Crystal Gems

"Because we are the Crystal Gems! And we never give up, never give up on our 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!"

- Bismuth, "Who We Are"

Crystal Gems is the friendship between Pearl, Garnet, Bismuth, Amethyst, Steven Universe, Peridot, Connie Maheswaran and Lapis Lazuli from the Steven Universe fandom

Canon
The Gem Rose Quartz suddenly grew an attachment to the human race after an excourse encouraged by Pearl. She was hit with the realization that humanity will die out if the Diamonds decide to harvest the Earth for its resources and then decided to directly rebel against her kin after the Diamonds routinely ignored her pleadings to spare the Earth. Though her attempts to scare off the Homeworld Gems with Pearl in tow have been successful, there was little progress until both of them witnessed a Ruby and Sapphire from Blue Diamond's court fusing, which led to the birth of Garnet. Now motivated by Garnet's existence, Rose Quartz decided to take in rogue and defective Gems in order to make Earth a home for everyone she loves and Homeworld saw as undesirable. Her attempt at trying to free herself from her Diamond heritage by (supposedly) shattering Pink Diamond backfired, however, the other Diamonds sent a blast to Earth with the intent to destroy all Gems on the planet and then destroy the Earth itself. Rose managed to save Pearl and Garnet, her closest friends, but every other Gem (Crystal Gem and Homeworld) ended up being corrupted into monstrous beings, which the Crystal Gems spend the next five millenia fighting and capturing, hoping to find a cure eventually. Somewhere during that time, Rose found an "overcooked" Gem named Amethyst all alone in her Kindergarten, the only other survivor from the corruption blast. Endeared by her, she took Amethyst in regardless of what Pearl and Garnet would say. For the next millennia, those four Crystal Gems were all that remained and they kept to themselves during that time, until Rose met a charming human named Greg Universe. Fascinated by the ways humans are capable of growth, Rose wanted to give birth to a human child, fully aware that it would cost her her physical form, essentially killing her. Regardless, she went through with it, fully hoping that her child would have a fulfilling life, and after discussing it with her first, he gave their son a name both of them liked: Steven.

Pearl
Pearl started out as an ordinary Pearl, she had no agency, merely being able to suggest things for her Diamond to do next, and was Pink Diamond's second Pearl. Originally only given the standard programming of Pearls: Holding things, dancing and singing, Pearl came to Earth with her Diamond in disguise and was quickly taken aback by how free she felt on that planet, a feeling that only increased after her Diamond faked her own shattering and told her to never speak of this again, meaning that Pearl is nobody's property anymore. During her time with the original Crystal Gems, Pearl was very close with Garnet and Bismuth and was worried sick when Bismuth disappeared. After the corruption blast, Pearl wasn't too thrilled about the prospect of Rose taking in Amethyst, something that would strain their relationship for millennia to come. When Greg entered Rose's life, Pearl was jealous of this new man taking Rose's attention away from her, but swallowed her pride and eventually allowed Rose to get pregnant. The birth of Steven hit her the hardest, she genuinely believed that by removing Steven's Gem, Rose could come back, but couldn't bring herself to do it because Rose wanted Steven to exist. She eventually became something of a mother figure to Steven, with her and Garnet often being the adults in the room for Steven and Amethyst. When the prospect of Rose keeping secrets from Pearl, via her pet Lion, came about, Pearl was distraught, but eventually came to accept Lion as well. She also seems to get along the best with Steven's friend Connie, being very elated by the idea that Connie is interested in swordfighting. Once the Crystal Gems managed to capture Peridot, she and Pearl initially hated each other, but after Peridot humbled she came to admit that she does appreciate Pearl. Once Steven managed to find Bismuth in Lion's mane, Pearl was delighted, but the joy didn't last since Steven figured out why Rose had to bubble Bismuth in the first place, Pearl was shedding a tear when they had to put Bismuth's bubble in the Burning Room after Steven confessed what Bismuth was trying to do. She was also quick to forgive Bismuth after everyone came clear about the true nature of Pink Diamond and the two of them became quite close once again.

