Steven Universe — Crystal Gems / Characters

Beware of spoilers up to season 5!

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Crystal Gems

General

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"We were amazed to find your beauty and your worth
And we will protect your kind
And we will protect your Earth
And we will protect your Earth
And we will protect you!"

— Pearl, "We Are the Crystal Gems" (extended)

A group of warriors that rebelled against their former Homeworld to protect the planet Earth in the distant past, led by Steven's mother, Rose Quartz. Though there were many casualties, the Crystal Gems saved the Earth. The few survivors of the war have continued to protect the Earth from monsters and other threats through the ages.

Amazon Brigade: They're the self-appointed defenders of Earth. Though they are sexless, they look like and are referred to as female.
Always Lawful Good: Okay, it's more Always Chaotic Good since they don't follow human laws and can cause a lot of destruction in their attempts to protect humanity sometimes even unnecessary, but they have dedicated themselves to the protection of Earth. invoked
- Subverted with the introduction of Bismuth, a Well-Intentioned Extremist who advocates shattering gems as a first resort and attacked Rose when Rose nixed it, caring less about protecting Earth and more on revenge, implying there may be more Crystal Gems willing to put their own personal goals above lives.
Anti-Hero Team: They may have made a vow to protect Earth and the humans, but they're dismissive towards humans at best and are also a massive bundle of unresolved issues.
Arc Symbol: The five-pointed star appears on all the Crystal Gems' usual outfits except Peridot's (and even she wonders where she's gonna "put the star" after her Heel–Face Turn). And come "Change Your Mind", her new outfit has several obvious stars on it and a couple more implied, with a subtler star design on Lapis Lazuli's new outfit as well. Bismuth is the only Crystal Gem to regenerate without a star after her introduction, but later, in the movie, she's regenerated again and now sports one on the back of her overalls.
The Atoner: They've been trying to make up for what other Gems did to the Earth for millennia.
Badass Adorable: All adorable in one way or another, and fight to protect Earth.
Badass Family: Make no mistake, despite their different looks, barely-compatible personalities, and lack of any blood relations (or blood for that matter), they are a family, and they fight like one too.
Bad "Bad Acting": Every. Single. Goddamn one of them. Whenever the Crystal Gems are required to commit some form of subterfuge, they either tell hilariously ridiculous lies, go full on Large Ham, or just act really... weird. Fortunately, most of the people they need to fool are often really, really dumb. Ruby is probably the worst of the bunch. invoked
Bad Liar: Almost every single one of them have been exceptionally bad at lying, especially under pressure.
Barrier Warrior: All Crystal Gems have the ability to use bubbling on corrupted or captured Gems so they don't regenerate. However, Rose Quartz and Steven are the only ones who have shields as an explicit ability.
Because You Were Nice to Me: A number of them seem to have joined simply because the Crystal Gems and Rose Quartz in particular are much nicer and kinder to the Gems on her side than the Homeworld was.
Been There, Shaped History: It's implied that the show's Alternate History and geography is due to the Gems, either via For Want Of A Nail or more direct interactions with humans. In "Historical Friction", after hearing about Mayor Dewey's script for his play, Pearl rewrote it to be historically accurate by including the interactions of Dewey's ancestor with the Crystal Gems. The play explains how a giant woman (who turns out to be Obsidian) rescued the boat and brought Dewey safely to the land that would become Beach City.
Berserk Button: The Crystal Gems have been defending Earth for thousands of years. This is something they take both VERY seriously and VERY personally. When Peridot insinuated that all of their actions just made things worse, Steven tried to step in, as all three Crystal Gems were so ticked off that when Steven tried to intervene Garnet smacked him out of the way and threatened Peridot!
Big, Thin, Short Trio: Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst respectively.
Broken Bird: All the Crystal Gems have been emotionally crippled by the war, and much more when Rose left. Amethyst is the only one who doesn't have war issues, but that's just because she wasn't around for the war and her issues revolve around her lack of self-esteem stemming from her circumstances of emergence.
Containment Field: All the Crystal Gems have demonstrated a capacity to "bubble" objects in small fields and teleport them to a predetermined location, preventing dormant gems from regenerating. Some Homeworld gems have shown they can do the same, though they more commonly use other forms of containment (when they don't try to shattered their enemies on the spot).
Costume Evolution: Most of the Gems sport different outfits throughout the series, usually as a result of regenerating their Hard Light physical forms after having been poofed.
Culture Clash:
- The Crystal Gems simply don't get human culture half the time, both because of their inorganic bodies and long lifespans. More significantly, until Rose met Greg, they kept themselves aloof from humans, rarely speaking to or trying to understand them.
- It goes the other direction with Homeworld Gems, as they side closer to humanity than the advanced empire their kind had evolved into.
Dark and Troubled Past: The Crystal Gems sans Amethyst were involved in a horrific war against Homeworld. Countless Gems on both sides were shattered, and only Rose Quartz and her closest companions survived.
Dark Secret: Throughout the first season, the Crystal Gems have kept Steven in the dark about the existence of other Gems and why they're bubbling monsters. It's only after Lapis Lazuli is freed from her mirror, the discovery of Peridot and her robonoids traveling through the Warp, and the Kindergarten that they're forced to let Steven in on the secret piece by piece. Steven eventually calls them out on this by the fourth season, after which they've treated him as a full member of the team.
- Rose Quartz kept darker, more horrifying secrets from everyone else, which even her closest allies are not privy of.
- Rose shattered Pink Diamond. Something Garnet and Pearl were aware of, but was kept from Steven and Amethyst.
- However, the darkest secret of the Crystal Gems is that Rose didn't shatter Pink Diamond; rather, she was Pink Diamond. Not even Garnet knew this; only Pearl did, and that was because Pearl helped fake her death. This is pivotal, because it was this decision that led to the other Diamonds corrupting all the remaining Gems on Earth and attempting to destroy the planet throughout the series.
Destructive Savior: They often wreck up huge parts of the town while fighting Gem monsters, though it's still better than what would have happened without them.
Amethyst: Steven! You just saved most of Beach City!
Emotional Maturity Is Physical Maturity:
- Amethyst, Garnet, and Pearl were less mature emotionally when Greg and Rose first met. The forms they've taken since then are visibly older as well, despite the amount of time passing being extremely small fractions of their lives. Presumably having to continue on without Rose and dealing with Steven helped.
  - Amethyst became more independent but less hyperactive. Her appearance changed from child age to late teens.
  - Garnet became more serious and reserved, having taken on the mantle of leader after Rose's passing. Her appearance changed from late-teens or early-twenties to an adult.
  - Pearl became significantly less bratty. Her appearance changed from early-to-mid teens to adult.
- Steven involuntarily changes in age depending on how old he feels in "So Many Birthdays", where he has a The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body moment and suddenly ages until he becomes an elderly man on the verge of death. He then remembers how to have fun and reverts to his kid form.
The Exile: Of a sort. The Crystal Gems defected from their kin, even if it meant they could never return to their home. Garnet chose to defect, as Earth is the only place that would allow her to exist as a fusion, while Pearl was utterly dedicated to Rose Quartz. Amethyst was not born until after the war.
False Flag Operation: It is revealed in "A Single Pale Rose" that the Crystal Gems — the rebellion created to fight against Pink Diamond and free the Earth — was actually created by Pink Diamond in a plot meant to allow her to leave the Earth alone and let it thrive rather than let it be destroyed like all other colonies. When this failed to deter the other Diamonds, she faked her own death to become Rose Quartz permanently.
Fatal Flaw:
- Except for Steven and Rose, the Crystal Gems' attitudes towards anyone of non-Gem origin is a major one, at least during the early seasons; while they don't share the Fantastic Racism of the Homeworld Gems, they don't think that humans have the capacity for maturity and consideration as they do, which is usually seen with their relationship with Greg. They didn't think that Rose would leave the laser light cannon to someone like him. The Red Eye would've destroyed Beach City and the Gem Temple if not for Steven's search through Greg's storage locker and the faith that he'd know how to help. Again with Greg, the Gems didn't have any faith in him in deciphering a Gem message. While he did manage to help, if the Gems had a little more patience, they would've known sooner.
- The Crystal Gems, again, sans Steven and Rose, also seem to have a knee-jerk hostility to anything they don't know about, opting to just destroy instead of finding out about it.
Fighter, Mage, Thief: The three older Gems all fit: Garnet (Fighter) depends primarily on her absurd physical strength and durability, Pearl (Mage) uses her mental talents and projections, while Amethyst (Thief) is most likely to use unusual abilities like shapeshifting.
Fire-Forged Friends: The Crystal Gems develop this relationship with Peridot over time. Initially the Crystal Gems were very antagonistic towards Peridot as she was a willing member of the Homeworld Gems and tried to kill them on multiple occasions. However during their time working together creating the drill needed to reach The Cluster Peridot slowly bonded with them and they, in turn, tried to teach her the meaning of life on Earth. Their relationship with her takes a massive hit when she insults Rose and (indirectly) everything she fought towards, but Peridot proves in "Message Received" that she does care for the Crystal Gems and decides to burn her connections in Homeworld when Yellow Diamond refuses to neutralize the Cluster. Afterwards, the Crystal Gems accept Peridot as the newest member of the team.
Four-Temperament Ensemble: Rebecca Sugar has compared them to a related concept of stages of emotional development.
- Sanguine: Steven; energetic, expressive, and compassionate.
- Choleric: Amethyst; independent, rude, and often the first to lead the charge.
- Melancholic: Pearl; artistic, formal, and a perfectionist.
- Phlegmatic: Garnet; calm, quiet, and dependable.
Freudian Trio:
- The Kirk: Garnet, literally a fusion between Fire and Ice. Despite also being the stoic, she's the one who comes down as the tie breaking vote between Pearl and Amethyst, and the final decision maker. She's also fairly impartial to them. And has outbursts of being Not So Stoic when she's mad or excited.
- The McCoy: Amethyst. She's impulsive, emotional, and often puts having a bit of fun at the expense of others before her own duties.
- The Spock: Pearl. She tries to put logic before emotion, though her emotions sometimes get the best of her. Most of the time she's the one to come up with a plan, play by the rules, and scold Steven and Amethyst both in a motherly fashion.
