Connie Maheswaran

"I don't know what will happen in the future, but if something dangerous comes along, I don't want to be a burden, I want to help! I want to be there for Steven, to fight by his side! The Earth is my home too, can't I help protect it?"

Connie Maheswaran is a character in Steven Universe. She is Steven's best friend. She debuted in the episode "Bubble Buddies".

Appearance
Connie is a young girl with dark skin and waist-length dark brown puffy hair. She has a prominent nose, thick eyebrows. She is slightly taller than Steven.

She wore a pair of magenta glasses with rose-colored lenses until "An Indirect Kiss", where her eyesight was healed by Steven, and she continued to wear only the frames. Since the events of "Nightmare Hospital", she has begun to no longer wear the frames at all.

Connie is usually seen in a variety of different outfits and dresses. She usually wears light blue, green, and white clothing. In the season one intro, she is seen wearing a white and seafoam-green dress with her peach colored boots but with a sunhat and no socks.

Personality
Connie is introverted, curious and intelligent. Due to her parents' lifestyle, specifically her father's job, Connie rarely stays in one place for long and has been unable to form lasting friendships, which left her frequently feeling lonely. Her parents are very strict and don't allow her to participate in common childhood activities (such as eating donuts or anything with trans fats, although she ate one in Crack the Whip). This has led her to flat-out lie about Steven's non-nuclear family, due to paranoia at how her parents may react. Despite her obedience to them, Connie is not above exploiting loopholes, such as not buying snacks at a theater and instead bringing them from Steven's home.

Connie has grown used to the strange dynamic of her friendship with Steven despite her initial uncertainty of it. For example, in "Marble Madness" when the Gems destroy one of Peridot's robonoids in front of her, she reacts passively awed and only comments that she loves hanging out at Steven's place. She can be a bit deadpan at times, such as when she jokes about cutting off Steven's hand in "Lion 2: The Movie" and in that same instance quickly understands that by poking/tickling Steven she could provoke a reaction from Rose's Secret Armory. Her hobbies appear to include tennis and reading, and she also plays the violin, as seen in "Fusion Cuisine", "Sworn to the Sword", and "Nightmare Hospital".

"Sworn to the Sword" shows a more confident and aggressive side to her personality when she learns swordfighting. Due to Pearl's negative reinforcement, she also began to display a reckless side, but this was quickly put out by Steven. The episode also highlights her strong feelings for Steven, through her dedication to becoming his knight. This boosted confidence is also shown in "Nightmare Hospital" when Connie stands up to her mother about her strict upbringing and rules, and also even revealed her involvement in magical affairs.

"Beach City Drift" emphasizes her level-headedness when she tells Steven she is "thinking mad" about Kevin, and when they de-fuse she is the one who convinces Steven that they have been obsessed with Kevin and to let go of their grudge.

"Gem Hunt" highlights Connie's confidence in how she, while respecting and obeying Pearl, pushes her to split up to hunt the gem monsters, and is the one to lead when she and Steven hunt the second monster through the forest. She is also revealed to have prepared for surviving in the wilderness by reading a book on wilderness survival. However, despite all her training and preparedness, Connie freezes during an encounter with one of the Gem monsters they were hunting. In the end, she chooses to call Pearl via Steven's walkie-talkie, which Pearl commended her for after their subsequent encounter with Jasper who they found had been hunting the Gem monsters.

"Crack the Whip" shows she is not afraid to barge into the Beach House while shouting surprise, showing how comfortable she has gotten around Steven and the other Gems, telling Garnet and Pearl to stay safe. The episode also shows a lighter side to her when she, Steven and Amethyst have fun around Beach City. Connie even eats a donut despite it going against what she told Steven in "Bubble Buddies", demonstrating her growing independence. She also confides in Steven and Amethyst about freezing during her first mission, causing Amethyst to tell her she should stop overthinking things and follow her instincts in battle. She takes Amethyst's words to heart as she fares far better when the two of them along with Steven and Lion encounter Jasper, and the two Gem Monsters from "Gem Hunt" that Jasper had tamed to take on the Crystal Gems. Together with Steven, Connie bravely confronts Jasper to prevent her from shattering Amethyst, fusing in mid-battle which allows Stevonnie to save Amethyst and force Jasper and her remaining Gem Monster to retreat. After Amethyst regenerates, Connie tells her she was right about how she should follow her instincts.

