Lion

"Lion" is a magical pink lion whom Steven befriends in "Steven's Lion". Lion protects Steven, as shown in "Steven's Lion" and "So Many Birthdays". It is revealed in "Lion 3: Straight to Video" that Lion had some sort of deep connection with Rose Quartz. This connection is explored further in the episode "Rose's Scabbard".

Appearance
Lion has round ears, pink fur, a soft-pink star shaped mane, and a dark brownish-magenta heart-shaped nose. When Lion uses his magical abilities, his eyes and mane emit a white glow. There is a tuft of soft-pink fur at the end of his thin tail.

Personality
Lion is an enigmatic character whose sentience and sapience is somewhat questionable. However, he seems to act like a cat. (Chasing butterflies in "Rose's Scabbard" and snapping at the dragonfly-like lights created by Sardonyx in "Cry for Help"). Much like a normal animal, he rarely changes his expression, and for the most part, he is quiet and docile. Though he can be considered a "pet" for Steven, Lion looks after himself and often sees to his own activities. While Lion does not seem to acknowledge Steven most of the time, he does seem to understand Steven to a certain extent, responding whenever Steven needs him in enigmatic ways. This is shown in "Lion 2: The Movie" when he takes him and Connie to Rose's Secret Armory when he remarked how he was not "trained very well", or how he nearly smothered Steven's face to show him the dimension in his mane when he said he wanted to know more about his mother in "Lion 3: Straight to Video".

Abilities

 * Concussive Roar: Lion has a powerful roar that can sent pink rings to destroy/knock down structures, as seen by knocking down multiple sand constructs in "Steven's Lion", and pushing the remains of the Gem Warship in "Jail Break".
 * Dimensional Manipulation: Lion has the ability to manipulate dimensions with relative ease.
 * Portal Creation: Lion can also produce roars that can open up pink portals, connecting two non adjacent areas together; it is first seen in "Lion 2: The Movie" where he took Steven and Connie to Rose's Secret Armory.
 * Pocket Dimension: Like Pearl, Lion has a pocket dimension that is located in and currently only accessible through his mane. Lion's Dimension is a vast pink savannah that stretches to a tall pink acacia tree atop a grassy hill. There is no breathable air in the dimension, and thus Steven must hold his breath when inside.
 * Dimensional Storage: Rose had stored some of her important objects inside of Lion's mane for safe storage that Lion could easily summon back again. The pocket dimension is filled with Rose's belongings, such as her sword, a photo of her and Greg, a videotape of her and Greg, a treasure chest, the Mr. Universe Shirt Greg gave her when they first met, a tattered flag with her symbol, and an unknown bubbled object; as well as some of Steven's belongings such as his bike, helmet, some magic tricks paraphernalia, soda, and probably many more.
 * Supernatural Stamina: Lion has incredible stamina, as shown in "Ocean Gem" where Lion kept pace with Greg's Van for an entire day while carrying Steven and Connie. He has also been shown to be capable of leaping far distances. However his stamina does have limits, as in "Cry for Help" when after carrying all three Crystal Gems with Steven in his pocket dimension, he showed signs of fatigue.
 * Water-Walking: Lion is able to walk on water as seen in "Lion 2: The Movie", when he takes Steven and Connie to Rose's Armory. He shares this ability with Pearl, Opal, and Lapis Lazuli.

Season 1

 * "Steven's Lion" (debut)
 * "So Many Birthdays"
 * "Steven the Sword Fighter"
 * "Lion 2: The Movie"
 * "Rose's Room" (cameo)
 * "Monster Buddies"
 * "An Indirect Kiss"
 * "Ocean Gem"
 * "Fusion Cuisine" (cameo)
 * "Lion 3: Straight to Video"
 * "The Test"
 * "Rose's Scabbard"
 * "The Message"
 * "The Return"
 * "Jail Break"

Season 2
Shorts:
 * "Full Disclosure"
 * "Say Uncle"
 * "Chille Tid" (mentioned)
 * "Cry for Help"
 * "Nightmare Hospital"
 * Just Lion Things

Trivia

 * Lion appears to like Lion Lickers, as shown in the episode, "Lion 3: Straight to Video", when he presses his face against the glass of the freezer holding the Lion Lickers. This could just be because he is a lion.
 * In "Nightmare Hospital", Steven gives Lion Lickers to Lion in order to get him to stay in the Hospital's parking lot. Lion seems enthralled by them, frantically attempting to reach the treat before the plastic is even off.
 * Rebecca Sugar's pet cat is also named Lion.
 * Lion's ability to teleport might have explained how he managed to follow the Crystal Gems back to the temple in "Steven's Lion".
 * Lion usually sleeps near the house of the temple, as shown in "Fusion Cuisine" and in "Steven the Sword Fighter", when he is seen resting underneath the house.
 * In "Lion 3: Straight to Video", Steven allows Lion to sleep in the house in a bed he made for him.
 * One of the concept designs considered for Lion was an "unsettling, silent caricature of a lion", like an "old medieval heraldry image. His face was frozen into an uncertain grin except for his eyes, which would follow Steven around while he creeped out the other Crystal Gems. He might not be pretty and act kinda suspicious, but Steven loved him".
 * As revealed in "Rose's Scabbard", only Steven can go inside Lion's Mane. This is most likely because he has Rose Quartz's Gem, though it could also be a matter of Lion's preference.
 * It is unclear how far Lion can teleport, and it is possible that he could be used as an alternative means of transport to Warp Pads.
 * For example, in "Rose's Scabbard", Lion didn't need to use the Warp to appear in the Strawberry Battlefield.
 * However, in "Cry for Help", Lion could be seen getting tired after teleporting to the Communication Hub, indicating that there are limits to how much he can do.
 * However this could be because he was carrying the Crystal Gems and Steven.
 * Or he could've been disoriented by the signal tower.
 * When he opens a return portal to the Temple from the Communication Hub he doesn't appear to have any trouble doing so.

Videos
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