Gem Tissue: All of them have a gem somewhere on their bodies.
Good is Not Nice: They are dedicated to protecting Earth and the human race, but they see no reason to apologize for causing massive property damage or power outages or even clean up the messes from their battles. When Ronaldo points out that the Gems are the primary reason Beach City is always in danger, Pearl brushes it off more or less with "we were here first".
Grew Beyond Their Programming: When Gems are made they pop out of the ground fully grown and knowing exactly what they are supposed to do and are expected to do that for the rest of their existence. Each member of the Crystal Gems were just regular Gems that were originally performing their duties, but when they came to Earth they met Rose Quartz, and she showed them that they could do more than just what they were made to do, they could do whatever they wanted to do.
The Hecate Sisters: As confirmed in the Art and Origins artbook, the three Crystal Gems represent the three relationships a boy like Steven would have with an older sibling.
- Garnet represents the Crone. She is wise yet distant, and her Third Eye gives her special knowledge.
- Amethyst represents the Maiden. She is carefree, teasing, and has the least inhibitions.
- Pearl represents the Mother. She is bossy and controlling, but also protective.
Heroes of Another Story: Early on, the Gems frequently went on missions without Steven, either because they thought he wasn't emotionally mature enough, couldn't use his powers well enough to contribute, or more rarely, that they're working in areas that would be difficult or impossible for Steven to navigate (i.e. Garnet goes alone to get the Geode Beetle of Earth because it's at the bottom of a lava lake). Averted after the first story arc, when they start bringing him along as they learn to trust in him. This is all but dropped by season two, where Steven is seen working with them with little to no comment, save for the odd instance where it would be more practical to go it by themselves.
Heroes With Bad Publicity: Downplayed. Their anti-social behavior and Destructive Savior tendencies require Steven to be the middle man between the Gems and the town. This would matter more if the citizens of Beach City cared enough to be bothered by them aside from the occasional annoyance.
Hidden Depths: Beneath their initially mysterious and perfect exteriors, they all have their own anxieties, fears, and trauma with the past they try to keep from Steven.
I Do Not Drink Wine: The Gems, being holographic projections, don't actually need to eat, although they still have the capability to do so, as enthusiastically demonstrated by Amethyst. Garnet eats on occasion, but Pearl refuses to eat. Played for Laughs in "Beach Party":
Nanefua: Aren't you girls hungry? You've barely touched your food!
Garnet: We don't need to eat.
Nanefua: Oh, you young people and your experimental diets.
Garnet: I am much older than you.
Identically Powered Team: They have some unique powers, but tend not to use them very much, at least not in combat. They all mostly rely on the same combination of superhuman physical abilities, weapon summoning, and gem bubbling. Amethyst at least uses her shapeshifting fairly often and has a Rolling Attack for battle, and Garnet uses her future vision to aid the team out of combat.
In Place of an Eye: Many Gems have their gem located where an eye should be, including Emerald and the Ruby Steven appropriately nicknamed “Eyeball”.
Irony: Pearl looks down on humans the most, but looks the most like a human. Meanwhile, Amethyst acts the most like a human and was practically raised as one, but is most obviously not one.
Large and in Charge: Steven is the youngest and shortest. Amethyst is only slightly taller than Steven. Pearl is taller but much skinnier. Garnet is essentially the leader, is even taller than Pearl and the largest over all. Rose Quartz was even taller and larger than Garnet.
- Amethyst is a subversion of this, as explained by Peridot that by all rights Amethyst, as a Quartz Gem, should be at least twice her current height and leading the remainders of the Crystal Gems. However Amethyst, as mentioned above, is half as tall as she should be and is a subordinate to Garnet.
Laser-Guided Karma: While they did try to be Good Parents for Steven, Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst used him as a dumping ground for their own personal issues since he was a kid, showed him flashes of resentment involving Rose that made him think they blame him for his mother's death, and never really helped him recover from his traumas at all. Come "I Am My Monster", Steven has a massive psychological breakdown from his pent-up issues, corrupting him into a Gem Monster. Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst are forced to realize that it was their emotional neglect that caused Steven's transformation, and they lament how much they screwed up with him as mother figures.
Last of Their Kind: It was implied that Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Rose Quartz were the last living Crystal gems prior to Steven's birth. Which is true, technically speaking. While "Ocean Gem" and later "Warp Tour" confirm that there are more Gems out there, the Crystal Gems are a specific group of which the main Gems are the sole survivors (except for Bismuth, who was bubbled away until Season 3). This is because the war the Crystal Gems were involved with ended with the Diamonds releasing an attack that corrupted all the remaining Crystal Gems (and any Homeworld Gems who didn't evacuate in time), and Rose was only able to protect herself, Garnet, and Pearl. Amethyst emerged after the war ended and was adopted by the Crystal Gems. Meanwhile, Bismuth was secretly bubbled in Lion's mane.
Leeroy Jenkins: Their default reaction to a problem is often attacking them until they can be destroyed, bubbled, or both. For example, in "Marble Madness", they cared more about destroying the Robonoids in the short term than figuring out why they were coming to Earth, and only tried to find out due to a combination of Steven's curiosity and their frustration with continually fighting them.
Light Is Good: Their physical bodies are basically light with mass, and nine times out of ten using a given power will make at least a part of them glow. Light visually enhances their look as heroes, and their former leader, Rose Quartz, was downright saintly looking and held to be perfect. Ultimately subverted, however, as their faults and mistakes (including Rose's) are revealed, and they need to be solved through relating and communicating, not by blind worship. They are still heroes who protect Earth, though.
Locked Out of the Loop: Rose Quartz kept an unknown number of things hidden from the other Gems, including Lion's existence. She also hid the fact that she killed Pink Diamond, except from her closest friends: Pearl and Garnet. And even then, the complete truth, that she was actually Pink Diamond all along, was hidden to all but Pearl.
Logical Weakness: If you "poof" a Gem, they will come back alive and well after some time and isn't fatal; but if an antagonist wanted to destroy them once and for all, they would shatter their gemstone, since that is the most lethal thing to happen to them, being the harshest, most devastating equivalent of a Gem's death, as noted in "Bismuth".
Magical Girl Warrior: The Crystal Gems are heavily inspired by the Magical Girl Warrior flavor of Magical Girl. Unlike most examples, however, the Crystal Gems look like adults (and are actually much older than that), are explicitly non-human, sexless but referred to and presented as female, and one of them is male (technically the only one with a gender at all).
Magnetic Plot Device: The Gem Monsters are specially attracted to the Crystal Gems' magic.
Mama Bear: All of the other Gems towards Steven. Threatening him with anything even remotely dangerous, even things he'd probably be able to defend himself from like the local nutcase Ronaldo, will immediately send them into full-on battle mode. This has often been deconstructed because they often will try to protect Steven even though it may go overboard, causing Steven to become exasperated at their violent actions.
Midseason Upgrade: In Season 3, Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet get upgrades to their weapons from Bismuth. Though it seems using the upgrade is optional, as Amethyst has used both versions of her whip since she got it, and Garnet and Pearl only saw fit to use their default versions on the Corrupted Gems Jasper had caught. All of them use them to fight the Diamonds, though whether or not this is due to Bismuth's redemption removing any emotional pain associated with the upgrades or the seriousness of the situation is unknown.
Mirroring Factions: With the Homeworld Gems. They originally shared Homeworld's view of humans lacking the same intellectual capabilities as Gems, and are apathetic towards what destruction they cause. The key difference is that the Crystal Gems have taken a stand against them, dedicating their lives to protecting humanity and are Noble Bigots by comparison, doing their best to learn and understand Earth and the life it contains. Bismuth takes it one step further: she doesn't hold much pro-Earth sentiment at all, and her main motivation is opposing Homeworld, and ignores how this drives her to take actions similar to those she hates.
Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal:
- Homeworld's crappy treatment of them is shown to be a key factor in the defection of some members. Garnet defected because Ruby would have been shattered for accidentally fusing into her with Sapphire, and Bismuth defected because her caste was basically enslaved as construction workers. Peridot also joins when Yellow Diamond refuses her logical arguments to spare the Earth and tries to kill her for an insult.
- The entire reason why Rose founded the Crystal Gems and rebelled against Homeworld was this trope. Back when she used to be a Diamond, the others were borderline abusive and controlling her life choices because she was the youngest. Despite their love for her, it was not unconditional and they were willing to use force to keep her in line. Is it any wonder why she betrayed Homeworld?
My God, What Have I Done?: Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl realize their mistreatment of Steven caused his breakdown and Gem Corruption in "I Am My Monster", as throughout Steven Universe, they've been using him as their own Living Emotional Crutch for their own problems, despite this behavior being very emotionally and psychologically damaging to a child. Connie snaps them out of it by bluntly acknowledging they hurt Steven, but points out wallowing in self-pity won't help him at all.
My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Gems as a whole appear to be extremely imperialistic, even fascist, with a tremendous disdain for anyone weak. The Crystal Gems turned against that to defend mankind.
The Needless: While Steven is an exception due to being a Half-Human Hybrid, the other Gems are shown to not need to eat or sleep due to basically being magic holograms. They can still eat if they so desire(Amethyst loves doing so, Garnet's willing to but doesn't make a habit out of it, Pearl finds it disgusting), and "Chille Tid" showed that sleep is a valid recovery option if a Gem is sufficiently exhausted from continuous activity, even it isn't a strict requirement.
Noble Bigot: The Crystal Gems are a far cry from their Homeworld counterparts and their blatant, callous disregard for Earth life, and have even dedicated their lives to protecting Earth from other Gems. However, the Crystal Gems really haven't bothered to learn much about human culture^note and show some disdain for the parts they don't understand. They're also one step above not caring at all about the collateral damage they cause to Beach City. Even Rose, who loved humans the most, could be unintentionally condescending to them, at least before she really got to know Greg. Steven seems to be the only exception to this attitude, the gems successfully becoming an active part in Beach City's community with his help by the end of the series.
