Steven Universe

Steven Universe is the brainchild of Rebecca Sugar, one of the people who worked on the famous, highly successful Adventure Time. Coincidentally, this also makes it the first original show on Cartoon Network that was exclusively created by a woman. The series' pilot was aired on May 21, 2013 with the series itself being first aired in the United States on November 4, 2013, and ran until January 21, 2019. The show was succeeded by an epilogue miniseries entitled Steven Universe Future, which ran from December 7, 2019 to March 27, 2020, effectively ending the SU franchise as a whole.

The show is about the titular Steven Universe, a young boy hailing from Beach City and his adventures with the heroic magical alien trio known as the Crystal Gems. Steven is half-gem himself, and inherited his powers and gemstone from his late mother and former Crystal Gems leader Rose Quartz. He hasn't gotten the hold of his powers quite yet, but he doesn't let it get him down: he's still more than happy to tag along with the Gems on their various adventures in order to help protect mankind from threats such as magical monsters and the like. Together with the calm and collected Garnet, the graceful yet neurotic Pearl, and the easy-going mischievous slacker Amethyst, the peppy and enthusiastic Steven has quite the exciting life ahead of him!

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Tropes used in Steven Universe include:

• Absentee Actor: Despite being the main characters, each Crystal Gem is absent in several episodes: Garnet doesn't appear in Frybo, Historical Friction, Joking Victim, or Onion Friend, Amethyst isn't in Frybo, Historical Friction, Garnet's Universe, or Love Letters, and Pearl is absent from Joking Victim, Onion Friend, Garnet's Universe, and Love Letters. As a whole, the gems aren't present in either Horror Club, Open Book, Nightmare Hospital, or Sadie's Song.
  • As for Steven, he was absent from "Jungle Moon", despite being mentioned and Stevonnie making an appearance.
• Accidental Pun: Some of the Gem'a names accidentally suit them in more ways than intended.
  • The cantankerous and violent Sugilite's name sounds similar to the word suggilate, which means to beat someone until they're bruised.
  • Sapphire's name is close to sapphic, which relates to lesbianism. Fitting, given her relationship with Ruby.
  • Then there's Malachite, which has the root word Mal relating to concepts such as evil and wrongful. It makes sense given that she's a vicious fusion formed by the sadistic, brutish Jasper and the vengeful Lapis formed by a bond of hatred and distrust between the two of them.
• Acrofatic: Chubbier characters like Steven and Amethyst aren't hampered in the slightest by their hefty figures, they're able to keep up with the fitter, trimmer Garnet and Pearl without missing a beat.
• Action Girl: Every Gem shown thus far is technically this though Peridot is a bit of a subversion without limb-enhancers.
  • Human examples are Sadie and Connie, the former of which actually kills a Gem Monster with a spear, and the latter picks up sword fighting from Pearl.
• Adorkable A lot of the show's characters are adorably quirky and silly, with standout examples being Pearl and Peridot.
• Adult Fear: Hoo boy, this show does not shy away from the more unpleasant parts that come from a little boy going on all sorts of dangerous adventures with his magical friends.
  • In Cat Fingers, Steven's shapeshifting magic goes out of control and causes his body to be enveloped by tumorous masses of cat heads that are slowly killing him, all without the Gems anywhere nearby to help, and his dad having to save him through a method that could easily kill him.
  • In Bubble Buddies, Steven and Connie end up trapped under the sea without either's guardians having any idea where they are.
  • In So Many Birthdays, Steven's powers almost cause him to age to death right in front of the Crystal Gems, all of them completely unable to do anything to save him.
  • In Steven the Sword Fighter, Steven's hounded by Pearl's violent sword instructor hologram until she snaps and goes out for his blood, all while he's alone at the Temple and Pearl herself is unable to help due to recovering in her gem.
