Fusion Gems

"First, you need a gem at the core of your being. Then you need the body that can turn into light. Then you need a partner you can trust with that light." "Fusion Gems" are the product of two or more Gems (or, in a special case, a half-gem, like Steven Universe) who fuse together, creating an entirely separate entity. Fusions are commonly formed in states of emergencies.

Description
When Gems fuse, both their bodies and minds become one. This creates an entirely different entity, as opposed to two minds sharing a single body. Malachite, Garnet, Alexandrite, and Stevonnie, however, showed that one component gem can take control of the fusion. This is supported by Ruby and Sapphire clearly alternating dominance as Garnet in "Keeping It Together". It is also possible for different gems to take control of different parts of the fusion, as proven by Lapis Lazuli's control of Malachite's hydrokinesis while Jasper was in control of the body. For Malachite and Alexandrite, the gem in control's voice was layered over the fusion's voice to show control. However, for Garnet and Stevonnie, this was not done; it was only the fusion's voice. It is unknown whether this is intentional. As seen with Sugilite and Malachite, certain fusions will cause the loss of individuality between all Gems that partake if fused for too long. While all fusions require consent, a fusion of hatred has the power to run amok and destroy. Memories made before and during a fusion can be held over, as Opal and Sapphire recognized Steven despite him never meeting them personally, however Gems who fuse together don't automatically share their memories with each other, for example, the second time that Garnet and Pearl fused into Sardonyx in Cry for Help, she did not know that Pearl had secretly repaired the tower.

Formation
Fusions are formed when Gems perform a synchronized dance. Each fusion's dance is different. If successful, Gems transform into an amorphous mass of energy before fully transforming. If unsuccessful, Gems will be ejected before finishing the entire transformation. A stable fusion is shown in "We Need to Talk", when Rose and Pearl fuse into Rainbow Quartz. Garnet gives Greg a more literal explanation that Gems turn into light and has to be trusting of the other Gem with their light. During Fusion, each Gemstone from the fusing Gems are visible and seen shifting into place while the mass forms into a body. However, in "Cry for Help", when Pearl connected with Garnet, both Gems and Gemstones disappeared before the mass of energy appears. Even when Sardonyx is fusing, the Gemstones are not visible until Sardonyx fully fuses.

Defusion
Defusion is a process in which a fusion splits into its component Gems.

Stable
A stable un-fusion ocours when the participating fusees have a mutal agreement on un-fusing. This is shown in 'We need to Talk' when Pearl and Rose Quartz un-fuse from Rainbow Quartz, they smoothly shift out of each other. Another example of a stable un-fusion is in 'Cry for Help' when Sardonyx un-fuses into a flash of light, leaving Garnet and Pearl holding eachother.

Unstable
An unstable un-fusion occurs when the fusees have a very high conflict of opinion. This is shown by the fusees being thrown out of the fusion. An example of this is shown in "Giant Woman" when Pearl and Amethyst argue over the Heaven Beatle, causing the fusion to become un-synchronized forcing them to un-fuse.

Damaged
A damaged un-fusion occurs when the fusion takes on severe physical damage. A damaged un-fusion is shown in 'Coach Steven'. When Sugilite is injured by her flail she 'poofs', back to her original fusees.

Another example of a damaged un-fusion is when Jasper stabs Garnet with the Gem destabailizer, causing Garnet's body to fall apart. She poofs back into her original fusing gems, Ruby and Sapphire. However, unlike Sugilite the damage caused to Garnet's body also caused damage to the fusing gems, forcing them into their Gemstones to regenerate.

Appearance
Fusion Gems combine the designs of fusees. Gemstones appear in the same locations and are the same cut of the Gems are composed of, but the type of gem changes. The exception would be Stevonnie, whose single gem remained a Rose Quartz. Each Gem involved in the fusion often contributes an additional pair of arms, showing that multiple pairs of arms are a common trait among fusions. However, Garnet, Stevonnie and Rainbow Quartz do not display extra arms, so the appearance of extra limbs may indicate some instability in the fusion. Another common trait among fusions is having more than two eyes.

Unstable Fusions
"Wait! Garnet, think about this. You and Amethyst can be a little... uh... unstable when your personalities combine."

Some fusions can be unstable due to the way their participants' personalities combine. In Coach Steven, Garnet and Amethyst lose themselves in the Sugilite fusion, going on a rampage and refusing to split up.