No Social Skills: Any time they interact with the residents of Beach City it is obvious that they barely know anything about human society, to the degree that they don't know what school is. They can understand the concepts perfectly well, they just don't bother learning about them. Flashbacks show that they've actually made a lot of progress so far, as at least they're trying to communicate and express bewilderment toward human culture, rather than completely ignoring them altogether before Rose met Greg.
Not Worth Killing: Inverted. "I Am My Mom" confirms that the Homeworld Gems have known about their existence since "Marble Madness", but don't think of them as a real threat without Rose. As far as Homeworld is concerned, the Cluster is going to blow up the Earth, taking the Crystal Gems with it (they don't know that it's been neutralized ever since "Gem Drill".
Opposed Mentors: Each of the Gems have their own approach to mentoring Steven, although the only real conflict is between Pearl and Amethyst. Any time Garnet intervenes, they'll both defer to her judgement.
Parental Substitute: All of them act this way to Steven in their own way: Pearl is the most motherly, Amethyst is a cool bigger sister who shares adventures with him and Garnet is an even cooler big sis or a Cool Aunt.
Parents as People:
- While the Crystal Gems love Steven dearly, they aren't perfect even as parents. They often doubt themselves if they are raising Steven right, especially since they don't have Rose to guide them. Besides that, they make occasional and impacting slip ups about how much they miss Rose or how things could be easier if she were around in front of Steven, leading him to think they blame him for her "death". And despite trying to serve as positive role models for Steven, they also fostered a toxic parental relationship with him where they essentially made a young child their Living Emotional Crutch that they can dump their personal issues onto with little consequence, something a good parent wouldn't do to their child. Eventually, years of emotional neglect bordering on abuse (even if it was unintentional) causes Steven to develop a very unhealthy Samaritan Syndrome complex, contributing to his mental breakdown and his transformation into a Corrupt Gem Monster.
- Rose herself has also gained a lot of this type of characterization, if only through flashbacks. While she was a genuinely kind and loving Gem, she was also headstrong and somewhat childish, had to get a metaphorical smack from Greg before she started understanding humans on the same level as Gems, and had a really bad habit of keeping secrets.
Planet Of Copy Hats: We find out each is of one of a type of gem they share significant similarities with. However, despite being designed to be interchangeable, the Crystal Gems are also defined by how they diverge from these roles.
Platonic Declaration of Love: They always take time to tell Steven that they love him.
Poor Communication Kills: While their inability to openly talk about their feelings hasn't led to deaths, it has led to some of them internalizing their emotional problems.
- A big example is "Steven's Dream" — the plot would not have happened if the Crystal Gems, particularly Garnet and Pearl, just came clean about Rose and Pink Diamond instead of continuing to treat him like a child who won't understand what he's told. While it was Steven's fault for going off unprotected, Garnet and Pearl withholding crucial information from Steven did play a major part in Greg's kidnapping by the visiting Blue Diamond.
- If Pearl had told Steven that Rose Quartz didn't shatter Pink Diamond, she was Pink Diamond, a lot of grief could be avoided. Of course, this wasn't really her fault, as Pink had put a Restraining Bolt on her so that she literally couldn't speak of it, and she had to abuse a loophole to show Steven what happened.
Quality over Quantity: The Crystal Gems were greatly outnumbered and outgunned by Homeworld in the rebellion, but matched them regardless. Homeworld's own history appears to paint this purely due to Rose's healing powers letting them repair cracked gems. If you ask Bismuth, she'd say it was because the Crystal Gems show everything that gems can be instead of what Homeworld wants them to be. Of course, having Pink Diamond on their side probably helped a lot.
Race-Name Basis: As shown when Peridot contacts Yellow Diamond, a Gem's full "name" is comprised of their Gem Type, a Facet Code, and a Cut Code — for example, Peridot is Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG and Amethyst is Amethyst Facet-5 Cut-8XM. However, with the remaining Crystal Gems on Earth being the only ones of their kind not shattered or corrupted, they stick to being called simply by their Gem types.
Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Early on, the viewer is led to think of the Crystal Gems as a group of glorious intergalactic warriors, Protectors of Earth. But little by little, we learn about their flaws and weaknesses. This likely played a large part in why they became Crystal Gems to begin with, finding it easier to empathize with the weak inhabitants of Earth. In "The Return" one of their foes regards the team this way:
Jasper: But this is all that's left of her army? Some lost, defective Pearl, a puny overcooked runt [referring to Amethyst] and this shameless display [referring to Garnet]? [glances at Steven] What is that?
- It's also Deconstructed in that same episode. As supremely skilled as the Gems are at dealing with Gem Monsters, or the latest threat to Beach City... they're completely also completely helpless against Peridot and Jasper's ship, which isn't even a fraction of Homeworld's strength.
The Remnant: Garnet and Pearl are all that remains of Rose's forces who fought against the Homeworld with her, with Amethyst having been born after the war. It is made clear later on that there were many thousands, or even millions, of Crystal Gems. All of the others that survived the war became Gem Monsters. The fate of those Gems captured by Homeworld is even worse, with the fragments of their shattered Gems (which are essentially corpses) being used in Homeworld's forced fusion experiments to create the Cluster.
La Résistance: They were formed to be this to Homeworld.
Rude Hero, Nice Sidekick: Zig-Zagged. While Steven is technically The Hero of the series, he's the Sidekick when it comes to the older Crystal Gems. And while the elder members aren't complete jerks, they are prejudiced against humans and don't hide it either. With Steven veering into Token Good Teammate territory at times.
Secretly Selfish: On a general level, all of the Gems dote on and care for Steven, and are perfectly willing to risk their lives for him... but that's partly because Steven is their Living Emotional Crutch, and their behaviour often forces Steven to handle issues that, as a child, he shouldn't really have to cope with. However, that does not mean that they're bad parents, even if they think this is the case.
- Pearl, the most maternal Gem, wouldn't let so much as a cold wind blow on Steven if she could help it... but a big part of that is the psychological hangover from being his mother, Rose's, self-proclaimed protector. She's been utterly bereft after losing that part of her identity, and really wants it back.
- Garnet falls foul of this in "Future Vision". Letting Steven know how her power works initially seems to be her usual humoring of Steven's curiosity, but at the end of the episode she admits that really, she wanted Steven to understand her better so that she could be closer to him.
- Interestingly, Amethyst rarely falls into this because she's open about her feelings, Steven calling her the more mature out of all of because of this in "What's Your Problem?".
Sixth Ranger:
- Peridot, as of the events of "Message Received".
- Lapis also sort of fills this role as the sixth member of the group as of "Reunited".
Smug Super: Steven aside, the Crystal Gems have high opinions about themselves compared to humans. Flashbacks have shown that even Rose, the kindest and most compassionate of them all, wasn't immune to this, and it was only once she formed a relationship with Greg that her views finally changed.
Survivor Guilt: All three Gems were hit hard by Rose giving up her life to give birth to Steven.
Town Girls: Pearl is Femme, Amethyst is Butch, and Garnet is Neither — appropriate, as she is the fusion of Ruby and Sapphire.
True Companions: In all ways but biology, they're a family.
Turned Against Their Masters: All Gems are born into a certain task for the sake of serving the Diamonds. The Crystal Gems decided they can do more than what they were made for and don't have to follow the Diamonds' orders, especially when they harm the lives of themselves or others. Their stated goal isn't actively hostile toward Homeworld, but they will fight to protect the Earth. Unfortunately, Bismuth cared less about protecting the weak and more about getting back at their creators, and she probably wasn't alone.
Un-person: Their existence is implied to be kept secret from most Homeworld Gems save those who fought in the war against Earth, the records merely saying that the planet was abandoned as a viable Gem colony. "Your Mother and Mine" confirms that most Homeworld gems saw Rose Quartz as an Urban Legend at best.
Villains Act, Heroes React: Averted with Gems dealing with the Gem Monsters, as they are actively sought out on a number of occasions and occasionally are defeated before they cause much trouble. Zigzagged with Homeworld Gems, as they try to find and deal with them before they do anything, but only deal with them after they had begun to cause trouble. Other times, they aren't even aware of Homeworld Gems until they're practically at the front door.
Weak, but Skilled: As a whole, fusions aside, the current Crystal Gem teammembers are all on the lower side of average power by Gem warrior standards and their arsenal is primitive at best compared to modern Homeworld technology. They have managed to hold their own despite this thanks to a combination of thousands of years of experience, fusion, exploitation of their unique abilities, and their trust in each other.
What Does She See in Him?: The other Gems wonder what made Rose fall in love with Greg, although flashbacks have helped shed light on it.
What the Hell, Hero?: The Gems are occasionally called out when their selfish actions cause conflict or other problems in the group, often times by humans such as Steven, Connie and at least once by Greg. One particular example stands out where Lapis is furious with Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst because regardless if she was a Homeworld soldier or not (she was actually a civilian caught up in the War on Earth) they were content to leave her in a mirror for thousands of years where she was unable to communicate or move on her own until Steven came along and freed her.
You Are Not Ready: Garnet and Pearl not telling Steven about Homeworld because of their assumptions that he's not emotionally mature enough to process the information for three seasons eventually comes back to bite them in the gem in 'Steven's Dream'; their refusal to talk about what he assumes is Pink Diamond (but is actually Blue Diamond visiting Earth, according to Garnet) causes Steven to snap and lash out at them for keeping secrets, and go off to Korea with Greg to find out for himself... which leads to Greg getting kidnapped by Blue Diamond.
You Can't Go Home Again: The Crystal Gems can't go back to the Gem Homeworld; their sinister plans for Earth leading to Rose Quartz and the others deciding to stay and protect it. Garnet goes so far as to smash Earth's connection to the Galaxy Warp after Peridot repairs it, with the implication that they were the ones that broke it the first time. Peridot winds up in the same boat as them and becomes a Crystal Gem after the events of "Message Received".