Garnet
Garnet was formed during an attack of the rebels (Rose Quartz and Pearl), as Pearl was just about to poof Sapphire, only for Ruby to jump in and shove her out of the way, fusing with her by accident. The stir caused by two Gems of different kinds fusing gave the rebels ample opportunity to escape, Blue Diamond was furious and sentenced Ruby to be shattered, only for Sapphire to grab Ruby by the hand and escape with her on the Earth colony. After spending most of their time apart, Ruby and Sapphire realize just how "nice" it felt to be one and decide to fuse back right before running into Pearl and Rose Quartz. Garnet is at first apologetic, but Rose Quartz reassures her that she cares far more about how Garnet feels than about the rebellion. Garnet then becomes a companion to Rose Quartz and bonds with the other Crystal Gems, including Bismuth and Amethyst, but her future vision leads her to be more level-headed and often take an observant role, only popping in to give words of advice. Though she cared about Steven from the start, she was initially rather aloof before she decided to warm up somewhat, free to give advice to Steven and Connie about fusion. Though she wasn't at all patient with Peridot at first, she did eventually come to an agreement with her. When the Crystal Gems defeat Malachite, Garnet makes sure to rescue Lapis, knowing that Steven would be concerned for his new friend.

Bismuth
Bismuth started out as a regular builder Gem, only for Rose Quartz to suddenly show up and ask her if there's something that she wants to built for herself. Rose then inspired Bismuth to become a blacksmith and happily provided weapons for the Crystal Gems, with Pearl and Garnet coming to appreciate her for it, with Pearl especially growing quite close to her. However, Bismuth started developing fatalistic opinions, hoping to make a weapon that could destroy the Homeworld Gems permanently. Rose hated the idea, but didn't dare to tell Bismuth her true identity, she saw herself forced to bubble Bismuth and lock her in Lion's mane, later leaving a tape for Steven there, confirming that she expected Steven to eventually find and free Bismuth. When Steven eventually does so, Bismuth is very happy to see Pearl and Garnet again, warms up to an initially suspicious Amethyst and also befriends Steven rather quickly. However, when they become close enough, Bismuth tries to show Steven her death weapon, the Breaking Point, fully expecting him to be more appreciative of it. Steven mirrors his mother's stance, which briefly led to Bismuth thinking he's just Rose in disguise and try to shatter him, with Steven being forced to poof her in self-defense. But before Bismuth's form destabilized, Steven promises her that he will tell the other Crystal Gems the truth. In tears, Bismuth says that he really is better than his mother, Steven bubbles her gem and takes it to the temple where the Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst could see it. After Steven tells them what happened, the Gems are heartbroken and decide to store Bismuth's gem in the Burning Room. Steven was wrecked with guilt about what he did months afterwards, but when Ruby and Sapphire announce their plans for their wedding, Steven decides that it's wrong to not invite Bismuth. Telling her the truth about Pink Diamond, Bismuth feels guilty about misjudging both of them and is initially apprehensive about revealing herself to the other Crystal Gems again. But Steven encourages her to do so and they quick to forgive her once she does. After the Diamonds crash Garnet's wedding, Bismuth echoes Steven's sentiments to not shatter them and shows fondness for the former Homeworld Gem Peridot. When Peridot and Lapis are defeated by Yellow Diamond, Bismuth makes a point to take care of them until they reform, growing quite close to them as a result. When Bismuth, Peridot and Lapis become the cavalry for the other Crystal Gems on Homeworld, Bismuth gives Connie a sword she made just for her, Connie has finally earned her star.

