Bismuth (character)

"Nobody's more "Crystal Gem" than I am."

Bismuth is one of the original members of the Crystal Gems. Before the end of the Rebellion, she and Rose had a conflict of interests, leading to them falling out. This ultimately led to Bismuth being poofed, bubbled, and left inside of Lion's Dimension. Rose then lied to the other Gems, telling them that she went missing in battle. 5,300 years later, Rose's son, Steven, accidentally freed her. After her proposal had been rejected once again, she and Steven fought and she was poofed and bubbled again by him. This time, unlike Rose, Steven revealed to the others what happened to her. Bismuth remained kept in her bubble for some time afterwards out of fear she might lash out again until Steven finally freed her again in "Made of Honor" to rejoin the team permanently.

Appearance
Bismuth has a large, bulky body type with broad shoulders and a strong, flat chest that is wider than her lower body. Her legs are noticeably shorter compared to her arms. Her head outlines the shape of the rest of her body, with a large jaw and noticeable cheeks similar to Steven. Her hair is styled in several dreadlocks in a mixture of several bright tones, all held back by a lilac headband. She has a periwinkle complexion, and she sports a single tattoo-like marking of a star pattern on her left shoulder in a smoky dark red. Her gemstone is located in the center of her chest and is noticeably concave.

Pre-regeneration (debut)
She wears a black apron-like outfit, resembling a blacksmith, with a single brownish attachment and a pinkish-red star-shaped belt around her waist. Her pants are a burgundy color, and she has dark brown boots.

Post-regeneration (current)
After being unbubbled by Steven in "Made of Honor", Bismuth now has a backless and strapless black top that has a square cutout in the middle to reveal her gem. Beneath that is a long light red attachment with a light and dark red apron-like attachment under it, and both of these have a light red belt around them with a light-pink star that is tilted and cut off by the belt and black tap.

Personality
Bismuth is friendly, boisterous, fierce, determined, empathetic, and emotive. She is not afraid to speak and act her mind. While Bismuth cares deeply for her friends, she also harbors an immense hatred for Homeworld elites, specifically the Diamond Authority.

Bismuth has an aggressive personality, even when being affectionate. When she sees her friends Pearl and Garnet, she immediately pulls them in for bone-crushing hugs. Her manner-of-speaking is blunt and to-the-point, and she acts without gaining consensus from the group surrounding her. She enjoys fighting: she reminisces fondly on the battles she and Garnet fought together against Homeworld's army, for example, and she loves to spar. When confronted, she attacks first and asks questions later. She has a playful side: she regularly creates puns out of the word "Bismuth" and habitually ribs the other Crystal Gems.

Bismuth is deeply devoted to her friends. She makes them weapons to complement their existing skill-sets; she playfully teases them while they are alive, and she grieves for them when she learns they are dead. The fact that the remaining Crystal Gems did not know of her imprisonment within Lion's Dimension troubles and wound her.

Bismuth also relishes the freedom and possibility that results from being a Crystal Gem. She speaks with passion and wonders about Steven's ability to be himself (rather than a copy of Rose Quartz) and her own ability to differentiate herself from other Bismuths by doing what she wants rather than conforming to a prescribed role. Bismuth's passion for maintaining her own freedom and the freedom of others is what drives her to fight against Homeworld. She deeply resents the "Homeworld elites" for forcing her to do their bidding, and this resentment manifests itself in the form of unmitigated hatred.

Bismuth is vindictive and determined to win the fight against Homeworld at any cost. She has no faith in the leadership of Homeworld, whom she believes to be fundamentally evil, and sees it as her duty to free the gems that live under Homeworld's rule. Because of this conviction, she is willing to go to any length to obtain what she sees as justice. This mentality leads her to build the Breaking Point, which she sees as the only way to defeat Homeworld despite the ethical complications of using it. It also ultimately leads her to attack Steven with intent to shatter him, whom she believes to be Rose Quartz attempting to stop her again. When it comes to defeating Homeworld, Bismuth becomes ruthless and a danger to anyone standing in her way.