Character-Specific Pages

Bismuth

"We are powerful! We are important! We are the CRYSTAL GEMS!"

^{Click here for her second outfit}

^{Click here for her first outfit}

Voiced by: Uzo Aduba ("Bismuth" to "Bismuth Casual"), Miriam Hyman ("Everything's Fine" to "The Future", Unleash the Light)

"Because we are the Crystal Gems!
And we never give up, we never give up on out friends!
As long as one of us is standing to brandish the star
We'll find a way to save the day, that's who we are!"

One of the original Crystal Gems from over 5,000 years ago, and an old comrade to Garnet and Pearl.

11th-Hour Ranger: After being bubbled in her eponymous episode, Bismuth is freed and rejoins the Crystal Gems in the final arc of Season 5.
Anti-Villain: Has good intentions, but her Pay Evil unto Evil tendencies regarding Homeworld and her developing The Breaking Point was the Breaking Point for Rose to bubble her away, having become too aggressive to allow her on the battlefield any longer. As of "Made of Honor", this no longer applies.
The Atoner: She eventually becomes this for attempting to kill Steven, fearing the other Crystal Gems won't accept her back. Ultimately, they do.
Be All My Sins Remembered: Learning that Rose never told the other Crystal Gems about what really happened to her, despite knowing what that would mean if they knew, was what really set her off, and it's the reason she decides Steven is better than Rose when he promises to tell them everything.
Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: By the events of the movie, she's the Brawn to Lapis's Beauty and Peridot's Brains.
Be Careful What You Wish For: Bismuth was furious with Rose for not wanting to shatter Pink Diamond to end the war early. She finds out six thousand years later that Rose did take her advice ... by faking the shattering because she was Pink Diamond. Then White, Blue and Yellow unleashed the Corruption Beam and hurt all of the surviving Crystal Gems, who were Bismuth's friends. Bismuth is horrified and guilty when she realizes what she inspired Rose to do.
Berserk Button: Hoo boy, if you value your life, don't lie to Bismuth. Another button that is on 24/7 is Bismuth's hatred for Homeworld, especially the "Elite" of Homeworld. That one burns with the intensity of the lava she forges with. And for the love of all that is holy, never let her believe you have any sympathy for the enemy.
Beware the Nice Ones: She's a big, sweet, loving Gem who's quick with a joke and full of sincere encouragement. She's also an utterly brutal fighter. And she tried to kill Steven, and Rose in the past. This is shown again in the fight against Blue Diamond.
Big Damn Heroes: Along with Lapis and Peridot in "ChangeYour Mind", she makes a very timely arrival with the repaired arm ships to subdue White Diamond's ship.
The Big Guy: Of the original Crystal Gems, seemingly, being a Blood Knight with strength matching that of Garnet's as well being the physically largest Gem besides Rose.
Big, Thin, Short Trio: Among the Crystal Gems, she forms one with Peridot and Lapis. The three serve as reinforcements for Steven during the Diamond Days event, with Bismuth able to easily repair the Diamond's ships and forge a new sword for Connie to use.
The Blacksmith: Bismuths are builders and architects, but after siding with the Crystal Gems, this Bismuth used that talent to make weapons. She forged every physical weapon used by the Crystal Gems during the war, and in the present provides the remaining Crystal Gems with upgrades for their Gem weapons. Her forge is in the base of a volcano, like Hephaestus, and she starts on weapons by dipping her bare hands into lava and hammering the red hot ingot with her hands shapeshifted into hammers.
Blade Below the Shoulder: Aside from her hammer, she shifts her hands into large blades for combat.
Blood Knight: In a flashback to the war, she jumped into a crowd of fleeing Gems and immediately attacked the first Gem near her — the small, pencil-thin Lapis Lazuli, who didn't even have a chance to defend herself. She's actually rather chatty and friendly when around other Crystal Gems, though.
Boisterous Bruiser: She's jovial, loud, and the most muscular Gem seen yet.
Bright Is Not Good: She's a vividly colorful Gem with a cheerful demeanor and a Blood Knight side. After her Heel–Face Turn, this no longer applies, and she becomes as good as she is bright.
Broken Ace: She is viewed as the most awesome member of the team until it's revealed that she's not the same hero they so fondly remembered.
Broken Pedestal:
- The other Crystal Gems thought of her as still fiercely loyal to their cause of protecting the Earth and a potential leader in Rose's absence, but when Steven explains what happened between her and Rose (that the former tried to kill the latter over a disagreement of ethics), they become heartbroken and betrayed that their old friend has become a violently unstable and hateful person willing to even kill Rose to achieve her own personal goals over protecting the innocent.
- This also happened with Bismuth herself toward Rose. Bismuth idolized Rose for promoting her views that any Crystal Gem could be their own individual, outside of their caste system. When Rose tried to prevent Bismuth from fulfilling her crusade of vengeance, however? Rose fell from grace in Bismuth's eyes, to the point where she attempted to murder her. After Bismuth's return she calms down about that, but still considers Steven to be superior to Rose as he's dealing with the problems she didn't or wouldn't face, including Bismuth herself.
Bruiser with a Soft Center: Bismuth is very in touch with her emotions, is not afraid to cry in front of others, and over time with Steven develops more empathy and compassion for her enemies. She can't stop herself from tearing up when she sees Pearl crying, and struggles not to cry when Sapphire and Ruby make their wedding vows.
Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: The burly Bimusth can form her fist into a mallet, which she uses both for combat and blacksmithing.
The Bus Came Back: In "Made of Honor", Steven manages to convince her that what she tried to do to him is a thing of the past and that the other Crystal Gems missed her despite her worries for trying to shatter Steven. Turns out they missed her a lot, much to her surprise.
Butch Lesbian: She has a masculine design and as shown in Steven Universe Future, she has feelings for Pearl.
Cathartic Scream: Upon finding out Rose and Pink Diamond were the same person she takes a moment to scream out her feeling... while dunking her head under lava.
Character Development: As of "Legs from Here to Homeworld", she has gone from being a Fallen Hero who wanted to shatter the Diamonds to trusting her "leader" to negotiate with them, and advising him to "roar" in their language. Steven is grateful for the advice, and that she chose to stay on Earth.
Cuddle Bug: She loves hugs especially tackle ones. Pearl was the first one she hugged when Steven freed her the first time, which makes more sense on learning she has a crush on Pearl
Death by Irony: Non-fatal of course, due to being a Gem. She ends up defeated by Steven after he stabs her with Rose's sword, the very weapon she constructed for her heroic leader. But then Steven unbubbles her later.
Death Seeker: When Steven refuses to use or let anyone use the Breaking Point, she tells him to shatter her. Steven, of course, refuses, and she changes her mind when Steven informs her he won't cover up her disappearance like Rose did.
Determinator: As clearly seen in the fight against Blue and Yellow Diamond.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: Bismuth is a working-class gem from a caste system born from almost a religious zealotry towards rank based on birth and privilege, who develops a particularly spiteful hatred towards the "bourgeoisie" of her society. She ends up joining freedom fighters founded by a charismatic leader built on the idea that all Gems are equal, only to become so devoted to the cause that she winds up become a zealot, claiming that "no one is more Crystal Gem" than her and ends up attacking the founder of the group (Rose Quartz) when she isn't willing to go far enough. Not to mention that her favored weapons are hammers and sickles shape-shifted from the very hands that she makes her livelihood from.
Dreadlock Rasta: She wears her hair in rainbow-colored dreadlocks, signifying her rebellious nature.
Dreadlock Warrior: Has an awesome hairstyle and is a highly competent warrior.
Early-Bird Cameo: She appears as a semi-distinct silhouette in "Same Old World", and her bubbled gem was one of the objects seen in Lion's mane in "Lion 3: Straight to Video".
Everyone Has Standards:
- When she learns that Pink Diamond was Rose Quartz and faked her shattering, it puts Rose's questionable strategy in light, and Bismuth abandons her idea of the Breaking Point when she realizes that Rose did take her advice, and faked Pink Diamond's shattering. She also apologizes to Steven for trying to kill him and mistaking him for Rose.
- The reason why she doesn't want to initially attend Ruby and Sapphire's wedding is because she believes the Gems are justified to not trust her after she nearly killed Steven, since he is their leader. Steven tells her that he forgives her, and the others follow suit.
Everything's Better with Rainbows: A Gem with the most obvious range of colors to her palette. Even her shapeshifting has a visible rainbow flare.
Expressive Accessory: Depending on the Artist, Bismuth's headband will sometimes change shape to match her mood, turning into a more pronounced V-shape when she's angry or flipping upside down when she's sad.
Face–Heel Turn: Downplayed. She's still a Crystal Gem, but she turned into a Knight Templar and tried to murder Steven when he gets in her way of escalating the war by aiming to shatter Homeworld's leaders outright (and was heavily implied to have attacked Rose when she disagreed with her on this). But see Heel–Face Turn below.
Fallen Hero: She was once regarded as the best Crystal Gem on the team, and fought by Rose's side neck and neck, until her hatred of and lust for revenge against the abuses of the Homeworld elite twisted and hardened her. As of "Made of Honor", she's risen above this trope.
Fatal Flaw: Wrath beyond a shadow of a doubt. The hatred Bismuth carries for high-class Homeworld Gems, the Diamonds especially, and her insatiable desire to see them all shattered is what drove Rose to poof and bubble her, ally or not. She ultimately realizes her folly when she sees exactly what would've happened if she had shattered a Diamond.
Fish out of Temporal Water: Has been "out" since the war, and thus missed a lot. She confuses the house built outside the temple for a "base made out of wood", and (more tragically) she was completely unaware of the fact she, Garnet, and Pearl are the only Crystal Gems who survived the rebellion until Pearl told her. She didn't even know about the corrupted Gems, or Pink Diamond's "shattering".
Foil:
- To Jasper. Both are muscular Gems with long hair who love to fight, and will use any means necessary to defeat their enemies. However, they're on opposite sides of the war. Most notably, Jasper respected Rose's tactics, dismissed her ideals, and saw Steven as a tinier, weaker form of Rose. Bismuth adored Rose's new ideas of being your own person, but felt she wasn't brutal enough. She's also largely supportive of Steven and eventually sees him as better version of Rose. Tellingly though, both of them concluded that Rose was only pretending to be Steven and believed they were attacking "her", albeit Bismuth got better. Also, Bismuth thinks that shattering the Diamonds will help free the lower classes from the Diamonds' tyranny, while Jasper is filled with a massive amounts of rage and self-loathing largely because she thinks her Diamond was shattered. The biggest difference, however, is Bismuth ultimately accepts Steven's offer of redemption.
- To Peridot. Both are builders of sorts, but while Peridot pulled a Heel–Face Turn, Bismuth pulled a slight Face–Heel Turn. While Peridot conceded her plan to destroy the Cluster when Steven suggested looking for another option, when Steven said that there had to be an alternative to using Bismuth's Breaking Point, she tried to kill him. Amusingly, they become fast friends in "Reunited", with Bismuth saying that she likes how Peridot doesn't quit. We also see their contrasting responses to Greg; Peridot saw him as an interesting human at first, and she sees him as a friend. While Peridot pushed Greg off the barn roof to see if he could fly while he was repairing it back in season 2, Bismuth is sawing up wood to help him repair the house and Temple. Justified in that Peridot didn't know humans were "fragile and soft", while Bismuth does, and Bismuths are made for construction work.
Forgotten First Meeting: The show's creator has confirmed she is the Bismuth that poofed Lapis Lazuli during the rebellion, but neither recognizes the other. In Bismuth's case, that was far from the only Lapis Lazuli she knocked out.
Forgiveness: It's not clear if she's forgiven Rose, but when Bismuth learns Rose was Pink Diamond she admits Rose was justified in the actions Bismuth had previously been unable to understand. She still considers Steven better than Rose, though.
Freudian Excuse: Being a member of a Servant Race gave her one to start with, but the horrors of the war and hatred for the Diamonds ultimately twisted her into a Knight Templar.
Gentle Giant: She's initially very friendly and gentle when first meeting Steven, and even later when her warlike tendencies become apparent she's still very warm and even caring. Then her Berserk Button is pushed, and she ain't so gentle no more.
Gosh Darn It to Heck!:
- In "Made of Honor", after learning that Rose and Pink Diamond were the same, she dunks her head under lava and screams before pulling up and shouting "OH MY GOSH!"
- In the movie, Bismuth similarly says "Oh shhhucks!" as one of the buildings in Little Homeworld starts to come apart.
Graceful Loser: Admits that Steven is better than Rose after her defeat.
Heel–Face Turn: She returns in "Made of Honor", where she sees what would have happened had she used the Breaking Point. After admitting she was wrong, Steven convinces her to rejoin the Crystal Gems.