"Buddy's Book" shows both Connie's studiousness and independence in that she originally goes to the library with Steven to study and prepare for the upcoming school year, only to instantly halt her studies when Steven shows her Buddy's journal.

"Mindful Education" further highlights Connie's growth as well as the transition into higher confidence in her behavior and thoughts. A softer side to Connie's internal struggles with her emotions are shown, as the guilt from the result of her actions at school left a noticeable change in her behavior. After learning that her guilt was natural, she decides to confront her emotions by later apologizing to Jeff and make amends. After this, she is able to clear her mind and is more confident in understanding not to let her emotions negate or cloud her thoughts by keeping them in. On Connie's phone, it shows that she had taken a picture of them happy together, which is something she would have never done if not for the lesson with Garnet. She is also able to pass this knowledge onto Steven, assuring him he had to be honest about how bad his feelings were so he could move on, like she herself did.

Skillset

 * Swordsmanship: As of "Sworn to the Sword", Connie has become skilled in the art of swordfighting with Pearl as her mentor. She was able to work in partnership with Steven and his shield. She can fight swiftly in light attacks or with power in heavy attacks. Due to being ambidextrous, she can fight with equal skill with either hand.
 * Tag-team combat: Due to the close bond they share, Steven can coordinate his shield techniques perfectly with Connie's swordplay, such as fighting back-to-back with her to defend and attack simultaneously or catapulting Connie from his shield for a powerful lunge attack.
 * Wide Intellect: Connie is shown to be very intelligent for her age, knowing a lot about boats, reading very hard books (she enjoys reading books such as The Spirit Morph Saga and also enjoys reading non-fiction for fact and to get smarter than she already is), having proficiency in tennis, violin playing, and swordfighting, having an extensive vocabulary, and even managing to find loopholes in her parents' many rules. In Gem Hunt, she is shown to be very prepared and intelligent when it comes to surviving in the wilderness, thanks to reading a book.
 * Survival Skills: Connie is shown to have very impressive survival skills, thanks to reading a book 20 times all about it. Thanks to her book, she has adopted these skills and was perfectly able to locate a spot to hide from the Gem Monsters, as well as make a very healthy, Vitamin C-rich tea out of pine needles.
 * Hand-to-Hand Combat: In addition to her swordsmanship, in "Mindful Education", it is revealed that Connie possesses some hand-to-hand combat skills, presumably through her combat training under Pearl. Due to her training, she was able to grab a fellow student at her school by the arm and throw him to the ground, breaking his arm in the process, albeit unintentionally as he had accidentally bumped into her which caused her to attack and injure him instinctually.
 * Heightened Reflexes: As shown in "Mindful Education", Connie's reflexes have been honed to such an extent that she reacts to a perceived threat before she knows what's she's doing, as she attacked a fellow student who bumped into her without realizing it until after the fact.

Weaponry
Rose's Sword: In "Nightmare Hospital", the sword is given to Connie by Steven because she is learning how to sword-fight. After pleading with her mother to change her "No Swords" rule, and even taking Steven to follow her to work to secretly obtain the sword, She finally is able to display her swordswoman skills alongside Steven to protect her mother, herself and Steven from the Cluster Gem patients. In "Gem Hunt", she is seen comfortably carrying the sword on her back and drawing it over her shoulder. Interestingly enough, despite the sword's size, Connie is able to wield it with little effort. It is unknown if this is due to the sword's magical properties, or if Pearl's training helped Connie achieve a level of strength fit to use it. She also uses Rose's scabbard. She has used the weapon in all subsequent appearances, pairing it with Steven and his shield in combat situations, and using it during her sparring matches with him.