History
Bismuth was originally a builder for Homeworld. It is implied by herself that she had been helping construct Gem colonies for years, and Earth was no different. After encouragement from Rose, however, she fought in the Rebellion alongside the Crystal Gems. She made all of the material weapons used by the Crystal Gems during the Rebellion and even took part in the fighting herself.

Bismuth was very passionate about being a Crystal Gem. She took everything Rose told her to heart, about being her own person and taking on her own unique identity. Bismuth was close friends with Garnet and Pearl, along with many other members of the team. At one point during the war, Bismuth and Garnet took on a battalion of Quartz soldiers by themselves, and Bismuth and Pearl invaded a Homeworld Drop Ship. Bismuth also had a direct conflict with Pink Diamond, fighting her alongside other members of the Crystal Gems.

At some point, before the war ended, Bismuth created the Breaking Point with the intent of shattering Gems, specifically the Diamonds. Rose disagreed with Bismuth's intentions which caused Bismuth to become enraged; she did not understand why Rose would value their enemy's lives more than their own. Being "left with no choice", Bismuth attacked Rose and the resulting conflict ended with Bismuth being poofed and bubbled. Rose then hid the truth from everyone, telling them that she had lost track of Bismuth at the Battle for the Ziggurat. Thousands of years later after Lion died and was resurrected, Rose stored Bismuth in his dimension along with her other personal belongings.

"Bismuth"
Approximately 5,300 years later after her fallout with Rose, Steven freed Bismuth from her bubble after breaking a tree branch in Lion's Dimension and falling on top of it. After regenerating, Steven takes her out of Lion where she reunites with Garnet and Pearl. Having no recollection of how much time had passed, or the events that took place at the end of the war, Bismuth wondered where the other Crystal Gems were and why their base was so different. Bismuth was then brought to the Strawberry Battlefield where she learned how long she was inactive and that she, Pearl, and Garnet are the only known survivors of the rebellion still around. The Gems also inform Bismuth about recent events and how Homeworld still has its eye on Earth. Bismuth states "So let's pick up where we left off!".

Bismuth then showed them the Forge and how she makes weapons. She gives Garnet and Pearl weapon upgrades that she had made thousands of years ago but was never able to give them out. She also upgrades Amethyst's whip. To test out these new weapons, the Gems spar on the beach, where Bismuth preaches "The Crystal Gems are back and we'll give those Diamonds another taste of what's coming!". When Steven finds the sparring too intense for him, Bismuth joins Steven in some of his activities such as cooking, playing cards, and watching movies. At night, Steven shows Bismuth Rose's Sword, which Bismuth calls her finest piece of work. Bismuth then tells Steven that he deserves a better weapon and presents him with the Breaking Point like he did with Rose. When Steven rejected the weapon, Bismuth attacked him in a rage as she had done to his mother, believing Steven was Rose in disguise. Steven unwillingly impales her with Rose's Sword, and before she poofed, Bismuth reveals that she feels hurt and betrayed that Rose would lie about what happened to her for so long. Steven reassures Bismuth that he will tell the Gems everything, which makes Bismuth acknowledge Steven as his own person, stating "then you really are better than her". Steven then bubbles Bismuth.

Steven came back to the temple and told the Gems what really happened to Bismuth before and what happened to her now, after which they put her Gem in the the Burning Room with the Corrupted and Cluster Gems.

"Mindful Education"
Steven is still traumatized from his conflict with Bismuth and feels guilty for being unable to help her, along with Jasper and Eyeball.

"Storm in the Room"
Steven lets out all of his feelings on Rose, questioning why she would lock Bismuth away for wanting to shatter Gems, but then turning around and shattering Pink Diamond.