Heel–Face Revolving Door: While she's always been against the Diamonds, her stance with the rest of the Crystal Gems and how low she's willing to go has fluctuated throughout the series. She was originally a staunch believer of the cause, but she eventually decided the only way to stop the Diamonds was to shatter them, leading Rose, and later Steven, to poof her when they disagreed with her methods. By "Made of Honor" she attempts to distance herself from her fellow gems out of shame after having realised everything she did wrong, but Steven convinces her to come back, making her a full Crystal Gem once again and staying that way for the rest of the series.
Heel Realization: Has one in "Made of Honor", when she is informed of the complete story and realizes how her suggestion of the Breaking Point sounded to Rose ("Hey Rose! Check out this cool weapon I made, I'm gonna shatter you with it!"). She also sees the fate of the corrupted Crystal Gems and realizes her plan would've backfired catastrophically. The biggest one, however, is realizing Steven isn't Rose and thus she tried to murder a completely innocent person in her rage.
Bismuth: I blew it! Everything was different, and I didn't believe it.
Hero of Another Story: Was one during the First Gem War. At one point she talks with fellow veterans Garnet and Pearl over their feats such as defeating multiple Quartz battalions, and hijacking enemy ships as if they were routine for them. She also implies that she went through her own development as a hero after meeting with Rose Quartz not unlike Pearl.
Heroic Build: She's a Crystal Gem, and about as ripped as a male bodybuilder.
He Who Fights Monsters: Hates Homeworld and the Gem elite with a passion, moreso after learning how many friends were killed or corrupted in the war. While her intentions are good, she is willing to go to extremes Rose would never go to, which led to the conflict between them. Seems to have toned down once the effects of her planed course of action, the truth about Rose, and meeting some former Homeworld Gems at least to not being openly homicidal.
Hidden Depths: In spite of her (very justified) immense distrust and normally highly visible disdain towards them, Bismuth looks noticeably saddened and sympathetic when watching Blue and Yellow Diamond struggle against their fear and attempt to reason with and stand up to White Diamond during Change Your Mind, moreso than anyone else besides Steven and Connie.
History Repeats: Unfortunately for Steven, he had no idea by telling the blacksmith Gem "It's not right" when refusing to use the Breaking Point to win the war, he was using the exact same words his mother Rose told Bismuth thousands of years ago, right before their confrontation. Bismuth snaps, thinking "Steven" is yet another one of "Rose's lies" to her. Their confrontation directly after goes almost exactly the same as it did with Rose: Bismuth attacks and ends up being poofed and bubbled in self-defence. The crucial difference is that Steven promises to tell the others everything that's happened instead of hiding it like Rose did, leading to Bismuth telling him he really is better than Rose before she poofs, which ends up being a major part of why she's able to be freed and return to the group later on without many grievances.
Hopeless Suitor: It's revealed in Future that she's been in love with Pearl practically since when they met thousands of years ago. She refuses to tell Pearl, however, because she knows her best friend has been mourning Rose and doesn't seem interested in a new relationship.
Humanizing Tears: As ferocious and violent as she had been to him moments before, it's pretty difficult not to feel horrible seeing her tears after Steven impales her with Rose's sword as she confesses just how much it hurts to know how little she must've mattered to Rose to be bubbled away and lied about to her friends for thousands of years.
I Gave My Word: Bismuth is someone who takes her oaths seriously. She helps Greg repair the house and Temple since she promised to fix it, and makes steady progress before Steven sends them a distress call.
I Just Want to Be Special: Heavily implied by her above quote, especially if Bismuth equates "be her own Gem" instead of "what the Diamonds and Homeworld made her to be" to special. She relays this to Steven after he defeats her, telling him it's important that Steven be himself rather than struggling to live up to whatever legacy and role was left to him by Rose.
I Knew There Was Something About You: She feels upset but vindicated after she learns the truth about Pink Diamond Running Both Sides of the war, explaining Rose Quartz's adherence to a relatively passive strategy.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Steven defeats her by stabbing her with Rose's sword.
Innocently Insensitive: Her telling Rose to use the Breaking Point to shatter the Diamonds is essentially her telling Rose to use the Breaking Point to shatter herself and her sisters. After she learns the truth, Bismuth admits to this.
Irony:
- As she admitted with a bitter laugh, she told Rose to shatter Pink Diamond with the Breaking Point, not knowing they were one and the same. Then after all their fight and Bismuth getting bubbled, Rose took her advice, and the war's aftermath went south for the Crystal Gems.
- More seriously, she has the most faith that Steven can actually negotiate with the Diamonds after he managed to reach them in a psychic plane and call for a ceasefire. Then she finds out from a Watermelon Steven that the Crystal Gems on Homeworld, including Steven, are in trouble and need help.
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: She refuses to tell Pearl she loves her because Pearl, as far as she knows, is still mourning Rose and doesn't seem interested in another relationship. Bismuth only cares that Pearl is happy, because that is what she deserves.
Jerkass Has a Point:
- Well, not Jerkass so much as a very harsh Well-Intentioned Extremist, but while Both Sides Have a Point in regards to her and Rose's disagreement, Steven completely agrees with her that Rose not telling the Crystal Gems about the outcome was a mistake, and corrects it after being forced to imprison her again.
- It's done again when everyone finds out Rose Quartz was Pink Diamond. Bismuth claimed that Rose Quartz's strategy made no sense and seemed to be befuddle her as to how a more passive, merciful, and forgiving strategy was even working against great odds. Steven admits as such. But when it turns out that Pink Diamond was controlling both sides of the early stages of the rebellion...
- A case where she is being a Jerkass to herself: Bismuth tells Steven she doesn't want to confess her feelings to Pearl because she wants the other Gem to be happy and such a revelation may change their friendship forever, and not in a good way. Steven respects her wishes on this one.
Knight Templar: Steven notably winces upon seeing some of the brutal enhancements she adds to the other Gems' weapons for the return of the Homeworld Gems. She also developed a Pile Bunker-style weapon for Rose during the war, capable of shattering Gems in one blow — an act that would break their minds — and voiced her intent to take it to Homeworld and shatter the Diamonds herself if her "gift" wasn't accepted. Rose refused it because it was against everything they stood for, and, it's implied, ended up defending herself against Bismuth. Bismuth would later attempt to force the deadly weapon on Steven, and turned on him when he refused it too. Eventually, she realizes the error of her ways.
Laser-Guided Karma:
- If she was the same Bismuth who was indirectly responsible for Lapis being trapped in the mirror, she suffered a similar fate when Rose kept her bubbled for millennia after the former attempted to kill her and never told anyone about her true fate because she was too dangerous and wanted to spare their friends' feelings about her betrayal. Word of God confirmed at SDCC that she is the Bismuth who poofed Lapis, though the both of them are oblivious to this.invoked
- A more positive sort; Steven with the Power of Friendship convinces her to attend Garnet's wedding, and to reunite with the Crystal Gems after she thinks that they'd be right not to trust her. Bismuth is more than happy to attend and help out by making rings. Afterward, due to choosing to stay on Earth while the others go to Homeworld, she actually gets a few days of peace and a chance to help Steven when he sends a distress call.
Leitmotif: She's associated with electric guitar riffs and a rough-sounding synth rhythm.
Literal-Minded: In "Made of Honor", Steven says Bismuth can be the maid of honor for Ruby and Sapphire's wedding. Bismuth, barely knowing what a wedding is, assumes Steven meant she was actually made of honor.
Locked Out of the Loop: When she returns in "Made of Honor" it's shown she wasn't told about the corrupted Gems or that Pink Diamond was (seemingly) shattered. (For that matter, it's confirmed she was bubbled before Rose/Pink faked her death.) Steven has to catch her up on a lot, plus the fact that Pink Diamond and Rose Quartz were one and the same. Later episodes show she still doesn't know about some more recent events, like what the Cluster is or the Watermelon Stevens, and is given a quick summary.
Meaningful Name: Bismuth crystals in the stairstep style that Bismuth's is in are generally crafted artificially rather than naturally found, lending to the fact that Bismuths are generally carpenters, construction workers, and blacksmiths. Bismuth is also a metal with low thermal conductivity, which would explain her being used to the scorching heat of her forge. In a darker way, Bismuth was originally thought to be the element with the highest atomic mass possible before becoming unstable, but is in fact very weakly radioactive, hinting towards Bismuth's more destructive and unsavory tendencies.
Missing Steps Plan: She and Rose had their disagreements. Bismuth's entire plan for defeating the Diamonds and freeing the lower classes was to take one handheld weapon and just slaughter her way through the entire Gem nobility, with her rage blinding her to any complications or morality. When she returns in "Made of Honor", she encounters a corrupted Gem for the first time and learns what her plan would have resulted in.
Mundane Utility: She can form her arms into a rolling pin/tray to cook and serve pizza.
My God, What Have I Done?:
- After learning the truth about Rose/Pink, she is horrified to realize that she must have given Rose the idea to fake her shattering, as well as the fact that shattering a Diamond would've merely resulted in the corruption attack.
- Realizing that Steven truly isn't Rose also causes this reaction, as Bismuth realizes she attempted to murder a completely innocent person who'd only tried to be her friend while lost in her hatred.
My Greatest Second Chance: She greatly regrets that her suggestion to shatter a Diamond led to all her friends being corrupted, and she regrets attempting to murder Steven in a fit of rage. At the wedding, she fights as hard as she can to protect her friends, but the real second chance comes when Steven sends a distress call to her, Greg and Lion from Homeworld. She repairs the Diamonds' ships with Lapis and Peridot's help, flies to Homeworld, and provides a much needed aerial assault against the Diamonds to save Steven, Connie, and the others.
Never Found the Body: Her companions believed she disappeared at some point during the Gem War. In reality, she was poofed and bubbled by Rose Quartz, who hid her gem away in Lion's Pocket Dimension.
Never My Fault: While she has a point that Rose should have told the others about what happened to her, she ultimately refuses to take responsibility for attacking Rose and forcing her to poof her in self-defence in the first place, instead blaming Rose for "leaving her no choice" by refusing to use the Breaking Point. However, she accepts responsibility later.
The Nicknamer: Referred to three other previously unmentioned Crystal Gems as Biggs, Crazy Lace, and Snowflake as shorthand for Biggs Jasper, Crazy Lace Agate and Snowflake Obsidian in her debut, and she later exclaims "Little Laramar" in horror when she sees Laramar's bubbled gemstone. She also affectionately calls Peridot "Tiny", and initially called Steven a "meatball".
Non-Humans Lack Attributes: The only thing she wears on her top half is an apron, and like most Gems, shows no signs of having breasts. Her second form makes it even more obvious, as her top has no straps and a low neckline in the center.
Noodle Incident: In the two-year timeskip between the end of the show and the movie, Bismuth's default outfit has changed, but there's no explanation for why.
Odd Name Out: Unlike all other known Gems who are named after gemstones, she's named after a metal, albeit one that can form into a highly-decorative crystal. Given how Bismuth forms this also gives her a unique Gem that sticks into her person in a square indent.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: She, Peridot and Lapis work together to repair the Diamonds' arm ships, and navigate them to Homeworld to help Steven!
One-Hit Kill: Her secret weapon originally developed for Rose, "The Breaking Point", a diamond-sharp pointed piston that could purportedly shatter a Gem's gem in one blow.
The Paragon Always Rebels: She was one of the greatest followers of Rose's ideology that Gems could be more than just what Homeworld made them, but became consumed with revenge towards Homeworld's elite.
Pay Evil unto Evil: The purpose of the Breaking Point. Her exact reasoning for making it was to match Homeworld's unfair tactics. She eventually realizes this would've merely escalated things further if she'd managed to shatter a Diamond.
Pile Bunker: "The Breaking Point" is a forearm-mounted one of these designed for the sole purpose of shattering the gems of enemies. Steven throws it into the lava in the hidden portion of Bismuth's forge to get rid of it.
The Power of Friendship: Steven releases her to attend Garnet's wedding, and convinces her that the Crystal Gems trust him enough to forgive her. This allows her to attend Garnet's wedding, mend ties with her friends, and mount a rescue when Steven sends a distress call from Homeworld.