Fusions

 * When fused with Steven, they take on the personality and form of Stevonnie. This is the first known pairing of a human with another Gem bearer, since Steven is considered a meta human.

Steven Universe
Steven first saw Connie about a year before the start of the series during a parade. He saw her drop her bracelet and decided to keep it in his freezer so he could return it the next time he saw her. She also recalls seeing him on his father's float, mentioning the soap bubbles in his hair. He becomes her first friend. Although Connie sometimes feels like her life is rather mundane compared to Steven's, they are currently good friends, and share a mutual crush on each other as seen in "An Indirect Kiss" and "Alone Together" (in the latter of which Steven and Connie accidentally fuse, forming Stevonnie). Connie is frequently shown to be affectionate to Steven, occasionally in a romantic way (e.g. "An Indirect Kiss" when she leaned in for a kiss, and in "Steven's Birthday" when she rested her head on Steven's chest after their slow dance). Connie has demonstrated that she cares deeply for Steven, such as in "Full Disclosure" when she repeatedly called and visited him to make sure he was okay, even going as far as to say she wanted to "be a part of his universe". Since "Sworn to the Sword", she has shown interest in joining Steven in his adventures with the Gems, training with Pearl to defend him and become his knight. To further prove this statement, in "Steven's Birthday", Connie mentions not caring what height or age it seemed like Steven is, and that she would want to hang out with him no matter what. She also panicked when she thought Steven reverted into a zygote (or that Steven shrunk out of existence to simplify). "Beach City Drift" shows that along with their love for each other, they have a strong partnership through their interactions and discussion over their feelings towards Kevin, and the ease with which they fused into Stevonnie. Their personalities compliment each other well - with Steven counting on Connie' for her good sense, intelligence and down to earth mannerisms; while Connie relies on Steven's bravery, emotional support, and unique insight which has helped them both grow stronger as a pairing, and helped shape Connie into the person that she is today.

Mr. Maheswaran and Dr. Maheswaran
Connie is very loyal to her parents. While they tend to be strict, they wish the best for her and want her to be smart, orderly, and healthy. She closely follows their orders but does occasionally exploit loopholes or even lies to them to get away with something if necessary. In the episode "We Need to Talk", Connie reveals that her parents do not know of her adventures with Steven. This may be because of her fear that her parents will prevent her from seeing Steven due to the huge risk she willingly submits to every time they hang out.

"Nightmare Hospital" explores Connie's relationship with her mother in more detail. Dr. Maheswaran is very strict with her daughter, enforcing many rules on her that she never retracts for any reason. As a result, Connie is prone to lying to her about her adventures with Steven. Dr. Maheswaran remains distrustful of Connie when they and Steven are cornered by Gem fusion experiments at the hospital. However, after the ordeal, she agrees to be more accepting of Steven's influence on Connie's life and much less micromanaging about Connie's activities (although it is currently unknown exactly how accepting Mr. Maheswaran is of this). In Gem Hunt, it is inferred that her parents have allowed her to go on a mission with Steven and Pearl, asking Steven to take pictures to document the event.

Crystal Gems
Connie is on good terms with the Crystal Gems. In "Bubble Buddies", they were excited to meet her. Pearl says in "Full Disclosure" that she does not understand human relationships when Connie is looking for Steven, though Pearl likely used her social ignorance to avoid answering where Steven was.

Pearl
Connie has not been shown to have any extended interaction with the Gems with the exception of Pearl, with whom she shares a mutually respectful mentor-student relationship since "Sworn to the Sword". This was where she convinced Pearl to teach her swordfighting by appearing very passionate about staying by Steven's side to fight with him. This clearly struck a chord with Pearl and moved her to the point of tears, considering her own dedication to Rose Quartz. Gem Hunt expounds on their relationship, showing that Connie views Pearl as a respected and beloved teacher whom she seeks to impress through finding the Gem monster.