"Gemcation"
In Garnet's war flashback, Bismuth is seen with other members of the Crystal Gems facing off against Pink Diamond.

"Your Mother and Mine"
Garnet introduces Bismuth in her flashback when she acknowledges the original members of the Crystal Gems.

"Made of Honor"
Bismuth returns after her long absence when Steven Freed her.

Abilities
Bismuth has all the powers of a normal Gem, including the ability to invoke a weapon, shapeshifting, and superhuman strength.

Unique Abilities

 * Shapeshifting Weapons: Bismuth is able to easily shapeshift both of her hands into several types of weapons or tools, such as hammers, screwdrivers, and even a Roman scissor. They are used as both an offensive attack or to pound materials when creating and improving weapons. These weapons also appear to be a lot harder and stronger than if the other Gems did the same thing. This is most likely due to her original purpose on Homeworld as a craftsman.
 * Thermal Resistance: Bismuth is incredibly immune to high temperatures. She can shower in lava as if it were water and collect samples of lava with her bare hands, showing no visible injuries. She shares this power with Ruby and by extension Garnet.
 * Enhanced Breath: Bismuth is shown to be able to instantly cool a heated sword that was dipped in lava simply by blowing on it.

Skillset

 * Skilled Craftsmanship: As shown in her debut, Bismuth is shown to build and forge remarkably powerful weaponry and amazing structures such as arenas and spires. To add to this, she was a craftsman for Homeworld as well as the blacksmith for Rose's army.
 * Weapon Alteration: Bismuth is capable of creating attachments and upgrades for current weapons such as giving Garnet's gauntlets spiked edges, turning Pearl's spear into a trident, and Amethyst's whip into a spiked flail.
 * Superhuman Strength: Bismuth is incredibly strong, capable of rivaling Garnet in terms of power and shattering solid stone to bits with her blows. Even without using her weapon hands, she is capable of lifting a statue made of solid rock over her head and throwing it with enough force to leave a crater in a stone wall. According to Bismuth, she and Garnet could take on a battalion of Quartz soldiers with relative ease.

Pearl
"Woah! Hehehehe! The Pearl I know never jumps into my arms! Hey, did somebody lose a Pearl? Who do you belong to?" Bismuth learns about the remainder of the war from Pearl. When Pearl starts to cry, Bismuth tells Pearl that she starts to cry whenever Pearl does, implying they had a close relationship previously. Pearl apologizes, but Bismuth says that it is okay, and they comfort each other. In general, they appear to be close (at least in comparison to the still extant Crystal Gems). Pearl runs immediately towards her upon reuniting, and they have bonded over their common disregard of the Gem caste system. Bismuth enjoys teasing Pearl over her original purpose as a servant-class Gem. During their sparring match, Bismuth ribs Pearl asking her who told her to bring her (Bismuth) a spear.

Garnet
"Garnet, remember when you and I took on a battalion of Quartz soldiers? We walked out with our stones shining brighter than when we walked in." Bismuth is seen laughing with Garnet at the Temple. After learning about the war, Garnet walks over to comfort her and the two hold hands, showing their close relationship as equals with Pearl and the other original Crystal Gems. Bismuth frequently jokes about her being a fusion, calling her "power couple," "two to talk," and commenting on how "her Ruby was showing." They appear to be the roughest with each other, with Garnet socking Bismuth in the arm with her gauntlet after a tease, and Garnet being the first to charge at her during a spar. They were comrades during the Rebellion and once took down three battalions of Quartz Gems together at the same time. She also claims that Ruby and Sapphire are her favorite couple in the episode, Made of Honor.

Amethyst
"Aw, yeah, baby. Bismuth's the best!" Amethyst was initially suspicious of Bismuth, having never seen her before or learned about her from Rose. When Bismuth provided Amethyst with an upgrade for her whip, however, she quickly warmed up to the blacksmith. After Steven was forced to poof Bismuth and revealed her intentions, she joined the other Crystal Gems in mourning.

