Greg Universe

"Greg Universe" is the father of Steven Universe who runs a local car wash named "It's A Wash," and was previously involved in a romantic relationship with Rose Quartz.

Appearance
Greg appears as a plump man with a beige beard surrounding his mouth. Greg has taupe hair styled in a mullet and taupe eyes, with hair grown past his shoulders, and a large bald spot on the top of his head. He usually wears white tank tops, with long or short gray pants. He has a tan line on his shoulders and feet. (From his slippers, and possibly a shirt he wore before). Greg's skin color is a peachy red color, with the tan line spots being a light apricot color. He wears teal flip-flops, although he tends to go barefoot. In "Winter Forecast", he wears a purple dress-shirt with pinkish plum spots over his tank, a blue baseball cap with a red underside, and brown footwear. When he was younger, he bore a striking resemblance to Steven, but had earring pieces, longer hair that flowed past his waist, a sleeveless black shirt with a star on it, and jeans with light blue sandals.

Personality
Greg seems to be an overall nice guy living a simpler lifestyle. He is known to be friendly and genuine, and, so far, he has always been honest about his feelings. Greg appears to be easy-going and looks at the bright side of things; his catchphrase is "If every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn't have hot dogs." However, he is sometimes a bit of a goof, fooling around with watermelons in "Watermelon Steven," and is "kind of a mess" as described by Amethyst. He has been known to (unintentionally) make poor choices, such as dropping out of college or faking an injury to spend time with Steven, but he always takes full responsibility for them afterwards and will do whatever he can to make it up, like attempting to fix the Geode after he indirectly caused it to critically deteriorate. While Greg is not necessarily knowledgeable about many of the situations he faces, he often tries to give the best advice he can based on his own experiences, which can have much value despite their simplicity and his down-to-earth view on things. Greg's advice has often proven invaluable to many people around him, like when he reminded Steven on when to bail out, which in turned saved his and Pearl's life in "Space Race".

Much like his son, Greg cares deeply for his loved ones and friends, such as when he went out of his way to get closer to Rose, despite the boundaries between their species. He is similarly characterized as always afraid of the worst happening to Steven, which stresses him to no end, although he tries very hard to put on a brave face for his son because he knows how happy and fulfilled it makes Steven as seen in "Full Disclosure." Even though he does not know what difference he can make, Greg will usually help those he cares about when in need, like when joining Steven on his mission in "Ocean Gem" and offering Connie support in "We Need to Talk." He is also not the one to bear deep-seated grudges; even though the majority of the Crystal Gems in part resented him for what happened to Rose, he still wished they could be friends again as seen in "Maximum Capacity" and "The Message," and he was in part thankful to Marty for helping him choose to stay with Rose despite Marty being "dead to him."

Greg is noted to be a sensitive guy according to Amethyst and a Crying Breakfast Friends! comparison made by Steven, and is often self-conscious about himself because he wishes he could be a better role model for Steven, as outlined in "Reformed". This leaves him with a minor lack in self-confidence as he has noted himself that he cannot offer very much. Nevertheless, he does not let it stop him from trying to prove he can be of use as seen in "The Message", and he does his best to be a responsible parent, such as when being stern with Steven in "Space Race" to keep him safe. In his youth, Greg was also a bit of a pushover, as demonstrated by how Marty bossed him around, but he soon learned how to stand up for himself and follow his heart.

He seems to be a little uncomfortable in dealing with Gem powers, which he refers to as "magic stuff." He chooses to avoid magical situations, unless Steven asks him for help.

Greg appears to have some mechanical skills, as shown in "Space Race", where he built Steven a "rocket," and also helped Pearl build her rocket, although it should be noted that Pearl did most of the work.

Greg is also shown to be an excellent sound engineer in the epsiode "The Message", where he manages to transfer the sound from the wailing stone into music and then a video.

Background
Greg Universe was once a traveling musician who dropped out of college to become a one-man band known as "Mr. Universe," traveling around with his manager, Marty. When he played a concert in Beach City, the only person who came was Rose Quartz. Taking an interest in Rose, he soon met the Crystal Gems, before heading out on the road again. However, Greg could not forget Rose and as such chose to stay with her in Beach City to start a relationship with her. After a few weeks together, however, Pearl, who was jealous of their relationship, told Greg how he was "just a phase" to Rose, due to the differences between their species. After Greg attempted (in vain) to get closer to Rose by fusing with her, the young couple instead talked with each other about their feelings and grew closer than ever.