  • Space Race is one of the worst for poor Greg. Despite his objections, Pearl whisks away his son on a borderline-suicidal voyage into space and almost gets the both of them killed while he's helpless to watch. It doesn't help that even if their voyage was successful, Greg would have been long dead by the time Steven and Pearl would have returned from space. Given his body language and comments, it's clear that Greg was on the verge of a heart attack before they came back safely.
  • Future Vision reveals that every day is full of this for Garnet in regards to Steven. Her Future Vision allows her to see all sorts of things that could potentially harm or kill Steven whenever he goes out to do something, and she's visibly hurt by the fact that she's turned the poor kid into a paranoid wreck when she fills him in about her powers.
  • In The Return, Greg allows Steven to help with the Gem's last stand against Peridot's ship while being painfully aware that he could very well die fighting.
  • The aftermath is even worse: in the following episode Full Disclosure, Greg has a full blown panic attack upon seeing and hearing about what had happened: Steven was almost blasted to cinders by Peridot's ship, given a black eye by the psychotic thug Jasper, and taken prisoner with the intention of carting him back to the Gem Homeworld, where the planet's leaders could do... god knows what to him. This episode also fills Steven with Adult Fear when he realizes that Connie's life could easily be put in danger now that he and the Gems have picked a fight with the Homeworld.
  • In Joy Ride, Steven is almost killed by Garnet, who thinks that he's Peridot trying to kill them from within her escape pod, with no way for Steven to tell her that it's him. Thank god for Jenny's intervention, because Steven was this closed to being killed by the gem who's arguably his greatest friend.
  • While everything in Say Uncle is very much Played For Laughs, from the Gem's point of view Uncle Grandpa was some random psycho trying to kill poor Steven.
  • And in Catch and Release, Steven is abducted from his room in the middle of the night, without either the Gems or Lion knowing. Thankfully it was just Peridot trying to get him to fix her only way home, but if it was, say, Jasper...
• Aerith and Bob: Most of the people in Beach City have normal first names, then there's Onion and his family, consisting of his mom Vidalia, his dad Yellowtail, and his half-brother Sour Cream, all with food-related names. This is especially amusing when you contrast them with Sour Cream's real dad, who has the incredibly normal name of Marty.
• Affectionate Gesture to the Head: The show's opening shows Garnet playfully ruffling Steven's head, something that Pearl and Amethyst both join in on in the show's second season opening.
• Aliens Speaking English: Despite coming from a planet far away from Earth and not giving so much as a damn about integrating into Earth's culture, Jasper and Peridot speak perfect English.
• Alternate History: Thanks to the Crystal Gem's influence, Earth's history has been changed a bit. For example, the state of Delaware is known as Delmarva, while Pennsylvania is simply called Keystone. All money is also shown to be emblazoned with an odd snake symbol, along with a gemstone in the case of dollar bills, same with the Department of Justice's seal.
• Amazon Brigade: The Crystal Gems definitely qualify: even the lanky and noodle-thin Pearl is perfectly capable of shattering rocks with a single kick.
• Am I Just a Toy to You?: Early on in their relationship, it was clear that Greg and Rose had the hots for one another, but due to her alien mindset, Rose's love for Greg was more of an amused, borderline-condescending type of love one would show for cute animals and the like. After being called out by Greg for this though, she started to genuinely love him as an equal as shown by the video tape Steven found in Lion 3.
• Ancestral Weapon: Steven's powers and shield are inherited directly from his mother.
• Anime Hair: It's definitely present on many characters. You have Garnet's and by extension Ruby's cubed afro, Alexandrite's five-pointed mane of hair, Rose Quartz's enormous ringlets, Peridot's triangular hairdo, Vidalia's perfectly onion-shaped 'do, and the Fryman family all having hair based off of french fries.
• Animesque: This show tends to borrow a lot of tropes from anime, specifically Magical Girl-type series.
• And I Must Scream: Lapis Lazuli has been trapped inside of an enchanted mirror for around 5000 years, all the while being perfectly conscious and not having the ability to do a damn thing about in fear of what she thought the Crystal Gems would do to her. She's understandably pissed off at them when she's finally released.