Steven Universe
"You are different. That's what's so exciting. You don't have to be like Rose Quartz. You can be someone even better. You can be you." Initially confused by the prospect of Steven being a hybrid of human and Gem, Bismuth came to accept Steven for who he was, encouraging him to always do his best and to take pride in what he could do. She was even fond of taking part in his kind of activities, such as playing cards, cooking, eating, and even enjoying TV with him. Later, however, upon Steven showing his disagreement with the Breaking Point in the same words as his mother, Bismuth believes he is actually Rose in disguise and tries to "shatter" him. After the fight, when Steven promises to tell the others what happened to her, she laughs bitterly, proclaiming that he is better than Rose before her physical form explodes. Her words before poofing indicate Bismuth saw the distinction between Steven and Rose. In the podcast, Rebecca states that this is a huge turning point for Steven because he is so confused and guilty over Bismuth, balanced against what he’s been taught about his mother by his family as he still is devastated by how he failed Bismuth, he knows he needs to carry baggage from a former life he didn’t really live, but Bismuth was the first indication that he has inherited something “wrong with the Crystal Gems”.

Rose Quartz
"Rose Quartz changed my life. I came to Earth thinking this was just another colony. Build another arena for important fighters to fight in, build another spire for important thinkers to think in, and then, I met her. Just another Quartz soldier, made right here in the dirt, but she was different. And she was different because she decided to be. And she asked me what I wanted to build, and I'd never heard that before. And Gems never hear they can be anything other than what they are, but Rose opened our eyes." Bismuth initially loved and respected Rose for encouraging her to be more than what she is supposed to be, and was a fanatical follower of her doctrine. When Rose opposed her idea of creating a weapon that would permanently destroy their enemies, gemstone and all, Bismuth lost all faith in her and the two fought, which resulted in Bismuth being poofed and stored away in Lion's Mane. Bismuth's distrust of Rose runs deep to the point where she briefly believes that "Steven" is just another one of her "lies", a false identity Rose created for herself to deceive her. Despite her disdain for Rose, Bismuth fondly recalls how she helped her foster her own identity and helps impart that wisdom onto Steven in the hope that he may turn out better than his mother. In the podcast, Rebecca says that Bismuth would have done anything for Rose, and when she came up with a weapon that supposedly served her agenda, she rejected it and rejected Bismuth for reasons she never understood and was totally "screwed over" by her.

Bismuth was as shocked as everyone else when she learned from Steven that Rose had secretly been Pink Diamond, but she ultimately took it relatively well and admitted it cast better lighting on the cause of their disagreement over the Breaking Point. When she saw the Crystal Gems still holding together despite learning their former leader was a lie, Bismuth concluded that it was her son Steven who was keeping the team together and regarded him as their new leader.

In Save the Light, in a secret room of The Forge a giant statue of Rose Quartz is found where is discovered that before their fight, Bismuth made it in honor of her actions, as a surprise gift to her.

"To our fearless leader. You gave us everything. You made us who we are. I would do anything for your cause. I would do anything for you."

Biggs Jasper
Bismuth was friends with Biggs Jasper, a member of the Crystal Gems before being corrupted. Once first freed from her bubble (5000 years after being poofed and having missed the rest of the War), Bismuth asks about the whereabouts of some of her closest Crystal Gem friends, including "Biggs". Later, in "Made of Honor", Bismuth mentions that "Biggs was beloved by everyone". Eventually, Bismuth frees Biggs from her bubble, upon realizing that Biggs had become corrupted. Biggs Jasper, now monstrous and hostile, attacks Steven and Bismuth, who then attacks and poofs her former friend.