Amethyst
Amethyst was found by Rose Quartz as an "overcooked" Gem in her Kindergarten, at the time, she could only communicate through echolalia (repeating what has already been said). Rose felt a deep empathy for this lost, defective Gem and decided to take her in, regardless of what Pearl and Garnet said. The three of them taught Amethyst how to speak properly and she became something of a "little sister" for them. Once Greg entered Rose's life, Amethyst became close friends with him, but held some hidden resentment towards him, claiming that he was responsible for Rose's "death". She feels comfortable in her role as "Steven's big sister", enjoys hanging out with him and is almost always honest with him, unlike Garnet and Pearl, who often keep secrets from him. However, Amethyst's love for pranks and petty vandalism occasionally gets him into trouble. Amethyst gets along very well with Peridot once she joins the Crystal Gems, bar a fallout or two, and quickly warms up to Bismuth once the latter returns. She also roots for Steven and Connie to become a "thing" and occasionally includes her in hangouts. Amethyst is never seen having a one-on-one interaction with Lapis, but they seem to tolerate each other.

Steven Universe
Steven was born into the Crystal Gems, being the first and so far only Gem to do so. He's the son of their former leader, Rose Quartz, and sees Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl as his family. He's most often the catalyst for other Gems joining the Crystal Gems, due to his pacifistic and friendly nature, he seeks out peaceful solutions to confrontations, which sometimes leads to him befriending and recruiting his former enemies. Steven then befriends a lonely girl named Connie, with his influence helping her to overcome her insecurities and show real talent in swordfighting, with him defending her as a "real Crystal Gem". The first Gem Steven befriended outside of his circle was Lapis Lazuli, who he found at the backside of a Gem mirror, with her talking through him by repeating what was said before the mirror. Eventually, she pleads Steven to let her out and once he does, Lapis turns on the Crystal Gems for refusing to help her when she was trapped, but also begs Steven to come "home" with her. He refuses, saying that Earth and the Crystal Gems are his home, Lapis then flees into the ocean, then steals the Earth's oceans. When Steven reaches her, he manages to heal Lapis, giving her her flight powers back and allowing her to leave the Earth in peace. However, another new Gem called Peridot then investigates the Earth, with Steven trying to talk to her, only for her to greet him with nothing but cold hostility, forcing the Crystal Gems to reveal themselves to her. In another confrontation between the Crystal Gems and Peridot, joined by Jasper holding Lapis prisoner, both Peridot and Lapis end up stranded on Earth: Peridot's escape pod crashed near Beach City with no way back, Lapis wound up fusing with Jasper to protect Steven. After capturing Peridot, Steven manages to convince her to tell him why she wants to leave the Earth so badly: The Diamonds have planted a geoweapon called "The Cluster" somewhere between the Earth's surface and its core. Compromised of millions of fused Gem shards, should the Cluster form, it will tear the Earth apart from the inside. Thus Peridot reluctantly joins the Crystal Gems, only to legitimately end up enjoying Steven's company and bonding with with the other Crystal Gems through him. Once the Gems defeat Malachite, the fusion of Lapis and Jasper, Lapis thinks of leaving again once she recovers, but decides to stay on Earth with Steven's encouragement. Upon being introduced to Bismuth, Steven takes a shine to her until she reveals her plans for her own weapon against the Homeworld empire. Refusing to accept it, much like his mother didn't, Steven gets on Bismuth's bad side and is forced to bubble her again, but not before promising her that he will tell the other Crystal Gems the truth. He eventually frees Bismuth again after finding out the whole truth about his mother, with Bismuth showing regret after Steven tells her why she didn't want every Homeworld Gem shattered. Steven then encourages Bismuth to reintegrate into the Crystal Gems again.