The Power of Legacy: It's implied that Rose kept the fight between her and Bismuth a secret to prevent her memory from being tainted, although Bismuth ultimately saw this as even worse since it meant Rose lied about her fate to her friends. Bismuth herself does the same to preserve Rose's at first, though ultimately she reveals the truth to Steven.
Promotion to Opening Titles: She's prominently featured in the opening title as of Steven Universe: Future.
Properly Paranoid: Bismuth was the only Crystal Gem who chose to not travel to Homeworld with Steven and the Diamonds, since she still did not trust them. This turns out to be a smart move, since the Diamonds poofed all of the Crystal Gems when Steven accidentally angered them by fusing with Connie in front of them, and the entire group ends up imprisoned in either a bubble or a prison. This gives the imprisoned Steven a chance to send a distress call through a Watermelon Steven to Bismuth, knowing she is the only Gem not poofed, which ends up ultimately being a crucial step to the end of the entire war.
Pungeon Master: Bismuth is very fond of making puns, most often using her own name in place of "business", but she enjoys giving Garnet more punch for her gauntlets and suggesting Pearl try a trident. Her last weapon, the Breaking Point, even ended up having shrewd word play.
Put on a Bus: She remains on Earth rather than go with the Crystal Gems and the Diamonds to Homeworld, both out of still existing animosity towards the Diamonds, and needing to remain for when Peridot and Lapis finally reform. And to rebuild the house, hopefully.
Remember the New Guy?: Lampshaded by Amethyst, since her appearance in-episode is the first either she or Steven hears of her. Justified, as Rose wanted the Crystal Gems to remember the warm, funny, and boisterous weaponsmith, not the ruthless warlord she turned into. This later occurs to Peridot when she meets her in "Made of Honor".
Reformed, but Rejected: In "Made of Honor", she admits she was in the wrong but thinks the Crystal Gems won't take her back. Subverted, since they're overjoyed to see her.
Revenge Before Reason: She is so determined to pay Homeworld's elites back for their treatment of lower Gems that she insists on escalating the war with lethal force and disregards warnings that the Crystal Gems are more outnumbered and outgunned than ever. She threatens to take her weapon and attempt to shatter the Diamonds on her own if necessary. She eventually realizes her mistake.
Rip Van Winkle: She has been "out" for over 5,300 years, missing the end of the rebellion and subsequent peace.
Rotten Rock & Roll: Not so much as rotten so much as morally-challenged, but her electric guitar theme becomes much more ominous during the Breaking Point scene.
Rubber Man: She can stretch her limbs to aid in combat.
Rousing Speech: In the movie her song essentially acts as a lyrical rousing speech in counterpoint to Steven's laments about how grim their situation is. Bismuth conveys to Steven some of the hope he inspired in her, noting that the Crystal Gems have always known hardship and betrayal, but as long as they have their backs they can still succeed. She also reminds him that the Crystal Gems have faced many trials and overcome them all, and thanks to Steven and his leadership they've only grown stronger and succeeded. She ends by concluding that's why she still has faith they can make it through this as well, and that she fully believes in the Crystal Gems and in him.
Sealed Good in a Can: Rose sealed her bubbled Gem in her space in Lion's mane for some reason. It turns out Rose didn't approve of the Breaking Point, seeing it as a weapon that would've made the Crystal Gems no better than the Homeworld. Rose ended up poofing and sealing her away because the disagreement ended up turning physical, as Bismuth implied to Steven. It ended so badly that Rose apparently never told Garnet or Pearl what actually happened.
Servant Race: Bismuths are a servant race on Homeworld, building what the "elite" Gems wanted them to build.
Shadow Archetype: She represents what the Crystal Gems would have become if they sided with her beliefs over Rose's; if they still won the war against Homeworld, they would have been more cruel and merciless towards their enemies but also become more thoughtless that even Steven might become more like her: from destroying corrupted monsters, Lapis Lazuli, and possibly even Amethyst instead of trying to help them, to shattering Peridot without a thought of why she came to Earth.
Shapeshifter Weapon: Bismuth is able to morph her limbs into any form she needs, such as hammers, blades, badminton rackets, rolling pins... Combined with her extremely tough body, her limbs are as tough as any Gem weapon.
Shipper on Deck: When Bismuth learns that Garnet unfused over learning the truth about Rose and Pink Diamond, Bismuth is devastated, wailing that Garnet was her favorite couple. She then bursts into Tears of Joy at the wedding after hearing Ruby and Sapphire's vows and nearly misses her cue.
Ship Tease: Given her affection towards Biggs, and glomping her in "Change Your Mind", it's possible that Bismuth and Biggs were more than fellow rebels.
- Though this doesn't seem to go anywhere, because Future reveals that Bismuth has (and has always had) feelings for Pearl.
Sixth Ranger Traitor: While she's not exactly a traitor, her first appearance fits this trope. She is introduced as a powerful new member of the Crystal Gems, and then she gets into an argument that causes her to attack Steven. In the end, she is poofed, bubbled, and placed with the corrupted Gems, returning things to the status quo. And then "Made of Honor" happens, and she becomes an Eleventh-Hour Ranger (see above).
Slasher Smile: Wears a pronounced grin/grimace and two bright, mirror-like circles for eyes during her first on-screen appearance, a result of the simplified design which helps make her appear far more violent and menacing. Interestingly, her mirror-like pupil-less eyes are very much like Lapis's eyes when her gem was cracked.
Small Role, Big Impact:
- Her poofing Lapis was only a small action in the Rebellion which she likely forgot about entirely, but it had a large effect on the future, shaping much of the story prior to her appearance.
- She told Steven that she made Rose's sword, and that Rose asked for it to only poof and not shatter Gems. This is what makes Steven suspicious when Blue Diamond screamed that Rose Quartz shattered Pink Diamond with a sword, and more so when Defense Zircon pointed out all the holes in the story of the shattering. All the hints led to him concluding that someone else shattered Pink Diamond, and to The Reveal that Rose was Pink.
Sociopathic Soldier: Her rage and vengeance towards the Diamonds saw her take on major elements of this as the war went on and she grew more extreme. Bismuth and Rose started to grow apart after she decided to actually permanently murder any enemies in her path with the Breaking Point weapon, which her pacifistic leader absolutely refused to use. This led to their inevitable battle, leading to Rose bubbling her away forever.
Stepford Smiler: She may seem happy on the surface, but she's a dark Knight Templar disillusioned with Rose underneath. To a lesser extent, she wants Pearl to love her back, but doesn't express it because she knows Pearl is happy now.
Straight for the Commander: Her desire was to shatter the Diamonds and the nobility to overthrow them. Rose refused to use the Breaking Point to do so, arguing it'd make them no different than Homeworld. Bismuth, feeling she had no choice, went straight for her commander.
Stripperiffic: She doesn't wear a shirt in her first appearance, just an apron. It's not very sexy, though, since Non-Humans Lack Attributes.
Suicide by Cop: Is hinted to have attacked Rose, whose battle prowess she would have seen up close and personal, when they disagreed about using the Breaking Point. When Steven tries to talk her out of a fight with him, she urges him to shatter her with her own weapon.
Super-Strength: She can match Garnet in brute strength, blocking her fists and then swatting her aside with one of her hammer arms in a sparring match.
Super-Toughness: She can bathe in lava, and her shapeshifted limbs can clash evenly with Gem weapons. It takes Rose's Sword to poof her.
Survivor's Guilt: Bismuth's attack and apparent Suicide by Cop attempt on Steven is implied to be because she feels guilty over not being able to save her friends in the war, saying that it would have been better if Rose had shattered her then.
This Explains So Much: After screaming her initial feelings out, Bismuth realizes that Rose Quartz being Pink Diamond all along explains everything about the war and their falling out.
Took a Level in Kindness: She was still a friendly, good-humored and well-intentioned Gem in her debut, but remained a very brutal Knight Templar disillusioned with Rose under the surface. After she was unbubbled in "Made of Honor" and learned about the Corrupted Gems and Rose Quartz being Pink Diamond the whole time, however, she was able to largely drop her extreme desire for vengeance and grudge with Rose and rejoined the Crystal Gems.
Top-Heavy Guy: Rare female example — she has a huge, broad chest, wide shoulders and thick arms, and relatively short legs. A concept design shows her with even bigger arms and skinny legs.
Tragic Villain: While she's a vicious Knight Templar who tried to kill Rose and Steven over a disagreement in tactics, she's the way she is because of her mistreatment as a member of a Servant Race, being twisted by the horrors of war, and her own hatred of the upper-crust for what they've done.
True Companions: Despite the issues she had with Rose, she deeply cares for all her Crystal Gem teammates, including the members that joined after she was imprisoned, including Amethyst, Peridot, and Lapis.
Ultimate Blacksmith: Due to being a Bismuth with a natural affinity for crafting, she became the Crystal Gems' weaponsmaster, arming the entire rebellion and doing so magnificently. Notably, the sword she made for Rose can poof a Diamond, who are otherwise Nigh-Invulnerable.
Unscrupulous Hero: Like Homeworld, she is perfectly willing to shatter enemies, but is on the side of the Crystal Gems and does it for a good purpose.
Veteran Instructor: Evolves into this for Lapis and Peridot. During the fight with the Diamonds she was the one calling for the gems to look alive when it was time to fight and save the hugs after they had won. Later it appears she's successfully formed the new recruits into a full blown squad complete with new outfits. As of the Steven Universe Movie she seems to have become the defacto leader of this second group. In a way this makes sense, since any lingering guilt from attacking Rose and the estrangement she feels for the time being bubbled might cause some distance from the other older gems that have raised Steven, but there is no such distance with the newbies...and someone has to show them how to be proper Crystal Gems!
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Is understandably horrified when she realized that she might have given Pink/Rose the idea to fake her shattering, and the corruption that followed.
Walking Armory: Instead of using a single summoned weapon, Bismuth prefers to shapeshift her arms into whatever weapon best fits the situation, effectively making her this.
Walking Spoiler: Bismuth was featured in a Cartoon Network promo and Entertainment Weekly article about a month before her episode debut. Not only is she a Crystal Gem that hasn't been active in over five thousand years, but she's also the Gem who poofed Lapis, thus being indirectly responsible for Lapis's imprisonment and a huge chunk of her character arc, which also indirectly led to Homeworld learning about the Crystal Gems again. Bismuth walking around in the present is also a spoiler in and of itself. The Reveal of her true nature brings with it even more spoilers. Then there's her subsequent return and full Heel-Face Turn near the end of Season 5.
Welcome Back, Traitor: Even after trying to kill Steven, Steven doesn't hold it against her, while Pearl, Sapphire and Ruby are just happy to have her back.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Just like the other Crystal Gems, Bismuth's goal is the liberation of lower-class Gems from the tyranny of the Diamonds. The only problem is she's eager to use violence beyond what is necessary — and attack her own allies if they try to stop her.
We Used to Be Friends: To Rose Quartz. Bismuth adored her teachings (asserting a Gem's identity, governing their own destiny), and still does in many ways. To her, Rose's refusal to fight fire with fire against Homeworld was unforgivable, resulting in her attacking Rose in rage when Rose refused to use the Breaking Point and severing that relationship. The blacksmith really thought she mattered so little to Rose that she didn't even tell her closest friends about their fight after bubbling her away, and thought all the talk about "her being important" when they first met was all just a cruel lie.
Why Would Anyone Take Him Back?: Invoked; she asks Steven why the Crystal Gems would trust her after she nearly killed him. He responds that he forgives and trusts her, and if he does then the Gems will follow suit.
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Being made to be a slave and treated like trash by the higher up Gems, along with the friends she lost, inspired a desire to violently overthrow them, attack Rose, and try to murder Steven.
Worthy Opponent: Admits that Steven is better than Rose after her defeat.
Would Hurt a Child: Has absolutely no problem with the idea of murdering Steven for rejecting her proposition. Granted, she thought Steven was just Rose trying to trick her, but her reasons for thinking were highly irrational.
You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Steven feels he can never measure up to how great his mother was, but Bismuth tells he could be even better. By seeking to put right her mistakes by telling the Gems the painful truth, Bismuth tells him that he already is better than she. She later seems to full-on view him as a Superior Successor to Rose.