Trivia

 * Bismuth's theme music and musical motifs are a pun on what bismuths are: metal.
 * The guitar can be heard on any musical piece that features her but is prominently heard in "Bismuth's Forge", which is considered a type of light industrial metal.
 * Bismuth's bubbled gemstone made an appearance in "Lion 3: Straight to Video" when Steven first discovered Lion's Dimension.
 * Bismuth is voiced by Uzo Aduba, an actress known for playing the character Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren in Netflix's original series Orange Is the New Black.
 * When Bismuth was asking about other Crystal Gems, she lists a few, one of which is named "Crazy Lace". This might be a reference to the character Aduba plays in the show above. At the same time, Crazy Lace is also a variety of agate.
 * Bismuth was poofed roughly 5,300 years prior to the show, which is around the Late Bronze Age in the Middle East.
 * In "Made of Honor", it is confirmed that Bismuth didn't know about the Corrupted Gems and assumed that all the other Crystal Gems are shattered.
 * Bismuth is the first non-corrupted Gem to be poofed by Steven.
 * So far, Bismuth is the only known non-corrupted and non-gem-experiment to be held captive in the Burning Room. Peridot was similarly held in the Burning Room during "Catch and Release" but was freed later in the same episode. Squaridot was also bubbled in the Level 2 canon Save the Light.
 * Bismuth is the only known Crystal Gem to have been purposefully poofed by another Crystal Gem during their affiliation with the team. This is not counting Peridot, as she was not a Crystal Gem when she was poofed.
 * Bismuth is the first Gem shown whose gemstone is a metal.
 * Bismuths and Pearls are the only known Gems whose gemstones are not minerals. However, in real life, they can be used in jewelery and/or as gemstones.
 * Bismuth is one of the only gems seen that's gemstone is, as Steven calls it, an "Innie".
 * Along with Lapis Lazuli, Emerald, Holly Blue Agate, Watermelon Tourmaline, Carnelian, and Aquamarine, she is the sole one of her Gem type seen.
 * However, Bismuth is extremely similar to the unknown Gem that was shown poofing Lapis during the war in "Same Old World".
 * After Bismuth's appearance in her self-titled episode, Rebecca Sugar confirmed in an interview that Bismuth would appear again, although it was unknown at what point. Bismuth later returned in "Made of Honor".
 * According to Steven Universe: Art & Origins, Bismuth's design was influenced by the Gorons from The Legend of Zelda franchise and by the design of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Gemology


Gemstone Information


 * Bismuth is a chemical element with the symbol as Bi and an atomic number of 83. It is the heaviest non-radioactive element. (One of its most common isotopes, Bismuth-209, is actually radioactive, but it has a half-life of 1.9×1019, or 1,900,000,000,000,000,000 years, or one quintillion nine hundred quadrillion, which is 1,386,861,313.87 times greater than the current age of the universe, so it is commonly not referred to as such.)
 * Bismuth is not, in fact, a gem. Instead, it is a post-transition metal, a type of metal which is soft and brittle and has a lower melting point than other metals. Like many other metals, it has a crystal structure.
 * Bismuth is most often formed in hydrothermal vents and pegmatite dikes. It also occurs as massive, waterworn nuggets in stream beds.
 * Crystals, which are uncommon, are usually flat hexagons occurring in parallel groupings.
 * Pseudocubic, hopper-like crystal groupings are almost never found in nature and are mostly laboratory-produced.
 * They are caused by an electrical attraction being higher along the edges of the crystal; this causes faster growth at the edges than near the face centers.
 * This type of crystal is called Hopper Crystal, and Hopper Crystal has been noticed in many substances, including Galena, Rose Quartz, Gold, Calcite, Salt, and Ice.
 * The bismuth crystal owes its array of colors to iridescent oxides that tarnish the crystal as it grows. Otherwise, bismuth will only appear as gray and metallic.
 * Bismuth is used for cosmetics, alloys, and medicines.

Gemstone
Bismuth Bismuto Bismuth Bizmut Bismuth Bismut Bizmut Bismuto pt-br:Bismuto Bismut Висмут Bizmut Bismuth