Peridot
Peridot was a Homeworld Gem, sent to Earth to scan for rogue Gems after the return of one Lapis Lazuli and to check on the "Cluster" geoweapon and the Kindergartens. However, her work was soon interrupted by Steven Universe trying to be social with her, which she didn't appreciate, she tried to crush him with a robotic hand. This alarmed the other Crystal Gems, which surprised Peridot as her records stated that there are no other Gems on Earth. She reported this to Homeworld authorities, who then assigned her a Quartz (Jasper) and an Earth consultant (Lapis Lazuli), to directly attack the Crystal Gems. However, during that confrontation, Peridot's ship crashlanded on Earth, with her being forced to use her escape pod to throw herself to safety, unaware that this will cost her her way home. Upon being found by the Crystal Gems, she tries to tell them about the Cluster, only to be poofed by Garnet, bubbled and stored in the Burning Room. Steven empathizes with her last words and frees Peridot against the wishes of the other Crystal Gems. Peridot at first refuses to help them, but eventually gives in out of desperation. She tells Steven and then the rest of the Crystal Gems about the Cluster and exactly what they need to do to stop it. So they move to the barn of Steven's grand-uncle where they prepare a drill to attack the Cluster directly. During that time, Peridot is initially hostile against the Crystal Gems, but having already formed an attachment towards Steven helps her get along and learn with Pearl, Amethyst and Garnet in that order, with her getting particularly close to Amethyst. Peridot is still hung up about her Homeworld programming and genuinely believes that she could convince her superior, Yellow Diamond, to spare the Earth, only to be told off by her instead. Fed up with Yellow Diamond's lack of empathy towards Earth, she directly calls her a "clod" to her face. She directly rebelled against her Homeworld, officially making her a Crystal Gem. After the Cluster is defeated and the Crystal Gems manage to save Lapis from the clutches of Jasper, Lapis expresses interest in staying at the barn, but is less than thrilled to see Peridot, her former capturer, already living there. Steven tries for the two of them to get along, but it takes Lapis seeing direct evidence that Peridot is a wanted criminal on Homeworld for her to finally warm up to Peridot. They spend several months at the barn, even adopting a pumpkin "dog" Steven made for them, only for Lapis to flee after hearing that the Diamonds might come back, taking the barn with her. Peridot, homeless once again, moves back into Steven's bathroom until Lapis returns at Garnet's crashed wedding. During the fight against the Diamonds, Peridot bonds with Bismuth and further grows closer to her after Yellow Diamond poofs both her and Lapis, with Bismuth offering to take care of their gemstones while Steven and the other Crystal Gems are on Homeworld.

Connie Maheswaran
Connie used to be a bookish, nerdy kid with no friends until one fateful day, where she came to Beach City to read while a corrupted Gem was causing earthquakes, leading to Steven Universe rescuing her from being crushed by a giant boulder, only for both of them to get stuck in Steven's new bubble power. Going around Beach City in Steven's bubble, trying to find someone who could possibly burst it and free the two of them, Steven insists to Connie that everything is okay until their attempts to break free land them on the bottom of the ocean. There, Connie snaps at Steven that he has no idea what he's doing and then cries over possibly dying without ever making a single friend. Steven then shows Connie her glow bracelet she lost a few months ago, revealing that he kept it until he got the opportunity to talk to her again and offers to be her friend. Connie forgives Steven for their trouble and together they manage to defeat the corrupted Gem with her glow bracelet. From that point on, Steven and Connie regularly hang out, but Connie usually took a backseat to the Crystal Gem's adventures, never directly interacting with any of the other Gems. This is until Steven discovered Connie's natural talent for swordfighting and begs Pearl to train her, allowing Connie and Pearl to form a close friendship as teacher and student. Though Connie never formally joined the Crystal Gems, Steven insists that she is a valid member of the team when resident conspiracy jerk Ronaldo questions her role in the group. She once teams up with Peridot and Lapis (and their pet Pumpkin) to help around in Beach City when Steven and the others had to go to space to rescue Steven's dad. Connie became more involved with the Crystal Gems later on, enough for Bismuth to create a star-emblazoned sword for her after Blue Diamond shattered Rose's sword. Connie had finally earned her star, though it isn't on her body.