Allies

Greg Universe

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

Voiced by: Tom Scharpling

"If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hot dogs."

Greg Universe was a one man band. He didn't have much success, but seems happy enough in his simple life. Rose Quartz fell in love with him, and they had Steven together (though she had to give up her physical form for her son to be born, as only one living being can be attached to the gem at a time). While Steven lives at the temple with the Gems, Greg lives out of his van as a reminder of his prime and owns Beach City's car wash: It's A Wash. He loves his son dearly, and the two of them hang out quite often, sharing their musical talents.

For his tropes, see his page.

Lion

Voiced by: Dee Bradley Baker

Steven: WHY DON'T YOU TELL ME YOU CAN DO THESE THINGS YOU DO?!
Lion: [no response because he's a lion]

A mysterious, silent, magical pink lion that Steven found in the desert. After following him home and helping destroy a Gem that Amethyst had forgotten to bubble, he decided to stay.

All Animals Are Dogs: Lion is obedient to Steven's commands... to a point. He is a cat.
All Animals Are Domesticated: He's as tame as a house cat, though it's justified since he's a magical being. "Lion 2: The Movie" suggests he has some connection to Rose Quartz, which would certainly justify him being friendly (and pink).
Aloof Ally: Lion is always there for Steven when he needs him, and as such, has saved him multiple times. When Steven is in no peril, he does whatever he wants and wanders off, much like a loving housecat.
Amazing Technicolor Wildlife: Lion is pink.
Badass Adorable: He may be a magical lion, but he's very docile, cuddly, fluffy and pink.
Came Back Strong: Steven bringing Lars Back from the Dead gave him very similar powers and appearance to Lion, strongly suggesting Lion was just an ordinary lion until Rose imbued him with Gem magic by resurrecting him.
Cast from Stamina: Very long-range (i.e. Earth to Moon) teleportation tires Lion out immensely.
Cats Are Lazy: Unless it's Gem-related, Lion will usually ignore Steven's attempts at treating him like a common pet.
Character Development:
- Has gradually become more willing to indulge Steven's silliness as the series goes on, even letting the boy store things in his mane. He also serves as a confidant for Steven's worries about his mother, and is usually there to provide clues about who she was, or to assist Steven when he needs it, such as in "Escapism" when Lion finds him in the body of a Watermelon Steven drifting out in the ocean, and takes him to Greg and Bismuth to relay a message for help.
- He's also developed a ton of Undying Loyalty towards Connie. This is shown primarily during Season 5; for example, he sided with Connie during the argument in "Dewey Wins" because he was also furious at Steven for his Heroic Sacrifice and his blasé attitude towards all the emotional anguish he caused everybody with it. During the resulting estrangement, while it was mainly done as a way to teach Steven a hard lesson for taking Connie and his other loved ones for granted, he also stayed with her in order to give her companionship and comfort during those long few weeks, and only returned to Steven after he acknowledged his mistake and apologized in "Kevin Party". He also allowed Connie to use him as a steed during the battle against Blue Diamond in 'Reunited' and when the Crystal Gems helped to evacuate the town from the catastrophic damage caused by Spinel and her Injector in the movie.
- By the time of the movie, Lion has become incredibly loyal to both Steven and all of the Crystal Gems in general: tenderly greeting Steven and showing affection to him, especially after the final battle between him and Spinel, following Steven's instructions without question or need for bribery, and helping the Crystal Gems evacuate Beach City due to the damage caused by Spinel's Injector.
- In both the movie's climax and the epilogue series Future, Lion's loyalty to both Steven & Connie appears to have become balanced, especially by the time of the latter's finale: In "I Am My Monster", after Steven corrupts into a Gem Kaiju, Lion once again teams up with Connie as they and the Crystal Gems band together to help him calm down and return to normal, and then after they succeed, Lion gives a remorseful Steven a warm, comforting lick, which allows his charge/master to finally let out his emotional baggage. In the final episode, "The Future", as Steven and Connie are discussing plans on how to meet during his country-wide road trip, they mention on Steven intends to rendezvous with her and Lion while she tours colleges, and then visit Lars in space via Lion's mane.
A Dog Named "Dog": Lion in this case.
Eating Optional: Lion will eat things, including tuna, Lion Lickers, and crystal lizards, but Lars suddenly losing his appetite when he becomes like Lion suggests he may be like Amethyst, in that he can eat if he wants but doesn't need to. In an interview, one of the crew staff suggested Lion actually does need to eat, but very little and very rarely.
Even the Dog Is Ashamed: In "Dewey Wins", Lion's Disapproving Look to Steven just before he leaves with Connie shows he's just as angry as she is for the former's Heroic Sacrifice, especially when Steven innocently brushes off the anguish it caused everybody and insensitively ignores her feelings about it in order to avoid facing his own for the time being. He stays with Connie for a few weeks after that, presumably to give her comfort and companionship during her and Steven's estrangement, as well as to teach Steven a hard lesson about taking his loved ones for granted, and forgives and returns to him only after they reconcile in "Kevin Party". Prior to the reconciliation, he also shoots more disapproving looks at Steven throughout the party when, rather than talk to and apologize to Connie right from the beginning, he purposely ignores her on Kevin's advice in order to force her to make the first move and come over to him to talk.
Extra-Dimensional Shortcut: His Pocket Dimension is upgraded to act as one of these in Season 5 thanks to Lars being linked to it as well after Steven resurrects him. In the dimension it's just a short walk between the two entrances corresponding to Lion's mane and Lars's hair, even if they're galaxies apart in the outside world.
Familiar: Lion isn't just loyal to Steven, he appears to be metaphysically linked to him (and Rose before him).
Food as Bribe: Steven eventually realizes that he can get Lion to do what he wants by feeding him Lion Lickers.
Free-Range Pets: Steven says Lion pretty much does his own thing when he isn't helping Steven with anything Gem related. Nobody in Beach City seems to bat an eye at a lion walking around town by itself. In "Escapism", Lion was walking on water in the middle of the ocean, miles away from Beach City, before finding Steven in a Watermelon Steven's body and bringing him to Greg.
Glowing Eyes of Doom: Lion's eyes glow white sometimes, usually when making portals or summoning things from his hair.
Kids Prefer Boxes: A supplementary video shows Lion breaking a tiny box while trying to sit in it, and sliding across Steven's room into some larger boxes. It's an explicit parody of the Maru videos, complete with the same white-on-black text.
King of Beasts: A lion that's somehow connected to Rose Quartz, the original leader of the Crystal Gems.
Leitmotif: "Lion's Theme". It's meant to sound both cute and mysterious, and uses samples of noises made by cat toys.
Locked into Strangeness: Being resurrected by Rose Quartz most likely turned him pink, among other things.
Long-Lived: The show's staff have stated Lion does age, but very slowly.
Mighty Roar: His roars release sonic waves that can slice though stone and create portals. People hit by it are only knocked around.
Mundane Utility: In "Rose's Scabbard", Steven uses Lion's Pocket Dimension to store his things, such as a bike.
Mysterious Past:
- It's implied Rose created him, but since she never told anyone it's not really clear why, although he seems to help guide Steven. She hid a bunch of things inside his Pocket Dimension, most importantly a tape to Steven and her sword. He'll respond to certain requests if they have some bearing on Steven's Gem powers (manifesting the sword, taking him to Rose's armory, etc.), though not much else.
- We get a small clue in "Buddy's Book", where we see that Rose Quartz had a pack of ordinary-looking lions as companions in the desert sometime during the founding of Beach City. However, the exact circumstances leading to the origin of Lion are still unknown.
- We finally get some answers in "Off Colors" and "Lars' Head". When Lars is fatally injured in an explosion, he is brought back to life by Steven's tears, gaining a pinkish hue, and some very Lion-like powers, implying that Rose once mourned the death of an Earth lion, and brought it back to life as the superpowered Lion we know and love.
Nearly Normal Animal: Lion has some human-like facial (but not body) language and human-level intelligence — he can completely understand human/Gem speech (even if he's rarely listening) and takes deliberate efforts to help Steven's growth. However, Lion has no speech ability whatsoever, and behaves largely like a (domestic) cat.
Not So Stoic:
- Lion gains Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises as a box he tries to sit in rapidly collapses underneath his feet. Something similar happens when Steven pulls Bismuth out of Lion's pocket dimension.
- He's clearly enraged when battling against the Diamonds; instead of merely using his sonic attack he's snapping and roaring.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Lion is usually laid back and does his own thing, but becomes clingy to Steven in "Lion 3". Turns out that Lion wanted to show Steven a home video Rose left for him in Lion's pocket dimension.
Panthera Awesome: Sonic roars that can cut through stone and create portals, the ability to run on water and an expansive pocket dimension inside of his mane are just some of the things that make Lion so cool.
Papa Wolf: Whenever he's around Steven and there's danger, Lion will protect him. This is best exemplified in his debut episode, as well as "So Many Birthdays", when Lion stumbles across a magically aged Steven and immediately brings him to the Gems so they can de-age him.
Person of Holding: When Steven asks him for help against a Gem training robot, he manifests a rose-themed sword that Steven draws from his mane. "Lion 3: Straight to Video" reveals that Lion's mane is the door to a Pocket Dimension which contains a pink grassy field and a hill holding a tree, on which rests the sword from "Lion 2: The Movie", a flag with a rose on it, a Mr. Universe t-shirt, a copy of the picture from "Laser Light Cannon", a mysterious chest, a bubbled gem later revealed to be Bismuth, and a VHS tape Rose left for Steven. It's later shown that Steven has started storing some of his own stuff in there, including his bicycle, as well as bottled water for long trips. "Lion 4: Alternate Ending" shows he can store stuff even without the Pocket Dimension, just by swallowing it.
Pocket Dimension: His mane is a portal to a dimension that consists of a field of pink grass and one island, though not a breathable atmosphere. Steven and Rose Quartz before him are the only ones who can open it. When Lars dies and is resurrected by Steven, his hair and Lion's mane are now connected, complete with their own respective trees. A short walk from one to the other in this alternate plane of existence brought Steven light-years across the cosmos from the Gem Homeworld to Earth.
Promotion to Opening Titles: Because Lion was not introduced until the tenth episode and would have stuck out like a sore thumb among the other Early Bird Cameos, he was not included in the first opening. The second one adds him to the picnic in the last scene.
Raising the Steaks: He's a lion that died and was resurrected as a semi-undead magical being.
Silent Snarker: The closest he gets to showing emotion is when he rolls his eyes at Steven's antics.
Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Pearl finds his seeming disobedience rather annoying, and seems to resent him for being something Rose would keep secret from her.
Sleepyhead: Usually when he isn't helping Steven, he's napping. Steven uses this as motivation in "It Could've Been Great", saying that with no Earth there would be no more naps. Of course, real lions sleep for up to 20 hours a day.
The Speechless: He's an animal, magical or not, and cannot talk. The voice actor just makes sound effects with his mouth. Strangely, he stops even doing that from the fourth season onward.
Stealth Mentor: Lion seems to want to teach Steven things, but can't talk to make his intentions known (and doesn't seem too concerned with being understood anyway). Most obviously in "Lion 2: The Movie", when he takes Steven (and Connie) to a temple that has training droids when Steven mentions he's not that well-trained at being a Crystal Gem.
The Stoic: His expression barely ever changes. He is an animal, after all.
Team Pet: For the Crystal Gems.
Thinking Up Portals: He can open portals by roaring.
Touched by Vorlons: At some point during Rose Quartz's life, he was a normal lion that died and was brought back to life.
Trademark Favorite Food: He really likes "Lion Lickers".
Tuckerization: "Lion" is also the name of Rebecca Sugar's pet cat.
Undying Loyalty:
- Towards Steven, of course, but the fifth season seems to show him displaying just as much, if not more loyalty to Connie, to the point of him taking her side when she and Steven "break up" in the aftermath of the Wanted Arc (due to him sharing her anger at Steven for his surrender) and acting as her steed both in the battle that occurs in "Reunited" and in helping the Crystal Gems in the evacuation of Beach City and protection of it citizens from the effects of Spinel's Injector in the movie. By the time of the epilogue series, his loyalty to both of them appears to have become balanced, especially in the last two episodes:
- In "I Am My Monster", he once again allows Connie to use him as a steed as the two help the Crystal Gems calm and save a corrupted Steven, and then gives a restored Steven a comforting "welcome back" lick at the end, which allows him to finally release his long-held in emotional baggage.
- In "The Future", while Steven and Connie plan out his country-wide road trip, he allows her to use Lion to tour colleges, and plans to eventually meet up with her and visit Lars in space.
Uniformity Exception: In a flashback in "Buddy's Book", Rose is seen with a pack of lions. The one that's implied to be Lion is the only one with a heart-shaped nose.
Uplifted Animal: Before Rose resurrected Lion, he was apparently a normal animal. His humanlike intelligence is presumably another side effect of his empowerment.
Vague Age: Lion had some connection to Rose during her lifetime, which makes him some amount older than Steven. The staff have confirmed Lion is aging slowly, so depending on how old he was when resurrected (regular lions reaching maturity in about three years), he may be little older than 19 or much, much older. Steven himself points out the uncertainty, as his written description of Lion includes the line "old??"
Walk on Water: "Lion 2: The Movie" shows he can run on water. In "Kevin Party" we see he doesn't need to run, and can just leisurely stand on it.