Rose eventually gave up her physical form to give birth to Steven. In Steven's younger years, Greg took care of raising Steven until he could move in with the Crystal Gems and learn to use his powers. Greg has since settled down in Beach City, where he lives in his van and owns a local car wash, supporting Steven with his income.

Major Appearances

 * "Laser Light Cannon"
 * "Cat Fingers"
 * "Coach Steven"
 * "Ocean Gem"
 * "House Guest"
 * "Space Race"
 * "Fusion Cuisine"
 * "Winter Forecast"
 * "Maximum Capacity"
 * "The Message"
 * "Story For Steven"
 * "We Need to Talk"
 * "Keystone Motel"

Minor Appearances

 * "Bubble Buddies" (non-speaking cameo)
 * "So Many Birthdays" (mentioned)
 * "Onion Trade"
 * "Rose's Room" (room's magic)
 * "Steven and the Stevens"
 * "Watermelon Steven"
 * "Lion 3: Straight to Video" (on video tape)
 * "Political Power"
 * "The Return"
 * "Full Disclosure"
 * "Shirt Club"
 * "Say Uncle" (mentioned)
 * "Love Letters" (mentioned)
 * "Reformed"
 * "Chille Tid" (dream)

Steven Quartz-Universe
Greg is Steven's father. The two have a good father-son relationship, but Greg seems to be trying to make things up to Steven. This may be because he doesn't believe himself to be the best father. In the episode "Laser Light Cannon," when Rose's old light cannon that Greg supplies to Steven and the Crystal Gems doesn't work at first, he says, "It's okay, Steven! We'll figure out something else. Something even better!"

Even though Steven is his son and Greg was in a romantic relationship with Rose, who also had the power of a typical Gem, he is still weirded out by (and maybe even scared by) the magic happenings that occur. However, even with his lack of understanding for these events, he always comes to his son's aid when he is needed (as seen when Steven turns into a cat monster in "Cat Fingers"). His willing to comfort Steven to the best of his abilities as seen in "Keystone Motel" when Steven was upset that Garnet split.

Greg isn't the current guardian of Steven. While Steven lives with the members of the Crystal Gems, Greg lives in his van, which remains near the car wash. However, even though they don't live together, Steven seems to visit Greg on a regular basis (as seen in the episode "Cat Fingers" when Steven helps out at the car wash).

Crystal Gems
The members of the Crystal Gems rarely interact with Greg, even though he is Steven's father and the partner of former Crystal Gem Rose Quartz. The reason behind this lack of communication is because, even though they think that Greg is nice, they think he is, as Amethyst describes it, "kind of a mess." Due to this fact, they advised Greg to stay out of "magical matters," as they were much more capable than him. Greg doesn't seem to mind, as he, like most humans, seems apprehensive, if not terrified, of "magic Gem stuff." However, even with their belief of Greg's reliability being questionable, Greg has come to their aid when he is needed (as seen in "Laser Light Cannon") but, so far, this seems only because Steven asked him to.

Both Greg and the Gems also seem uncomfortable around each other due to the circumstances surrounding Steven's birth, and consequently Rose's "death." In "The Message," it is revealed that Greg is deeply saddened and hurt by the Gems constantly patronizing him, not thinking that he can offer any real help with their "magical matters." He expresses these feelings through a song about how all he wants is their approval and he has a very high opinion of the Gems.

Recently, it seems that the Crystal Gems and Greg have warmed up to each other, especially Greg and Amethyst.

In an in-character interview with Newsarama, Greg notes that "the Gems didn't know much about raising a baby. That I get, I had that covered. But I don’t know much about being a Gem." This is likely one of the reasons he and Steven no longer live together.

Garnet
"Let me tell you something, Mr. Universe. I think you can do it."

Garnet is the Crystal Gem who treats Greg with the most respect, although, due to her mysterious nature, she rarely shows it openly. She has, however, on several occasions openly voiced her support towards him, often in opposition to Pearl.

In "We Need to Talk," it is Garnet who encourages him not to give up on trying to learn how to perform a fusion dance in order to fuse with Rose. The episode strongly implies that she did so because she had seen, with her Future Vision, that, while he would never be able to fuse with her, the act of trying would force the two to have a "real talk".

