Lars Barriga

"Bingo Bongo!"

Laramie Barriga, better known simply as Lars, is a resident of Beach City and an employee at the Big Donut along with Sadie. He debuted in the Pilot. Lars was previously a normal human, before his abduction to the Gem Homeworld, where he died and was resurrected by Steven's healing powers. As a result of his revival, Lars was turned pink and given his own set of magical abilities. He is currently still stuck on Homeworld, acting as the link between Homeworld to Earth through a shared pocket dimension, accessible on either end via Lars' hair and Lion's mane.

Appearance
Lars is lanky and somewhat tall. He wears tunnels in his stretched earlobes. His curly, orange-brown hair is styled into a sort of mohawk. He usually wears a white-gray long-sleeved shirt with a green shirt sporting a snake design over it along with a pair of ripped, dark blue jeans. In regards to his shoes, Lars is often seen wearing mint and dark-green high top sneakers. At the Big Donut, his work uniform is a violet T-shirt with a half-eaten donut design on it worn over a pale cream long-sleeved shirt.

In "Joking Victim", Lars is seen wearing a honey-brown T-shirt with a purple-red scorpion on it, which is a reference to when Buck Dewey tells Lars that the snake on his shirt is "nasty" in "Lars and the Cool Kids". In "Horror Club", he wears skull plugs in his gauges and dons a long-sleeved black shirt with a red jacket that is also seen in "Lars and the Cool Kids". In the pilot episode, Lars wore a cyan shirt with a salmon collar and black trousers.

After being brought back to life by Steven in "Off Colors", his skin and hair are now pink (the same hues as Lion) with a scar on his right eye. His shirt is black with a sea green skull, and his pants are army blue. He wears black and white sneakers. Both his pants and shirt have rips and tears.

Personality
Lars has a bit of a mean personality which he uses to hide his low self-esteem, which is shown to have been carried over from his childhood, as seen in "Horror Club". As a result, he routinely ridicules Steven, who is an easy target. He likes to aggravate him by discrediting the Crystal Gems, although he might just be jealous that Steven gets to hang out with "a bunch of hot girls" as mentioned in the "Pilot". Like many Beach City citizens, Lars is aware of Steven's powers, but he does not care much about them; it is worth noting that this too could be a façade. Lars can be immature and thoughtless at times, such as when he disrespects Steven's mother, Rose Quartz, in "Lars and the Cool Kids". More often than not, Steven either misses or ignores Lars' taunts because he believes he is a good person deep down. Lars is also a slacker, a trait that is highlighted in "Joking Victim", in which he fakes a back injury to get out of work. Sadie has mentioned that Lars has tendencies to turn up late to work and clock out early, as shown in "Lion 3: Straight to Video". Lars has a strong desire to fit in and cares deeply about how others view him, especially the Cool Kids. Despite his rude façade, he seems to have a bit of a soft side that has been brought out time and time again by Sadie and Steven. In "Stuck Together", Lars admits that he hates himself for being a coward and that he cannot do anything right. He also shows in the same episode a snarky side in the face of danger when Topaz engulfs him.

Through the course of the Wanted event, Lars begins showing a more determined side to him, sick of constantly being helped by Steven. In "Off Colors", he fights off some Robonoids that were pursuing Steven, the Off-Colors and himself, even at the cost of his own life. In "Lars' Head", Lars is shown to be willing to let Steven and the Off-Colors go to Earth at the cost of being left behind. He convinced Steven to go back to Earth as a way to repay him for always trying to help him and to be someone who deserved Steven's help.

Abilities

 * Cooking: Lars has been shown to be very skilled at baking and cooking. This is first revealed in "Island Adventure", when Sadie and Steven comment on how great the fish Lars cooked was. This ability is further explored in "The Good Lars".
 * Dimensiokinesis: Lars can manipulate dimensions.
 * Pocket Dimension: Due to being resurrected by Steven, Lars displays the same pocket dimension ability as Lion, with access through his hair. This dimension is a vast pink savannah that now includes two grassy hills, one with an acacia tree and another with a tree resembling an oak. As shown in "Lars' Head", Steven (and presumably others) can travel through one entrance and exit through the other.
 * Supernatural Stamina: After being revived by Steven, Lars stated that he wasn't hungry, even after not eating for a few days, after getting kidnapped by Topaz and Aquamarine and getting taken to Homeworld. Steven also noticed that Lars has a heart rate, but it was extremely slow.

It is possible that Lars shares all abilities displayed by Lion, but as of "Lars' Head", only these two abilities mentioned above have been portrayed.