Amethyst
In "Crack the Whip", Amethyst is left in charge of Connie and Steven while Pearl and Garnet search for Jasper as Pearl had forgotten that Connie would be coming by for training that day. Amethyst tells Connie and Steven that they have the day off, though Connie and Steven decide to have a sparring session on the beach and try to get Amethyst to watch them. Amethyst notices Connie focusing on her stance and tells her to loosen up. When Connie confides in Amethyst and Steven about freezing up during her first mission, Amethyst tells her to stop overthinking things and states that in a real battle, she should follow her instincts. Afterwards, Connie spends the remainder of day having fun with Steven and Amethyst. Connie takes Amethyst's advice to heart by following her instincts during their later encounter with Jasper, fusing with Steven to form Stevonnie who manages to drive Jasper off. During the showdown, Amethyst, knowing how dangerous Jasper is, tells Connie and Steven to deal with one of Jasper's Gem monsters while Amethyst handles Jasper on her own. After her regeneration following being "poofed" by Jasper, Amethyst is surprised to find that Stevonnie had managed to drive off Jasper and that Connie and Steven weren't in need of her help. This causes Amethyst to question her usefulness, despite Connie's assertion that her advice about following her own instincts allowed Connie to confront Jasper alongside Steven.

Garnet
Connie, like Steven, has high respect for Garnet, who returns the same feeling. In "Steven's Birthday", Garnet plays a song for Steven and Connie, whom Garnet identifies as Steven's best friend, to slow dance together to. In "Mindful Education" Garnet is excited to see Connie and Steven fight as Stevonnie. Garnet reveals a sign with Steven and Connie’s names on one side, and then Stevonnie’s on the other, and Steven takes this as a “fusion joke”. This shows how open and supportive she is not only of Stevonnie, but of the friendship Steven and Connie share as well. Connie still seems depressed by the time they arrive at the arena, and Garnet cheers them on as they fight while using the sign she made for them. After they fall, Steven finds Connie on the steps behind the area, near the warp pad, and decides to talk to her about the way she’s been acting. Connie admits that she beat up a kid at school, and Steven is shocked, asking her to explain more about the situation. Connie claims that her training instinct just “kicked in” and her actions were accidental. Steven tells Connie not to think about it, but Garnet interrupts and takes the children to the beach to meditate with her as Stevonnie, showing her concern for the fusion extending to the two of them individually. Garnet meditates with Stevonnie and sings the song "Here Comes a Thought". With the visuals and influence Garnet provides, Connie finally agrees to confront her demons, taking Garnet's advice to heart.

Greg Universe
Connie is on good terms with Greg since "Fusion Cuisine", when her parents had given approval of Greg and Steven. He and Connie offered to accompany Steven on his mission no matter what danger they could face in "Ocean Gem", showing that they both care for Steven deeply. In "We Need to Talk", Greg is surprised that they could fuse into Stevonnie, but does not seem to be completely shocked. He then says interaction between humans and Gems is still new, and that Steven and Connie will have to work with it. He also tells Connie that if she needs another human to talk to, he's there for her.

Lion
Because they both care about Steven, Connie and Lion have a friendly connection to each other. Though originally hesitant, Connie quickly warmed up to and was fascinated by Lion. He seems to return the feeling, as shown when Steven was falling from the sky in "Ocean Gem", where Connie and Lion quickly teamed up in order to rescue him. Connie is also the fastest one to be accepted by Lion, trusting and allowing her to ride him. Steven and Connie often take Lion with them to travel to places in Beach City, and Lion has grown used to having Connie around. In "Buddy's Book", Connie compliments Lion's parking, showing how friendly they had grown from Connie's perspective.

Kevin
Connie first encounters Kevin as Stevonnie in "Alone Together". Since their first meeting, both Steven and Connie hold a negative opinion of him, an attitude carrying over to "Beach City Drift". While Steven's dislike towards Kevin is overt and hostile, Connie's is more subdued and internal. While racing him, Connie is the first to realize how obsessed they are in getting back at him, and they both decide to let go of their anger.

Jasper
Connie first encountered Jasper on her first mission in the Great North, and was left in awe of the Quartz Gem's strength and combat prowess. As of "Crack the Whip", Connie appears to share the Crystal Gems' mutual dislike of Jasper and willingly fused with Steven in order to defeat her.

