Holly Blue Agate

"We do not run or shout in these hallways!"

Holly Blue Agate is a Homeworld Gem under the command of Blue Diamond. She manages Pink Diamond's Zoo and the Quartzes employed there (including the group known as the "Famethyst").

Appearance
Holly Blue Agate has a periwinkle blue complexion, pale lavender hair styled into two pointed side buns that are white, violet, and lavender, respectively, plump lips, and violet eyes with visible pupils. Her gemstone is located on the lower back of her head.

She wears a navy blue top with a high collar, a blue shawl with a darker blue collar-like pattern and a blue diamond symbol, royal blue pants, and white high-heeled jackboots that go up to her thighs.

Personality
"A diplomatic blue Quartz. Like a boarding school for these miscreant Earth-Amethysts. Holly tries to keep them in line."

Matronly and methodical, Holly Blue Agate oversees Pink Diamond's Zoo with little tolerance for a lapse in protocol. She serves as an attaché to Blue Diamond and takes her job very seriously. She manages the base and its employees when Blue Diamond is not around, showing skill in leadership and management. Her severity is matched only by her elitism, as she is rough and rude to the Quartz Gems that inhabit the facility, yet obsequious to Gems of higher social status than her own.

Because the Gem hierarchy is what dictates Holly's attitude, her loyalty can be exploited by the higher-class and have her point at the lower-class for caused situations. This is why she blames the Quartz Gems from Earth under her management, giving off a false idea of defectiveness and incompetence. This flaw is what results in Holly Blue being convinced by Sapphire of various oddities that occur, thanking her precognition, and considering the quirks that the Crystal Gems would otherwise be caught for as irrelevant.

Like many Homeworld Gems, Holly is arrogant towards humans and does not acknowledge them as truly sapient beings, waving off Steven's speech as senseless babble, nor does she respond to any human's words despite sharing the same language. Furthermore, being in charge of Pink Diamond's Zoo, she only sees the keeping of the humans as a duty and cares nothing about the humans in captivity, seeing them as little more than animals.

Holly's adherence to the Gem hierarchy determines her behavior towards other Gems, treating those above her, like Sapphire and Blue Diamond with the utmost respect to the point of boot licking while she is haughty and even abusive towards Gems below her, like Pearl and the Quartz soldiers under her command. She values her place in the Gem hierarchy, as well as her position in the eyes of her superiors that she would rather hold her tongue than report to the Diamonds of the Crystal Gems successfully infiltrating and escaping the zoo under her command, and spare herself the embarrassment and other consequences of such a breach in security under her careful watch.

"Gem Heist"
Holly Blue Agate checks up on the Amethysts that guard the Zoo entrance. She becomes frustrated that they were being unprofessional in front of a Sapphire and asked Sapphire to forgive them because they are from Earth. Holly Blue Agate is thrilled to discover that another human has been brought for the Zoo after millennia of nothing. Upon request, she agrees to give Sapphire and the Gems a tour of the facility, where she explains how Pink Diamond used to own the Zoo, and that, due to her "merciful and forgiving nature," Blue Diamond took over. Holly Blue Agate is annoyed by Ruby when she claims to have left the gravity engine on. Later on, two Amethysts run and shout at Holly Blue Agate in a hallway, leading her to scold them. She becomes surprised when they reveal that Blue Diamond is returning to the Zoo, so she makes sure that the Amethysts act professional, and orders them to escort Steven to the assimilation bay.

"That Will Be All"
Holly Blue Agate is shocked to find all of her Quartzes (the "Famethyst") in the 'Quartz Room' after hearing the news that Blue Diamond returned. She orders them to get to their stations to look professional in front of Blue Diamond. Holly Blue Agate later escorts Sapphire to Blue Diamond and is taken back to see that Yellow Diamond is there as well. Afterward, Holly Blue is amazed that she got to witness two Diamonds at the same time, and goes on about how Yellow Diamond radiates a commanding presence which she respects. Holly Blue becomes livid to find Steven and Greg trying to escape, blaming her Quartzes for being incompetent. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl fight back and defeat Holly Blue Agate. She then swears to tell the Diamonds about the incident and have them shattered, only for Pearl to remind her of the potential consequences of letting the Crystal Gems into a maximum security facility right under her supervision, and to be advised to keep quiet over the incident to save herself embarrassment. Holly Blue Agate is left to mull over her failure.

Abilities
Holly Blue Agate possesses standard Gem abilities. As a Quartz-type Gem, she is easily strong enough to deliver painful blows to other Quartz Gems. However, against multiple opponents such as the Crystal Gems, she can be easily dispatched.

Skillset

 * Electric Whip Proficiency: With the desire to discipline others, Holly Blue can summon a blue whip with electrical currents running down it. The whip appears to have the same durability as Amethyst's whip since Pearl's spear easily cuts both.

