Steven Universe

Steven Universe
Genre	Adventure Action Comedy-drama Science Fantasy Surreal Musical
Created by	Rebecca Sugar
Directed by	Supervising Director: Ian Jones-Quartey Art Direction: Kevin Dart (season 1, episodes 1-12 (2013-2014)) Elle Michalka Animation Director: Nick DeMayo
Voices of	Zach Callison Estelle Michaela Dietz Deedee Magno Hall Matthew Moy Kate Micucci Tom Scharpling Grace Rolek
Opening theme	"We Are the Crystal Gems", written by Rebecca Sugar & arranged by Jeff Liu
Ending theme	Ending Theme (Love Like You) written by Rebecca Sugar and composed by Aivi & Surasshu
Composers	Aivi Tran Steven "Surasshu" Velema Additional Music: Nick DeMayo Rebecca Sugar
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	160 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Rebecca Sugar
Producers	Jackie Buscarino Supervising Producer: Chuck Austen
Running time	11 minutes
Production company	Cartoon Network Studios
Original release
Network	Cartoon Network
Release	November 4, 2013 (2013-11-04) – January 21, 2019 (2019-01-21)

Steven Universe is an animated series on Cartoon Network. It is about a young boy named Steven Universe, a human boy and half-gem (an alien race who are made of gem crystals), and his story with the Crystal Gems, a rebel group of warriors who fight against the opressive Gem Homeworld.

Context

Gem Society

Gems are a geological alien race made up of a gem crystal and a "hard light" form that forms their physical appearance. Each type of Gem, such as diamonds, pearls, and so on, have a role in Gem society that they were made for.

Diamonds are the rulers of the Gem Homeworld. They are served by Pearls, who were made to obedient to them. There are four known diamonds: Pink Diamond, Blue Diamond, Yellow Diamond and White Diamond. Most Gems are assigned to a Diamond and report to them for various tasks. Gems who do not obey the Diamonds are either rebels or corrupted. Gems who are corrupted were once regular Gems, but now look like monsters, caused by intense distress, or a special beam of light used by the Diamonds as punishment for rebellion.

The Diamonds, from their planet Homeworld, colonise other planets so that new Gems can be formed from the materials found in the ground. Large valleys nicknamed "kindergartens" can be found on these planets, including Earth.

When born, a gem emerges from a hole designed to fit their intended height. Some gems are not born to fit their hole, and are considered "defective" by the Diamonds, and gem society as a whole.

The Crystal Gems

The Crystal Gems are a rebel group led by the legendary warrior Rose Quartz. They were formed by Rose because she wanted to protect the life on Earth, and stop Homeworld from destroying it. After the Diamonds (Yellow, Blue, and White) ended the war by corrupting all Gems on Earth (aside from the main cast of Crystal Gems, thanks of Rose's shield), the rebel group went into hiding.

It was revealed that Rose Quartz was actually a Diamond herself. Originally Pink Diamond, she constantly begged the more older Diamonds for a colony of her own. After finally being given Earth, she grew to love the people and animals that lived on it, and took on the persona of Rose Quartz in order to fight Homeworld and their opressive rule.

Rose wanted a child more than anything else. So much so, she decided that with the help of her partner Greg Universe, she would give up her form so that their child could be born. This child would become Steven, and he inherited Rose's gem.

The Crystal Gems are composed of Steven, his girlfriend Connie, Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst, Lapis Lazuli, Peridot and Bismuth.

Fusion

Fusion is the process in which the "hard light" forms of two gems are mixed together to create a new form, and a new personality. It can only be achieved by perfect synchronisation of two or more Gems. Steven is an exception to this rule - because he possesses Rose Quartz' Diamond Gem, he is capable of fusing with both humans and Gems. For example, he often fuses with Connie to form Stevonnie.

Fusion between different Gem classes is strongly discouraged on the Gem Homeworld.

Characters

Main

• Steven "Danger Cutiepie-Lasagna" Universe is the child of Rose Quartz, and the main character of the series. He is kind-hearted and empathetic, always ready to help.
• Garnet is one of the main Crystal Gems, and a fusion between Ruby & Sapphire. She is calm, confident, and cool-headed, with the ability to see the future.
• Amethyst is one of the main Crystal Gems, and a gem born on Earth. She is rowdy, fun-loving, and the "wild-child" of the group.
• Pearl is one of the main Crystal Gems, and Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond's Pearl. She is graceful, intelligent, and motherly to Steven, promising Rose that she would always care for him.