Hostile Fusions
"She had control when she used her power to drag their fusion into the ocean. But a fusion like theirs is unstable, bound together by anger and mistrust. If that bond snaps, their anger will take over, and destroy."

In addition to the usual co-operative fusions, it is also sometimes possible for two opposing Gems to successfully fuse with each other, and then struggle for control without defusing. However, this type of fusion is especially unstable, and fusion participants run the risk of becoming overwhelmed by their shared anger and losing control.

Malachite is the only known example of a successful hostile fusion. In this case, both participants had similar motivations but conflicting goals (Jasper wanted revenge against Garnet and the Crystal Gems after her previous defeat; Lapis Lazuli wanted revenge against Jasper for imprisoning her).

Forced Fusions
Through being buried underground and fusing due to extensive pressure, it is possible to force Gemstones or Gem Shards into fusing. This method of fusion is usually incomplete, simply binding gemstones together on the edges instead of changing their colors, as shown in complete fusion. The Cluster is a result of a forced fusion, and in "Keeping it Together", it was shown that Gem Shards could be forced to fuse. The physical bodies of these Gems usually embody the incomplete fusions, with limbs being stuck together at seemingly random places.

Realms
The hostile Malachite fusion has an internal fusion realm where Lapis Lazuli and Jasper struggle for control. It is not known whether this is a general property of fusions, or an unusual property of Jasper and Lapis Lazuli's hostile fusion.

Culture

 * The Crystal Temple has the appearance of a typical fusion. The Gem placements suggest that the temple is a fusion of Rose, Amethyst, Garnet, and Pearl.
 * In "Jail Break", Jasper derides fusion as a "cheap tactic to make weak Gems stronger", while Garnet states that she is a symbol of love.
 * Pearl implies fusion is rather intimate in "Coach Steven" and "Alone Together"; she tries to cover Steven's eyes while Garnet and Amethyst perform their dance, and says Stevonnie might be considered "inappropriate". In We Need to Talk, Pearl says fusion is the ultimate form of bond between Gems.

Abilities
Fusions are significantly powerful. They incorporate the powers, strengths, appearances, weapons, and abilities of all the Gems that form them.

Weapon(s)
Fusions may wield the weapons of the gems that compose them, but can combine them into a singular weapon. These weapons typically harness the abilities of the weapons that were fused, an example being Opal's weapon, a longbow. Pearl's spear not only makes up the longbow, but the arrows are visually similar to the energy blast the spear can emit, and the spear itself. Meanwhile, Amethyst's whip acts as the bowstring. Sugilite's flail uses Garnet's gauntlets as a Mace Head and Amethyst's whip as a rope. Sardonyx's War Hammer is composed of Pearl's spear as the handle and Garnets's Gauntlets as the head.

One-fourth

 * Stevonnie
 * Steven
 * Connie

Double

 * Garnet
 * Ruby
 * Sapphire
 * Opal
 * Pearl
 * Amethyst
 * Rainbow Quartz
 * Rose Quartz
 * Pearl
 * Malachite
 * Lapis Lazuli
 * Jasper

Triple

 * Sugilite
 * Ruby
 * Sapphire
 * Amethyst


 * Sardonyx
 * Ruby
 * Sapphire
 * Pearl

Quadruple

 * Alexandrite
 * Ruby
 * Sapphire
 * Pearl
 * Amethyst
 * Cluster
 * 4 Former Crystal Gems