  • And she is condemned to this fate again at the end of Jailbreak, though this time of her own volition: she took over her and Jasper's fusion of Malachite and chained themselves to the bottom of the sea. Jasper however has it worse off, she's going nuts from being trapped, which is made worse by the fact that Lapis is able to resist any attempt she makes at breaking the two of them apart.
  • But the most horrifying aspect of this trope is present in the Mini-Cluster Fusions, which are all shattered gems that have been bought back to life by being fused together in the form of horrific Frankenstein's Monster-type abominations. When they form, the silhouettes of several Gems can be seen screaming in agony and desperately trying to flee, only to be forced to form into their monstrous bodies against their will.
  • And in return, they're nothing when compared to The Cluster itself, which is an enormous Forced Fusion nested deep within the Earth's core made up of millions of Gem shards. All the consciousnesses of the Gems that make up the Cluster possess the intense desire to take a form, completely unaware of the fact that they'll destroy the planet when doing so. When Steven warns them of what would happen, they're horrified but can't fight the urge to take a form. Thankfully, some timely help from Steven as well as cooperation from the Cluster prevent the Earth from going "BOOM".
• Another Dimension: The Temple seems to branch off into hundreds of these, with a few of them serving as each of the Gem's rooms.
  • There's also the odd pocket dimension inside of Lion's mane, a pink savanna in which Steven can't breathe.
• Arc Symbol: The Crystal Gems are shown to use a five-pointed star as their symbol, which is present on all of their outfits: Steven and Pearl have them on their shirts, Amethyst has them stitched onto her pants, Garnet has them on her gauntlets, Lion's mane is star-shaped, and Rose had a star symbol cut open where her Gem is. This symbol seems to represent the Gems as a whole, since there are five of them in total: Steven/Rose, Pearl, Amethyst, Ruby, and Sapphire, though the latter two are consistently fused as Garnet.
  • Meanwhile, The Homeworld Gems are shown to have yellow diamond patterns on their outfits with the exception of Lapis, who has a blue one formed on her dress while Sapphire had one in the past as well. These signify which member of the Diamond Authority a Gem belongs to.
  • There's also a reoccurring trio of triangles that are colored yellow, white, and blue on various Gem-related places, which is the symbol of Homeworld's ruling party The Diamond Authority. Interesting, there's a pink symbol on really old versions of the insignia that isn't present in modern ones...
• Arc Words: "If every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs." This phrase is first given to us by Greg in Laser Light Cannon, and it pops back up several times throughout the series as a reminder of one of the show's main themes: no one's perfect, but that's not a bad thing in the slightest.
• Armor-Piercing Question: "Can you just talk to me for one second, LIKE A REAL PERSON?!" Spoken by Greg during We Need to Talk after he realizes that Rose isn't in love with him, and merely views him as an amusing companion. Upon hearing this, she realizes that she wasn't respecting him and freaks out a bit before the both of them talk things out and form a true, loving relationship from this event.
• Artificial Zombie: The Cluster Gems are the remains of shattered Gems who have been reanimated as nightmarish, vaguely humanoid abominations.
• Art Shift: Done during Garnet's Universe, where Steven's account of what Garnet supposedly did while she was away is portrayed in a more simplistic, far cartoonier style that serves as a sort of homage to the original Dragon Ball series.
• Asleep for Days: When a Gem's been poofed, they tend to spend anywhere from hours to weeks healing inside their stone in order to make sure they regenerate safely without any complications.
• Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: The Fryman family all have hairstyles in a similar color and shape to french fries, with Mr. Fryman having hair resembling normal straight french fries while his sons Ronaldo and Peedee have hair similar to curly fries. Fitting, since they're a family of fry salesmen.
  • Then there's Vidalia and Onion, who both have hairstyles that resemble (you guessed it) onions.
• Audience-Alienating Premise: An in-universe example comes to us in the form of the cartoon Crying Breakfast Friends, which is about a bunch of sentient food and utensils that cry endlessly. Just about anyone who watches it feels weirded out by it, with the exception of Steven.
• Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other: While they're usually at each other's throats, the show reminds us time and time again that deep down, Pearl and Amethyst really do care about one another, even if they aren't willing to admit it.
• Awesome McCoolname: Steven himself, with his full name being Steven Quartz Universe. The same goes with his dad Greg by association. And yes, Universe is their real last name.
• Badass Boast: Jasper gives a very impressive villainous variant when she's facing down the Crystal Gems after Defusing Garnet and grabbing Steven.
  • "I was there, you know, at the first war for this garbage planet. I fought against your armies, I respected your tactics. But this? (she lifts Steven by his shirt) This is sick. I don't get what you're planning, Rose. But look! Your base is taken! Your armies are ruined! YOU HAVE FAILED! (she headbutts Steven from the camera's perspective, causing the episode to fade to black)"
• Badass Family: The Crystal Gems are a surrogate example for Steven. You have Pearl as the worrywart mother type, Garnet as the stoic and reasonable mother figure, and Amethyst serving as Steven's fun big sister. And of course, Steven himself begins earning his stripes after getting the hang of using his powers.
• Bad Bad Acting: When Steven gets Garnet to pretend to be his mother when Connie's parents call, she puts on a spectacularly bad performance over the phone.
  • "Hello, this is Mum Universe. Yes, the children are playing swords. Sorry, playing with swords. They're bleeding. Oh no, they are dead. Don't call again. (hangs up) Sorry, I panicked. (And note, ALL of this is said in a perfectly monotone voice)
• Batman Can Breathe in Space: The Gems have no problems breathing in space, though it's justified since ultimately, they're alien space rocks. They don't need to breathe.
• Battle Couple: Once Connie takes up sword lessons from Pearl, she and Steven become one of these once they start going toe to toe with Cluster Gems.
  • In the past, Rose Quartz and Pearl served as this against the armies of the Homeworld. And for a while, by themselves, no less!
• Beach Episode: Technically most of the show's episodes count since it does take place in Beach City, which definitely lives up to its name. However, there are two proper examples: Beach Party and Island Adventure. The former has Steven and the Gems having a good time with the Pizza family before a porcupine fish monster ruins their beachside festivities, and the latter has Steven, Lars, and Sadie roughing it out on a mysterious island.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: The Crystal Gems are all quite attractive, and of course, they're the good guys. But while Anti-Villain Lapis Lazuli is still attractive, the truly villainous Homeworld Gems Jasper and Peridot are not, with Jasper being beefy and muscular while Peridot is sleek, cold, and androgynous. Not that it stops the two of them from netting legions of dedicated fanboys and fangirls, however.
  • There's also Marty, the only truly bad person shown in Beach City without any redeeming qualities whatsoever. Fittingly, he looks older than he is, his eyes are squinty and shifty, then there's his rather pointy teeth...
• Berserk Button: If you value your life, do not harm Steven. The Crystal Gems don't take kindly to that at all.
  • While Steven himself is a nice guy and a very sweet kid, he understandably chewed Lars the hell out when he insulted his late mother.
  • Garnet takes fusion very seriously thanks to being an almost perfect fusion sustained by two happy lovers. And thus, she is pissed the hell off when she discovers Homeworld's sick and twisted fusion experiments, and is understandably peeved when Pearl has been tricking her into fusing under false circumstances.
  • Pearl will give anyone an earful if they're being sloppy and untidy. She also is prone to losing her cool when her relationship with Rose is bought into question.
  • While laid back and spunky, Amethyst flies into a rage when her past as a Kindergarten Gem is bought up.
• Big Bad: The Diamond Authority, who rule Homeworld with an iron fist and are trying to finish what they started with Earth. So far, Yellow Diamond is the one most involved with the plot, though The Answer shows that Blue Diamond was also more of an active threat during the Earth's early days.