Blue Diamond
"It's tragic that Pink Diamond's existence in this universe ended up being so finite, but what a selfless act for Blue Diamond to step forward and spend her own time and energy preserving this place in Pink Diamond's memory. It's a real testament to Blue Diamond's merciful and giving nature. Don't you think?"

Like many Homeworld Gems, Holly Blue is very loyal to her Diamond, following anything she believes is one of Blue Diamond's orders. She is also shown to believe that she is flawless, much like Peridot once did with Yellow Diamond, listing out all of her good qualities and believing she is merciful and forgiving. Despite this, her brown-nosing seems to annoy Blue Diamond, which Holly seems oblivious to. Instead, she believes that she is one of her Diamond's closest confidants, which is somewhat true since Blue Diamond entrusted her with maintaining the Zoo and preserving Pink Diamond's legacy, which she takes very seriously.

Sapphire
"Right this way, Your Grand Clarity."

Due to her high rank on the Gem hierarchy, Holly Blue is ingratiating and respectful to Sapphire. This respect backfired as she was oblivious to Sapphire's subterfuge, even to the point where she blamed the Amethysts for allowing Steven and Greg to escape despite Sapphire clearly being involved. This changed when she formed Garnet with Ruby, to which she reacted in horror.

Yellow Diamond
"And I never expected to see Yellow Diamond in person. What a commanding presence. You can just feel strength and confidence radiating from her. Don't misunderstand me, of course. I'll always be in Blue's confidence, but if I had been made for Yellow, you wouldn't see me complaining."

Holly Blue was surprised to see Yellow Diamond at Pink Diamond's Zoo, granting her the same courtesy and respect as Blue Diamond. Holly later exclaims that she did not expect to see Yellow Diamond in person, and would not be against serving Yellow Diamond if it were the case, showing admiration for her. However, like Blue Diamond, Yellow Diamond shows disdain towards Holly's brown-nosing.

Ruby
"I don't know why anyone trusts Rubies with those ships! This is what happens."

Holly Blue is disdainful of Ruby, and all Rubies in general, going off on a rant about their incompetence when Ruby claims to have left the ship's engine running. When she is gone, Ruby insults her way of believing that Blue Diamond is benevolent when she tried to shatter Ruby.

Pearl
"Do keep up, Pearl."

Like all Homeworld Gems, Holly Blue sees Pearl as a servant and has no problem with bossing her around. She sees Pearl as poorly-mannered since she walks at Sapphire's side as opposed to behind her, speaks too much, and takes too long to open doors. She later makes an altercation when she has been defeated and humiliated afterward from the Amethysts by forcing her not to report the Crystal Gems' intrusion.

The Famethyst
"You'll have to forgive them. [Laughs] They're from Earth."

Holly Blue is a strict and harsh figure of authority to the Quartz Gems under her management. She bullies the guards over any perceived lapses in protocol, regularly using physical force, including punches and kicks. She verbally abuses them by referring to their origins on Earth in a degrading manner and tells them that they are useless outside of their employment in the Zoo. Holly Blue's treatment is shown to upset the guards; an Amethyst is seen shedding tears after being hit by her, and on multiple occasions, pairs of guards are shown looking at each other out of concern whenever Holly Blue disciplines them. This mutual dislike ultimately caused the Amethysts to turn on Holly Blue, laugh at her when she has been defeated, and help the Crystal Gems escape from the Zoo. In the Steven Universe Podcast, Rebbeca Sugar states that most of her anger comes from taking out her frustration of her thankless job on her underlings all the time.

Trivia

 * Holly Blue's instrument that plays in her theme is confirmed to be a Synth Harpsichord by Aivi Tran from Aivi and Surasshu.
 * Marian the Librarian from The Music Man inspired Holly Blue's design.
 * In her early art concepts, Holly Blue had a single hair bun instead of two.
 * During the song "What's the Use of Feeling (Blue)?" Yellow Diamond mentions that Agates are used to "terrify". Whether this means to terrify opponents on the battlefield or subordinates into submission is not made clear, but it could mean both.
 * Holly Blue bears a mild resemblance to an unknown gem appearing in "The Answer".

Gemology
Gemstone Information


 * Holly blue agate vibrates to the number 2 and is associated with the astrological sign of Virgo.
 * Agate is a cryptocrystalline variety of silica, chiefly chalcedony, characterized by its fineness of grain and brightness of color.
 * Although agates may be found in various kinds of rock, they are classically associated with volcanic rocks and can be common in certain metamorphic rocks.
 * Holly blue agate's name comes from Holley, Oregon, in which the stone was first discovered, and can be spelled as either "holly" or "holley".

Gemstone
Holly Blue Agate Holly Blue Agate Agatul Albastru Dantelat