Pumpkin

Voiced by: Zach Callison

A pumpkin dog grown by Steven using his Green Thumb spit to cheer up Lapis and Peridot after they're saddened to learn that, unlike Gems, fruits don't walk around after being grown.

All Animals Are Dogs: A sentient four-legged pumpkin that barks, growls, and rolls in the dirt like a dog.
Ambiguous Gender: Referred to with male pronouns by Steven in "Gem Harvest", but later referred to as female by Peridot in "The New Crystal Gems". This could be due to the latter's unfamiliarity with the concept of opposite genders, since all Gems use female pronouns. Then again, they're literally a fruit, so normal gender conventions probably don't apply to them.
Babies Ever After: Pumpkin apparently had a Bus Crash by the time of the movie, but in "The Future", the Grand Finale of Future and the series as a whole, as Steven is leaving Beach City, he passes by several gourds that are barking like Pumpkin, implying that she either managed to reproduce somehow or that Steven made more (or both).
Berserk Button: Being a living pumpkin, she doesn't like seeing other pumpkins get carved up or turned into food. When she saw Steven carve up a pumpkin to make a Jack-o-lantern she ran to Lapis and Peridot for safety while growling at Steven and later freaks out when she sees him with a knife again. In the official comic series she destroyed several foods that had pumpkin as the main ingredient.
Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Is nowhere to be seen in Steven Universe: The Movie or Steven Universe: Future. During a Q&A, Joe Johnston heavily implied that Pumpkin died of old age during the time between "Change Your Mind" and the movie, while Rebecca Sugar claims she's still alive.
Cephalothorax: Essentially the Planimal equivalent of Pumpkin Person, their body is a pumpkin that grew a face, four stubby limbs, and a leafy vine as "tail".
A Dog Named "Dog": A pumpkin dog named Pumpkin.
Empathy Pet: In "Raising the Barn", after Lapis and Peridot decide to leave Earth due to the incoming threat of the Diamonds, Pumpkin runs away, not wanting to leave Earth. After finding Pumpkin, Peridot realizes that she herself has become more attached to Earth than even she realized, and doesn't want to leave it either.
Extreme Omnivore: She apparently tried to eat one of the figurines from the wedding cake the Gems bought. She also enjoys drinking soapy water from a bucket at Greg's carwash. Peridot approves, since at the time they were standing in for the main Crystal Gems (with Pumpkin acting as their Pearl) and Pearl likes soap.
In-Universe Nickname: Peridot calls her "Veggie Head" in "Gem Harvest".
Nurture over Nature: Though she starts off adoring Steven due to being made using Steven's Green Thumb spit, after watching Steven carve a pumpkin, she immediately leaps into Lapis's arms and growls angrily at Steven. Though she is shown to like him once again by "Room For Ruby".
Planimal: She's basically a pumpkin dog. Rebecca Sugar has said she gets all her nutrients from the sun.
Ridiculously Cute Critter: She instantly ingrains herself in the hearts of Lapis, Peridot, and Amethyst (and the audience) mere moments after meeting them.
Significant Double Casting: She has the same voice actor as Steven, who created her.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Invoked in "The New Crystal Gems". In an attempt to protect Beach City while the Crystal Gems are away, she, Lapis, Peridot, and Connie decide to mimic them. In this team, Pumpkin becomes the "new" Pearl, complete with a party hat as a makeshift nose.
We Are as Mayflies: Like the Watermelon Stevens, her lifespan was only a couple months, the same as a regular pumpkin.
Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: She gained a fear of knives after seeing Steven use one to carve up an ordinary pumpkin to make a jack-o-lantern.

Cat Steven

^{Click here for her appearance as a kitten}

A one-eyed cat adopted by Garnet when she and Steven were planning to take her litter-mates to the shelter.

Cute Kitten: An adorable one-eyed kitten.
Eye Scream: She lost an eye, complete with scar through it, sometime during her life as a stray.
From Stray to Pet: After making plans to take the homeless kittens to a safe shelter, Garnet decided to adopt one.
Gender-Blender Name: Cat Steven is a female cat, as calicoes almost always are, though that didn't stop Garnet from giving her a masculine name.
Head Pet: She likes sleeping on Lion's mane.
Punny Name: On Cat Stevens, the Stage Name for the musician Yusuf Islam.
Shout-Out: Her name is a shout out to Cat Stevens.
Uncatty Resemblance: She only has a left eye, which is blue, and Garnet's left eye is blue—and it's Sapphire's single eye.
We Named the Monkey "Jack": Garnet adopts the kitten because Steven has grown independent and she "missed having someone cute and vulnerable to take care of", and so names the cat after him. Steven points out that would be confusing, so Garnet uncreatively names her "Cat Steven".

Characters / Steven Universe — Crystal Gems
aka: Steven Universe Main Crystal Gems

Crystal Gems

Character-Specific Pages

Bismuth

Allies

Greg Universe

Lion

Pumpkin

Cat Steven

Alternative Title(s): Steven Universe Other Crystal Gems, Steven Universe Main Crystal Gems

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Characters / Steven Universe — Crystal Gems aka: Steven Universe Main Crystal Gems

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Crystal Gems

Character-Specific Pages

Bismuth

Allies

Greg Universe

Lion

Pumpkin

Cat Steven

Alternative Title(s): Steven Universe Other Crystal Gems, Steven Universe Main Crystal Gems

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Characters / Steven Universe — Crystal Gems
aka: Steven Universe Main Crystal Gems