• Big Eater: Amethyst. She doesn't even need to eat thanks to being a Gem, but she'll pig out on just about anything she likes, which includes not only food, but inedible objects like plates and motor oil.
• Big No: Steven gets a ton of these, but most of them are Played for Laughs. He does get a few serious ones though, such as when Lapis fuses with Jasper.
  • Amethyst gets a rather humorous one when her sandwich is dissolved in a hunk of acid, with a bit of Gratuitous Spanish thrown into the mix.
    • "NOOOOOOOOO! MI TORTA!"
• Big Sister Instinct: Amethyst is like a fun big sister to Steven, and while she likes to mess with him, she's more than happy to jump into action in order to protect him.
  • There's also Lapis, who is fiercely protective of Steven and views him as the only true friend she has, to the point to where she trapped herself under the sea with Jasper in the fusion Malachite for months on end in order to protect him.
• Bittersweet Ending: Jailbreak, the season 1 finale. Hooray! Steven rescued his family, they escaped the handship that was carting them to Homeworld, and Jasper and Peridot have been defeated! However, Jasper was only defeated by being dragged into the bottom of the sea by an angry, vengeful, broken Lapis, and the both of them vanish for months.
• Bloodless Carnage: The Gems and Gem Monsters don't bleed when they're seriously wounded, they simply "poof", which leaves their gem behind while their bodies disperse into nothingness. Justified though, since they don't really have blood to spill.
• Body Horror: Famously shown in Cat Fingers, where Steven shapeshifts his fingers into cat hands that quickly grow out of control and cover his body with horrific tumorous masses of cat heads.
  • When a Gem's stone is cracked, their body will twist and morph in all kinds of unsettling ways.
  • As a way of showing her unstable state, Alexandrite, the fusion between Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet looks really freaky when she needs to eat: her face gives way to a second, bestial mouth that protrudes from her throat and almost cracks the first face.
  • The Cluster Gems. Dear sweet mother of God. They're made from the shattered remains of dead Gems and bought back to life by being forcibly fused together. The resulting forced fusions are usually a mish-mash of oddly colored body parts that constantly roar and scream in agony.
• Broken Bird: Pearl has not been handling Rose's death well at all, and shows obvious signs of PTSD in the wake of her absence.
  • There's also Lapis Lazuli, who can just never catch a break. She was trapped in a mirror for over 5000 years and used as a tool by the Crystal Gems, and once she escaped and went home, she was horrified by how alien and scary it had gotten, and soon found herself arrested by Homeworld Gems. And when she tries to flee after Peridot's ship crashes, Jasper prevents her from escaping and forces Lapis to fuse with her, which ends tragically with Lapis trapping her and Jasper's fused form Malachite under the sea. She's just sadder and sadder as each episode passes, and by the time Steven makes contact with her, she seems to have given up hope on ever escaping from the bottom of the sea. Thankfully though, she does get better after Malachite's been defused, and while she's grumpy and surly to everyone else, still has Steven to pal around with.
• Broken Pedestal: This is what prompts Peridot's Heel Face Turn. When her idol Yellow Diamond acts proves that she isn't the logical, reasonable authority figure she was made out to be,
• Calling the Old Man Out: Steven snaps and yells at Pearl after being sick of having his concerns about someone else using their warp pads dismissed as him imagining things by her.
  • During the events of Nightmare Hospital, Connie finally calls out her mother for being an overly controlling, arguably abusive asshole who doesn't even notice what's been going on in her life.
  • Similarly, Sadie lets her well-meaning mom have an earful over being an overly controlling "pageant mom" near the end of Sadie's Song.
• Cast of Snowflakes: Pretty much every character has a distinct appearance from one another, though family members will share traits with themselves (Which of course, makes sense given how biology works and all that). Even Gems of the game kind can look wildly different, as shown by the custom-made Pearls who resemble their owners, as well as the five-Ruby squad in Hit the Diamond.
• If You Want Something Done Right, Do it Yourself: While drawing her whip, Holly Blue Agate utters this as she attacks Steven and company.

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