ambiguous Situation:
- Given that morganite is a fellow beryl mineral to emerald and aquamarine, it's likely that Morganite is of equal rank to Emerald and Aquamarine.
- Morganite often comes in light pink and purple but is not a type of quartz. If the implication behind this is that she used to work under Pink Diamond, it is currently unknown how non-quartz gems were sorted out among the remaining courts once Pink was no longer part of the Diamond Authority.
- End of an Era reveals that Morganite was basically an architect responsible for designing the Diamonds' palanquins, so it can be assumed that other morganites follow a similar role.
- Bad Boss: She abandoned her Ruby and her Pearl just for being different Gems that Fused together, then presumably had them replaced rather immediately. It was revealed in an interview that this was after rejuvenating the two seventeen times for showing affection to each other.
- Blush Sticker: Her concept art seems to indicate she would have these.
- The Comically Serious: One concept art shows her staring deadpan at her happily smiling Ruby.
- Determinator: Instead of replacing them like Rhodonite believed when Morganite first caught her Pearl and Ruby together, she had them rejuvenated. The two continued falling for each other in spite of having their memories wiped, so Morganite just kept rejuvenating them, racking up a total of seventeen rejuvenations before the two finally fled from her.
- Fantastic Racism: Just like many others on Homeworld, she looks down on different Gems Fusing together, which led her to kick Ruby and Pearl, or rather Rhodonite, out of her ranks.
- The Ghost: She is never seen onscreen.
- Hime Cut: Her concept art shows that she has a hairstyle similar to this, with a note next to it saying that Morganite's side locks where designed to look like paintbrushes, in reference to her role as a designer.
- Ironic Name: Morganite is said to counter stress and promotes love, trust, self-esteem, and joy. Her replacing her Ruby and Pearl for Fusing with each other is likely a huge source of Rhodonite's paranoia and Nervous Wreck tendencies.
- Kimono Is Traditional: She appears to be wearing one in her concept art, and it's implied that she's a high-raking Gem that follows Homeworld's traditions.
- The Noseless: She doesn't appear to have a nose in the concept art, similar to her beryl Aquamarine counterpart.
- Pink Is Feminine: She is pink and is very ladylike in appearance.
The Jades

For their Fusion, see Lemon Jade's folder here.
- Heroic Bystander: They spontaneously step out of a crowd to fuse and show support for the Crystal Gems. This doesn't accomplish much, as Yellow Diamond poofs her seconds later, but it's still amazingly brave.
- One-Shot Character: They only appear in "Together Alone".
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Each is seen chiding the other, one for not taking the ball seriously and the other for getting overly emotional. That they'd risk everything just to fuse together shows they must very close regardless.
- You Are Not Alone: They're elated to find other Gems who fuse for more than just fighting.

- Ambiguous Situation: It's unknown what Gem she belonged to.
- Breaking Old Trends: Besides the Crystal Gem Pearl, she's the only Pearl so far who isn't shown wearing a leotard. She also has uniquely narrowed eyes.
- Ms. Exposition: Fitting for her role as a tour guide, she lectures other Gems about Homeworld's history and current state.
- One-Shot Character: She only appears in "Homeworld Bound".
- Prim and Proper Bun: She has a braided bun on her head. Oddly enough, it resembles a turban.

- All There in the Script: Their names are only mentioned in the credits.
- Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: Flint's pants and boots fade from white to black, as if they were covered in flint.
- Back from the Dead: Yellow took most of their shards and pieced them together, bringing them back to life.
- Foil: Chert is an orange Quartz with her gemstone on her nose, while Flint is a darker Quartz with the gemstone on her chest. They look like Jasper and Amethyst respectively, but judging from Chert's reaction, they have the exact opposite of their relationship. Chert is voiced by Michaela Dietz, who is Amethyst's voice actress, and Flint is voiced by Kimberly Brooks, who is Jasper's voice actress. Chert is short and chubby like Amethyst, whereas Flint is tall and muscular like Jasper.
- Lantern Jaw of Justice: Flint is notably designed with more chiseled facial features, and considering how she was shattered for rebelling against Homeworld's backwards rules, it's obvious she isn't a bad person.
- One-Shot Character: They only appear in "Homeworld Bound", besides a very brief cameo in "The Future".
- Token Good Teammate: If their personalities from their original concepts are still canon, they were presumably shattered because they refused to fight against other Gems or organics.
- True Companions: Chert pulls Flint into a hug after the latter is restored and doesn't let go until they get startled by Steven's outburst, implying them to be inseparable.
Video Games
Lonely Pearl

A lonely Pearl who appears in the app game The Phantom Fable and resides in the titular book. She was abandoned by her master and is fought in the Pearl section of the game.
- Ambiguous Situation: Whether or not Lonely Pearl actually existed is never really specified, considering how the end of the game reveals that the entire game was just a story.
- Animal Motifs: Moths. She was left alone in the library with only moths for company. And her corrupted form was a giant moth.
- The Eeyore: She's depressed, due to feeling abandoned.
- Eyes Out of Sight: Like Blue Pearl, her eyes are always covered by her bangs.
- One-Shot Character: Her only appearance is in The Phantom Fable.
- One-Winged Angel: She turns into a giant moth to fight Steven, Connie, and Pearl.