Lapis Lazuli
Lapis was an ordinary Homeworld Gem, sent to investigate the Earth colony before the war against the Crystal Gems started. When she was poofed by a Bismuth, her own allies mistook her for a Crystal Gem and put her gemstone at the backside of a gem-powered mirror, allowing for them to interrogate her without risking the possibility of her escaping. However, since she wasn't a Crystal Gem, she couldn't answer any of their questions and was dropped and stepped on when other Homeworld Gems evacuated Earth before the Corruption Blast, cracking her gemstone. Lying on the Galaxy Warp, she was found by the Crystal Gem Pearl and put in storage, where she remained for the next 5000 years. It was only after Steven Universe asked to learn more about Gem culture did Pearl ever think of taking the mirror out of storage, with Steven discovering that the "mirror" can speak to him by repeating something the mirror was there to witness. Joking around with his new mirror friend, Steven formed an attachment to Lapis before he even knew her name (or that she was a "she") and thus refused to give the mirror back when Garnet asks him too. When he accidently slapped Garnet when she tried to take it away from him, Steven flees his home and asks the mirror what he should do. The mirror tells him to let her out, which Steven does by removing the gemstone from its backside. The freed Lapis is thankful for Steven's help, but is absolutely furious at the other Crystal Gems for refusing to let her out sooner, but quickly backs off when Steven reveals that he's also a Crystal Gem. When Lapis' attempt to return to Homeworld drains the Earth of its oceans, Steven and the Crystal Gems try to approach her, with them having to fight her. Steven then steps up, tells Lapis that he doesn't want to fight anymore and summons his shield, silencing her. Finally capable of talking things out with her, Steven is able to heal her cracked gemstone, giving her her flight powers back. She is sincerely thankful and returns the Earth's oceans, but the joy doesn't last, Lapis' return has Homeworld conclude that there are other Gems on Earth. Lapis is brought back to Earth as Homeworld's prisoner by Peridot and Jasper, but winds up fusing with Jasper as a way to protect Steven by trapping herself and Jasper at the bottom of the ocean. When the Crystal Gems defeat their fusion months later, Steven convinces Lapis to stay on Earth in his grand-uncle's barn, only to see Peridot again, the Gem who brought her back to Earth as a prisoner and is understandably not to thrilled about having to share a living space with her. However, Lapis manages to warm up to Peridot somewhat when she finds out that she is also a wanted criminal on Homeworld and the two become roommates and even adopt Steven's pumpkin "dog" as a pet. However, the peaceful air doesn't last, as Lapis panics over the thought of the Diamonds coming to Earth and takes all of her belongings, sans Peridot, who refused to come with her, into space. When Steven finds her on the moon, he's unable to convince her to come back and telling her about a vision he had about the Diamonds only leads to fleeing further away from Earth. But then, off-screen, Lapis realizes that she does want to fight the Diamonds and uses the barn in an attack against Blue Diamond, with her justifying her return by saying that if Homeworld wants to punish her as a Crystal Gem, she might as well be one. Lapis' return manages to briefly turn the tides against Blue Diamond, only for her to be swiftly poofed by Yellow Diamond. Bismuth offers to take care of both her and Peridot's gemstones while Steven and the others are on Homeworld, thus having Lapis form a closer bond with Bismuth as well. Later, when she, Peridot and Bismuth come to assist Steven on Homeworld, Lapis shows off her star-covered outfit, having fully embraced her new identity as a Crystal Gem.

Fanon
Though rarely the sole focus of fanwork, the Crystal Gems are often featured in it as a group. During Season 1, it was popular to speculate that Jasper would join them eventually, but she never did. Some fanwork includes mentions of named-dropped former Crystal Gems (Crazy Lace, Biggs, Snowflake, Tiger's Eye, "Little" Larimar, Beryl and Serpentine), but those were more common before Steven Universe: Future, which featured some of them as side characters, but made no effort to establish them beyond base personality traits, with Snowflake and Larimar being the only ones with significant speaking parts. Though fanwork likes to flesh them out, they usually do so without including the rest of the "current" Crystal Gems, as in, main characters that joined before the Uncorruption. The SU Wiki does consider them to be official Crystal Gems however, even though there group has all but disbanded by the time the Diamonds uncorrupted all of their victims, since there's no need to rebel against an order that doesn't exist anymore.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

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