This confrontation between him and Rose forced the two to talk about their relationship on more serious terms, and in the end they decided to try their best at making it work despite the difficulties of a human being involved with a Gem. In "The Message," Garnet is the one who convinces Pearl to give Greg a second chance at trying to decode the message, and she properly thanks him when he is successful, giving him their much desired approval.

In Keystone Motel, Garnet accepts Greg's offer of going on a road trip. Greg is understanding of Garnet's split and lets Sapphire and Ruby have their space. He also is not alarmed when he sees Sapphire and asks where "the other one" is, meaning he might knew Garnet is a fusion or already saw Ruby and Sapphire in the past.

Amethyst
"I had someone who was always there for me until she started hanging out with you!"

Amethyst and Greg used to get along very well. Amethyst's immature (by Gem standards) attitude, as well as her love for human activities such as eating and slacking off goes hand-in-hand with his personality. When the Crystal Gems first met Greg, young Amethyst was the least reserved and most curious about him, acting like an excited animal around him.

Their friendly relationship continued throughout the years and they spent a lot of time together doing things like watching marathons of their favorite TV sitcom, Li'l Butler. However, with Rose's passing came a change in their relationship; it is implied in "Maximum Capacity" that their relationship went sour because Amethyst started to hold a grudge against him for "taking" Rose away from her, leading to an unspecified confrontation and their calling their relationship off. The episode reveals that it involved shape-shifting, and that it caused Greg to be especially uncomfortable around shape-shifting in comparison to other "magical Gem stuff."

The episode leads to yet another meltdown as they are trying to rekindle their relationship, but this time it seems the two seem to reach an understanding instead, hinting at their relationship being mended.

Pearl
"Rose may find you charming, but that's only because you're human. You're a novelty, at best."

Greg and Pearl started out as bitter rivals for Rose's love- or rather, Pearl saw Greg as such. Pearl, who had always loved Rose, had had to watch Rose go through many, many human "phases" before Greg and was very antagonistic towards him. She constantly berated him and made every effort to remind him that, as a human, he would never be able to be close to a Gem such as Rose. In "We Need to Talk," she does this through convincing Rose to fuse with her into the fusion Gem Rainbow Quartz only to prove this point to him: as a human, he can't fuse with Rose and as such will never be as close to her as Pearl is. Ironically, this is what causes him to try to learn how to fuse, which ends up forcing him and Rose to have a "real talk" about their relationship- a talk which the two of them emerge closer than ever from.

In the episodes set in the current time, Pearl still acts condescendingly and resentfully towards him. However, as the show progresses, she loses this attitude bit by bit and seems to forgive him more and more. After the events of "Ocean Gem," she is seen fixing his van on her own, and, in "Reformed," the two are actually hanging out alone while tinkering with his van. This apparent forgiveness seems to bother her on some level, as, in "Chille Tid," she has a very mysterious nightmare where Greg (dressed as Rose) thanks her for "fixing [his] van".

Rose
"I don't know what a magical lady like that ever saw in a plain old dope like me..."

Rose Quartz was the romantic partner to Greg before she gave up her physical form to bring Steven into existence. Not much else is known about Rose's relationship with Greg, except for the fact that they met when she was the only attendee at one of Greg's concerts in Beach City, back when he was a one-man band. Greg seems to consider himself very lucky to have met Rose.

We also see that, in the episode "We Need to Talk", his relationship with Rose started off a bit rocky, with Rose not understanding how each individual human worked, and, Greg not entirely understanding the Gem species. The two, however, decide that they can and will work out their relationship, despite them differing in many ways.

Mr. & Dr. Maheswaran
"The Maheswarans think I'm a responsible parent, and I got to maintain that image."

Greg desperately wants to come off as a good, responsible parent in the eyes of Connie's parents and makes every effort to earn their approval, with mixed results: in one possible future in "Winter Forecast" he walked the children home to Connie's through a blizzard because he thought that was what a responsible parent would do. This ended up only angering her parents as Connie caught a cold in the process. In another possible future in the same episode where he did manage to drive Connie home in time, her parents were very welcoming towards the Universes (even inviting them to stay the night to avoid driving home during the raging blizzard,) indicating that, as long as he doesn't make a mess of things, they have warmed up towards him and Steven.

Marty
"Yeah, he's just an old amigo from way back when. He's dead to me."