Two different kinds of Garnet that are the main antagonists of Unleash the Light.
- Aliens of London: Like Aquamarine, Pyrope has a thick British accent.
- Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: Pyrope is the Beauty and Demantoid is the Brains to Hessonite's Brawn. It's even referenced in their gem placements.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: Of Unleash the Light.
- Blow You Away: Pyrope can create powerful whirlwinds with her fan.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Their Gem types were both mentioned in "Together Alone" as types of Garnet almost a year before appearing in the game.
- Combat Hand Fan: Pyrope's main weapon, coherent with her Lady of War and elegant baroque fashion style.
- The Dragon: Pyrope thinks Demantoid is this to her, but it's subverted in that Demantoid has her own plans, and cooperates with Pyrope for logistical support only.
- Evil Power Vacuum: What they want to profit from, taking the place of the Diamonds after Steven dismantled the empire.
- Ham and Deadpan Duo: Pyrope is a self-obsessed ham while Demantoid speaks in a robotic manner.
- It's All About Me: Pyrope believes that she should lead Era 3 because all of her Gems love her, even though her colonies are shown to be in shambles and the Gems living there are utterly miserable.
- Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Though Pyrope spends most of the game hiding in the palace, when you finally face her she packs a real punch in that Showgirl Skirt ballgown with the frilly fans.
- Meaningful Name:
- Pyropes are said to enhance the charm and charisma of their owner. However, they are used to provide energy to carry on one's endeavours, but this Pyrope is an Orcus on His Throne who's delusional over her own charisma and likability.
- Demantoids provide brightness of mind, and their name means "similar to a diamond", fitting since this Demantoid wants to take over the Gem empire in place of the Diamonds. On the ironic side, they are said to reduce loneliness, while she prefers to act on her own.
- Not So Stoic: After their defeat, Demantoid's anger takes over her cold, taciturn demeanor, and Pyrope does the same with her noble lady act.
- Orcus on His Throne: Pyrope spends the whole game in her room and only fights the Crystal Gems when they reach her there.
- Palette Swap: They look very similar to Hessonite, which makes sense, since they're the same Gem type.
- Pimped-Out Dress: Pyrope wears one.
- Propaganda Machine: Gems living on their colonies are forbidden from receiving transmissions from the outside world.
- Self-Disposing Villain: After the Crystal Gems defeat the light monster, Demantoid and Pyrope get into a fight and poof each other.
- Showgirl Skirt: Pyrope's.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Demantoid is a green, short Gem dependent on limb enhancers much like a pre Heel–Face Turn Peridot. Adding to the similarities, they're both Era 2 Gems, and that period's scarcity of resources caused their short statures.
- Upper-Class Twit: Pyrope looks and acts like a stuffy Victorian-era ruler, and her plan amounts to locking herself in a fortress and then stealing the credit for Demantoid's work. She also is one of the few characters who does not see through Hessonite's disguise.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Demantoid agrees with Steven that a new era is necessary for Gemkind to advance. Unfortunately, she thinks it's necessary to destroy the remaining colonies to create it.
Defectors
Lapis Lazuli

"Just let me do this for you!"
A Gem from Blue Diamond's court with water-manipulating powers who was poofed and trapped in a mirror after being mistaken for a Crystal Gem during the war. After being used as a tool for around 5,000 years, she was set free by Steven in "Mirror Gem". She used to despise Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl for leaving her in the mirror and for being the main reason why Homeworld mistook her for a Crystal Gem, but after they saved her in "Super Watermelon Island", she has been in good relations with them. She loves and respects Steven and has become fiercely protective of him after he freed her. While originally extremely fearful of the prospect of being caught up in another war, after forming bonds with the others and coming to see the Earth as her home, she officially joined the Crystal Gems.
Peridot

A technician from Yellow Diamond's court who was sent to Earth to check on the progress of the Cluster. She was stranded on Earth after the Crystal Gems crashed her ship in "Jail Break". After the Crystal Gems captured her, she developed a friendship with "the Steven" and formed a tenuous alliance with the Crystal Gems to stop the Cluster. In "Message Received", she defected from Homeworld to become a full member of the Crystal Gems.