Unknown Amount

 * Unknown Fusion Gem

Trivia

 * First demonstrated in "Giant Woman", as of "Friend Ship", all Gems mentioned in the show except Peridot and Yellow Diamond have been shown to fuse.
 * The dance used to fuse is a mixture of both Gems' dancing styles, which are based on their personalities.
 * Only nine fusions are currently known: Garnet, Sugilite, Opal, Alexandrite, Stevonnie, Malachite, the Cluster, Rainbow Quartz, and Sardonyx.
 * Stevonnie is the only known hybrid-fusion.
 * There have been seven shown successful dances, and two shown failed dances.
 * The first successful dance was performed by Garnet and Amethyst, forming Sugilite.
 * The second successful dance was performed by Steven and Connie, forming Stevonnie.
 * The third successful dance was performed by Ruby and Sapphire, forming Garnet.
 * The fourth successful dance was performed by Lapis Lazuli and Jasper, successfully forming Malachite.
 * The fifth successful dance was again performed by  Steven  and  Connie, forming  Stevonnie.
 * The sixth successful dance was performed by  Rose Quartz  and  Pearl, forming  Rainbow Quartz.
 * The seventh successful dance was performed by Pearl and Garnet, forming Sardonyx.
 * The first failed dance was between Pearl and Amethyst, when they attempted to form Opal.
 * The second failed dance was between Garnet and Pearl, in which Amethyst interrupted the dance after learning of Pearl's betrayal.
 * There were multiple potential dances shown in "Alone Together", but the only dance that resulted in a fusion was between Steven and Connie.
 * The fusion depicted on the Crystal Temple has five gemstones, and has the most of any fusion shown thus far.
 * Forehead/Pearl
 * Chest/Amethyst
 * Left palm/Ruby
 * Right palm/Sapphire
 * Navel/Rose Quartz
 * It also has the most arms, although some are due to the age of the temple. If it were still intact, it would have eight arms.
 * The "Fusion Dance" displayed by gems, is very similar to the Fusion Dance shown in "Dragon Ball Z". However, the gems actually dance to fuse, rather than complete a set of poses like the Fusion Dance in Dragon Ball Z, in order to become one.
 * Fusion Gems can be separated by suffering heavy damage (Sugilite), or when one of the Gems fused disagrees with the other (Opal, Alexandrite, and Garnet).
 * Stevonnie seems to be an odd exception, since they separated while they were dancing in an attempt to embarrass Kevin.
 * This could mean that fusions can separate when both components to the fusion become emotionally overwhelmed/compromised.
 * It is unknown whether or not Stevonnie, Malachite, Alexandrite, Rainbow Quartz, and Cluster have signature weapons.
 * Since Connie is not a gem, thus having no weapon, it is assumed that Stevonnie's weapon would be Steven's shield.
 * Malachite is the only fusion with two chests and four legs.
 * Alexandrite is the only fusion with six arms and two mouths.
 * Alexandrite is one of the only fusions whose dance wasn't shown.
 * Fusions can be made with humans, as shown in "Alone Together", although only Steven can do this as he is half-human.
 * With the exception of Malachite and Alexandrite, all fusions are voiced by musicians, Garnet by Estelle, Opal by Aimee Mann, Sugilite by Nicki Minaj, Stevonnie by AJ Michalka, and Sardonyx by Alexia Khadime.
 * It is unknown if Rainbow Quartz is voiced by a musician or not as she has currently not been heard talking yet.
 * Garnet, Stevonnie, Rainbow Quartz and Sardonyx are the only known fully stable fusions.
 * Though Garnet has an extra eye and Rainbow Quartz, along with Sardonyx, has 2 extra eyes.
 * Fusions combine the complexions of the Gems that form them.
 * Some of the fusion themes' names corresponds combining or fusing.
 * Opal's is called Amalgam, which is the combination of two elements to form another.
 * Sugilite's is called Synchronize, which is to act as one, or in unison.
 * Malachite's is called Collusion, which is when two parties conspire together.
 * Garnet's is called Reunion, which is the act of reuniting.
 * Rainbow Quartz' is called What Can I Do, which is like asking what she could do to improve the loving bond between the two.
 * Sardonyx's is called Enticement, which is to attract someone or lure them in.
 * Fusions with more gems tend to be larger. Sugilite and Alexandrite are larger than any known two-gem fusions.
 * More stable fusions like Garnet and Stevonnie tend to be more compact and humanoid, while more volatile fusions like Sugilite, Alexandrite and Malachite tend to be larger and more monstrous.
 * However, Fusions with more Gems combined can become unstable due to personalities clashing, causing unexpected and sudden defusion.
 * It is discovered by Steven and Garnet in "Keeping it Together" that the Homeworld Gems are forcing former Crystal Gems to fuse, a process which Garnet refutes as fusion, because the Gems involved had not given permission to do so.
 * Jasper may have changed her mind about fusion, as at first she thought of it as "a cheap tactic to make weak Gems stronger", but then she fused into Malachite to beat the Gems.
 * So far only four fusions have shown their weapon, Garnet, Opal, Sugilite, and Sardonyx.