Jeff
Appearing in "Mindful Education", Jeff is a student who goes to the same school as Connie, whom she unintentionally attacked and injured instinctively after he accidentally bumped into her at school. This caused Connie to feel guilty about hurting him, though she buried her feelings instead of confronting them, which later caused her and Steven to have trouble maintaining synchronization as Stevonnie during their fusion training under Pearl and Garnet. With help from Garnet, though, Connie eventually decided to deal with the problem head on instead of trying to ignore it, and apologized to Jeff. She was later relieved to discover that Jeff held no hard feelings towards her and was surprised when she learned he wanted her to teach him some of her martial arts moves. As a result, the two have become friends.

Trivia

 * Connie’s surname, Maheswaran, means “Lord of Universe” in Hindi and is also traditionally a Tamil surname.
 * Connie is directly referred to as Steven's girlfriend in commercials in Portugal as well as numerous other European countries.
 * Both of Connie's parents are Indian-American.
 * Kat Morris created Connie's character.
 * Connie appears in the title sequence as the "Mr. Universe" van drives by, causing a breeze that she looks towards. She holds the book A Wrinkle in Time and is wearing a sky blue sundress, a pale tan sunhat and orange boots.
 * In the second intro, she is shown wearing shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt instead of a sun dress, wielding Rose's Sword and holding an unknown book with a bookmark inside. Instead of a breeze, she looks towards the end of the road with a smile and pops out of the street and runs to the Crystal Temple.
 * She is able to write backward. This is seen in the very short amount of time it took her to write "Harpoon Gun" on the inside of the bubble in "Bubble Buddies".
 * It is revealed in "Lion 2: The Movie" that Connie plays tennis, and she is shown describing it as the only thing that she remotely enjoys in her life.
 * According to writer Matt Burnett, Connie is of Indian heritage.
 * Following the events of "An Indirect Kiss", Connie can now see normally without her glasses thanks to the healing powers in Steven's saliva. Because she wanted to avoid confrontation with her parents and optometrist about this, she took out the lenses of her glasses and wore the frames instead.
 * Following the events of "Nightmare Hospital", she no longer wears glasses, having informed her mother that she no longer requires them. In all further episodes, she no longer carries the frames.
 * It is revealed in "Mirror Gem" that Connie plays the violin.
 * In "Winter Forecast", Connie says "itadakimasu", a Japanese word said before eating. She has stated that her father travels, so Connie may know more than one language.
 * In "Sworn to the Sword", Connie's outfit and fighting style were inspired by Kalaripayattu.
 * She wields a sword resembling the Khanda, a sword typically used in the style.
 * Her hairstyle is a braid typically worn by female Kalaripayattu practitioners.
 * Connie is shown to be ambidextrous in the episode "Sworn to the Sword". When she is training, she is seen holding her sword with her right hand; when she fights Pearl with Steven, she is using her left hand.
 * Despite saying her family moves around a lot, she has kept the same home for well over a year.
 * In "Nightmare Hospital", it's revealed that she hates the punishment abacus, which is what her parents use to calculate the length of punishments for her.
 * It is revealed in "Steven's Birthday" that Connie is 12¾ years old.
 * A girl resembling Connie makes a brief appearance in the OVA Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade.
 * In Gem Hunt, Connie carries Rose's sword on her back with the hilt over her shoulder. This is similar to many anime characters who carry giant swords the same way such as Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach and Guts from Berserk.
 * It is shown that Connie and Pearl have many traits in common such as intelligence, attention to detail and a tendency to be overly hard on themselves in the face of perceived failure.
 * Connie might be a gamer, as seen in the short Video Chat. Her laptop has Colonization V, a spoof of the real-life video game Civilization V. She also has Empires & Eras II and Conqueror Kings II which are spoofs of Age of Empires II and Crusader Kings II, respectively. She also has Grid, a spoof of the popular gaming platform Steam.

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