Marty was Greg's original manager when Greg was still the one-man band, "Mr. Universe." He was very exploitative of Greg, deciding every single move Mr. Universe made as a musician, and even taking 75 percent of his earnings. After telling Greg that he was just a "spaced out kid," (while almost crashing Greg's van) they had a falling out and Greg went to Rose, presumably beginning his life in Beach City. While Greg initially bluntly states that Marty is "dead to him," he is glad for their falling out as it made him stay in Beach City, and, at the conclusion of his story to Steven, he realizes that he has Marty to thank for giving him the chance to meet Rose and puts the photo of himself and Marty up on a shelf in the van.

Vidalia
"Oh, we both kind of hung around your dad, but Vidalia's cooler than your dad, so we started hanging out without him."

Vidalia, Greg and Amethyst used to hang out together when they were younger. Vidalia hints that she had a crush on him.

Trivia

 * Despite his reluctance to become involved in Gem affairs, he still seems to know quite a lot about Gem history and their invasion on Earth. This is most likely due to his marriage to Rose and his prior involvement with The Crystal Gems.
 * He was the third human character introduced.
 * Rebecca Sugar has stated that Greg was her favorite character.
 * Greg Universe's catchphrase is "If every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn't have hot dogs."
 * The catchphrase was said 3 1/2 times in "Laser Light Cannon". The last one (the 4th one) was said by Steven, but Greg cut him off when his van got carried away by the ocean tide.
 * Pearl mentioned the catchphrase in "Ocean Gem" when Greg's van was destroyed, including the steering wheel that Pearl was holding.
 * Judging from his catchphrase, as well as his picture with Rose Quartz, his favorite food is most likely hot dogs.
 * This catchphrase was said by Steven again in "The Return" to activate the 4 Laser Light Cannons used to fire at the Gem Warship.
 * The first song we hear Greg sing is "Let Me Drive My Van into Your Heart".
 * It was revealed in "Coach Steven" that Greg used to work out before, but he's been putting it off for decades.
 * It has been revealed in "Maximum Capacity" that Greg doesn't like shape shifting, although it was previously implied that he was uncomfortable with Amethyst's shape shifting in "Cat Fingers", based on his uncomfortable expression upon viewing it.
 * It's implied heavily that the reason he doesn't like it is because Amethyst has used it to torment him in the past, as shown when she shifted into Rose in "Maximum Capacity".
 * His voice actor, Tom Scharpling, also voices Yellowtail, Onion's Dad.
 * He is the second person to perform a duet ("Dear Old Dad") with Steven, the first being Pearl with "Strong in the Real Way," and the third being Amethyst with "On the Run"
 * Greg has a second duet in the episode "We Need to Talk", this time with Rose Quartz.
 * According to an interview, favorite comic books include many kid-oriented titles published by Harvey Comics, such as Richie Rich and Casper the Friendly Ghost, which he has given to Steven, and the more adult-oriented SF comic Heavy Metal, which he says Steven will get when he's older.
 * It is possible that "Greg" is short for "Gregory," as Amethyst calls him that in "The Message".
 * It was revealed in "Story for Steven" that Greg dropped out of community college to pursue his music career, though he ended up failing after he decided to get together with Rose.
 * Greg is out of touch with pop culture, commenting in "Reformed" that he doesn't understand anything anymore when asked if he understood Crying Breakfast Friends.
 * He is the third human being shown using a Warp pad, the first two being Sadie and Lars.
 * He also is the first human to use the Warp pad of his own will.
 * In "Story for Steven", Marty refers to Greg as "Star Child". This may have been a reference to rock singer Paul Stanley, who is also often called the "Star Child".
 * In "We Need to Talk", Greg is the first Human to attempt Gem-on-Human fusion.
 * Greg and Vidalia are very similar. They both used to live exciting care-free lives and ultimately settled down and had a family.
 * Greg has recorded at least two albums: Space Train to the Cosmos and Let Me Drive My Van into Your Heart.
 * As of "The Message", he is working on a another album, Water Witch.
 * The title and cover art, as well as the only song confirmed to be in the album, are all based upon Lapis Lazuli.
 * In "Keystone Motel", he is not alarmed when he sees Sapphire and asks where "the other one" is, meaning he knew Garnet was a fusion.
 * As none of the Gems make money, Greg is the one who pays for all their expenses.
 * Greg did not know about the fusion Sugilite, until the episode Coach Steven.
 * It has been revealed by Ian Jones-Quartey that Greg's age may be revealed in an upcoming episode.

pt-br:Greg Universo