Minor

• Connie Maheswaran is one of the secondary Crystal Gems, and Steven's best friend. In the movie & sequel mini-series, she is Steven's girlfriend. Connie is smart, curious, and adventurous, helping her friends however she can.
• Peridot, designated PE-2F5L-5XG, is one of the secondary Crystal Gems, and a former servant of Yellow Diamond. She is nerdy, stubborn, and often blunt, taking time to adjust to Earthly culture.
• Lapis Lazuli is one of the secondary Crystal Gems, and a former enemy of theirs. Her gem was trapped in a magical mirror for thousands of years until she was freed by Steven. Lapis is moody, defensive, and rebellious, having been changed by the Gem War.
• Bismuth is one of the secondary Crystal Gems, and Rose Quartz' former weapons creator. She is intense, tough, and often extreme, once suggesting to Rose that they use her creation, the Breaking Point, to kill the Diamonds and any gems they send their way.
• Captain Lars "of the Stars" Barriga is a space pirate and former donut shop employee, who chases down adventure through space alongside his crew, the Off-Colors. Lars is rude, prideful, and arrogant, once being at odds with Steven when he worked at the donut shop. After Lars was killed during an accident in space, Steven healed his wounds with his tears, turning Lars' skin and hair pink.
• Sadie Miller is a rockstar singer and former donut shop employee and a friend of Lars'. She is sweet, responsible, and now rebellious, having found her passion in music alongside her band, Sadie Killer and the Suspects.
• Lion is Steven's magical pet Lion, formerly being owned by Rose. He is affectionate, independant, and sometimes lazy. Steven can go through his mane into a strange pink world, where Rose's belongings are on an island.
• Cdre. Gregory "Um Greg" DeMayo-Universe (Steven's father, leader of the Crystal Gems)
• Rose Quartz, formerly Pink Diamond, was the founder and leader of the Crystal Gems. Having grown love for Earth, she turned against her fellow Diamonds and waged war upon them, to free all of gemkind. Despite her importance, she rarely appears in the series, exclusively in the form of flashbacks. She is Loving, motherly, loyal, and sometimes fierce, when the situation calls for it.
• Ruby, designated RU-1F4-4N, is one of the main Crystal Gems and one of Garnet's component Gems. She fuses with Sapphire in order to form Garnet. She is abbrasive, hot-headed, and intensely devoted, having a strong love for her wife Sapphire.
• Sapphire is one of the main Crystal Gems, a former Diamond advisor, and one of Garnet's component Gems. She fuses with Ruby in order to form Garnet. She is calm, level-headed, and wise, due to her ability to see into the future.
• Yellow Diamond is one of the Diamonds, serving as the military leader of the gem army. She is a brutal perfectionist and rules her warriors with an iron fist.
• Blue Diamond is one of the Diamonds, serving as the lead diplomat and caretaker of the gem empire. She is overprotective, emotional, and motherly. However, she is often cruel, using her powers to subject all surrounding gems into experiencing her intense emotions to keep them under her rule.
• White Diamond is one of the Diamonds, and the overall leader of the Gem Empire. She is arrogant, condescending, and often violent, believing herself to be perfect, leading to her using her posession powers to change Gems into a puppet for her wishes. She rules the Gem Empire with an iron fist.
• Jasper is one of Yellow Diamond's best commanders, and a fierce warrior. She is violent, abbrassive, and posessive, wishing to follow her Diamond's word and serve them as best as she can. She is a primary rival of Lapis, after a situation involving forced fusion.
• Tertiary
• Dr. Priyanka Maheswaran is a doctor at the hospital, and Connie's mother. She is overprotective, overbearing, and often dissaproving of Connie's involvement with the Crystal Gems.
• Doug Maheswaran is Connie's father. He is laidback, cool-headed, yet stern. He does not appear often in the series, mostly alongside his wife, Priyanka.
• Mr. Fryman is the owner of Beach City Beachwalk Fries. He often serves the crumbs from his friers to Steven for free, nicknamed "The Bits".
• Peedee Fryman is the son of Mr. Fryman and a worker at Beach Citywalk Fries. He is a friend of Steven's.
• Ronaldo Fryman is Beach City's local conspiracy theorist, son of Mr. Fryman, and older brother of Peedee. He is paranoid, obsessive, and awkward, constantly indulging himself in wild conspiracy theories.
• Harold Smiley is the manager of Beach City's fair. He is also the manager of Funland, and the arcade. Harold is often cheerful, though it sometimes appears to be a forced smile.
• Mayor Bill Dewey is the mayor of Beach City. He is generally well-meaning but ultimately cowardly and egotistical in his role as mayor.
• Buck Dewey is Mayor Bill Dewey's son, and one of the nicknamed "Cool Kids". His personality is similar to Garnet, which is theorised to have been an intentional choice by the creators of the show.
• Sour Cream is one of the nicknamed "Cool Kids". He is the older brother of Onion. Sour Cream's personality is similar to Pearl, which like Buck, may have been intentional.
• Onion is Sour Cream's younger brother, and one of Steven's friends. He is mute, mysterious, yet ultimately trusting, despite his strange, secretive behavior.
• Yellowtail is Onion's father, Sour Cream's Step Father, and a fisherman. He is semi-mute, and similar to Onion in personality, though a lot more cheerful.
• Kofi Pizza is the owner of Fish Stew Pizza, a pizza shop in Beach City. He manages it alongside his daughters Kiki and Jenny. He is a rival of Mr. Fryman, often competing for customers.
• Kiki Pizza is the daughter of Kofi, and twin sister of Jenny. She is kind, anxious, and hardworking, often assigned to watch over the rebellious Jenny.
• Jenny Pizza is the daughter of Kofi, and twin sister of Kiki. She is also one of the "Cool Kids". Jenny is similar to Amethyst in personality, which again, like Buck and Sour Cream, may have been intentional.
• Gunga "Nanefua" Pizza is the Mother of Kofi, and grandmother to Kiki and Jenny. She is kind, witty, and surprisingly brave when the situation calls for it.