Sadie Miller
Lars works with Sadie at the Big Donut. They are often seen at Beach City events and gatherings together, as seen in "Tiger Millionaire" and at the end of "Steven and the Stevens". Sadie has a crush on Lars since long before the events of "Island Adventure", but he is never aware of it. In "Island Adventure", they grow closer and end up making out briefly until Steven, unaware of the inherent intimacy and privacy of the situation, awkwardly interrupts them and ruins the moment. In subsequent episodes, he seems to return Sadie's feelings as he is visibly uncomfortable and showed signs of jealousy when Ronaldo got along well with Sadie in "Horror Club". In "The New Lars", Lars rejects Sadie's offer to hang out with her after their job. When questioned why he does this by Steven, Lars says that he does not like Sadie romantically and if she thinks that, "that's her problem". Later on, after Lars finds out that Steven (in Lars' body) confessed his love to Sadie, he immediately questions Sadie's response in an excited tone. Sadie comes into the Big Donut, and Lars asks if she wants to come by to his house, and she accepts, leaving Steven to know that the two are in love. In "The Good Lars", she tries to help Lars be more close to the Cool Kids only to be disappointed that he does not come. She later accepts that she can not change Lars into a better person. In "I Am My Mom" when Sadie, after being captured by a Topaz, asks Lars for help, he runs to hide instead. In "Stuck Together" he admits he regrets not helping her, believing she hates him now.

Steven Universe
"You're always trying to help me. You brought me back to life. Just let me be somebody who deserved it."

In early episodes, Lars appears to be annoyed by Steven often, because he saw him as a little kid that cramps his "cool teenager style". Despite this, Steven was oblivious to this fact and, as younger kids often do, looks up to the older and cooler Lars and desperately wanted to be accepted by him. Lars used this admiration for him to make Steven a target of his jokes and mockery often. Even so, Steven still refers to him as his "BFF" in "Bubble Buddies", despite his attempts to make fun of him and does not even mind risking getting third-degree burns all over his body for a slim chance of receiving a high-five from Lars.

In "Lars and the Cool Kids", when Lars angers Steven and is called a jerk for insulting Rose, he shows remorse for his actions, understanding he had pushed his annoyance at Steven too far. As a result, Lars finds a way to connect to Steven better, and they get on better terms, with him respecting him a lot more as a result of underestimating him. He even gives Steven the high five he has wanted, but in his way, which is on each other's chest.

In later episodes, Lars had not insulted Steven since but is still annoyed by him often, especially when he nearly ruins his friendship with Sadie in "The New Lars". He is also shocked that the people of Beach City had liked him better when Steven was in his body, feeling more feelings of annoyance towards himself, and Steven. In "The Good Lars", Lars is more open to including Steven in his friendship, taking his advice to bake the ube cake and letting him help. When Steven insists for Lars to open up about his feelings, he is also willing to tell him the truth, showing that his trust has developed in him. He also takes Steven's advice to heart, asking when he even matured, since their early interactions.

In "Stuck Together", Lars is upset to have been taken with Steven on Aquamarine and Topaz's ship to Homeworld. He blames Steven for it, and although he takes full responsibility, Lars still shows a lack of half-heartedness to help himself get home. When his actions anger Steven, Lars gets upset, asking Steven why he thinks he is capable of helping him and doing these tasks successfully, classing himself as a "wuss" who is easily afraid, unlike him. He admits being always jealous how Steven can deal with everything with his life and how everyone loves him. After Steven admits being afraid of going to Homeworld, he tells him that he is glad he is with him despite the circumstances, much to his delight, and they bond over the similar feeling. Lars also becomes unwilling to leave Steven behind when Topaz offered them a way back to Earth, not wanting to leave him behind.

This newfound closeness and bond develop more in "Off Colors", because of the unfamiliar environment of Homeworld to both of them, they stay together. While in the kindergarten, Lars reacknowledges his actions for not helping Sadie and running away, which later transfers in the Robonoid attack. When Steven reassures him it was okay to be afraid, Lars realizes he was the only one holding himself back and saves everyone in the attack, costing him his life. In "Lars' Head", he shows a new devotion to helping Steven as a way to pay him back for always helping Lars including saving his life. When he convinces Steven to go back to Earth and Steven puts his hand on Lars' chest, he bats it away and hugs Steven, showing how close Steven has grown on him since the beginning.

Ronaldo Fryman
In "Horror Club", Lars and Ronaldo are seen to be childhood friends, but their relationship becomes strained after Ronaldo takes a picture of Lars being hit in the face by a board in a Gem-possessed lighthouse which sends him flying. Ronaldo wants to release the photo to media as proof of the paranormal; however, Lars is embarrassed by the photo, worried about what others would think of him, and tears up the photo, much to the dismay of Ronaldo, which leads to their falling out. Lars seems still to be bothered by this event, as he is described by Ronaldo to be "emotionally disturbed".

The Cool Kids
Lars desperately wants to be friends with the "cool kids" and finds anything that they do or say to be cool/hilarious. He will even change his opinion based solely on what they think, even though they do not seem to be bothered by differing opinions. When they first meet, the "cool kids" only tolerate Lars because he is friends with Steven in the episode "Lars and the Cool Kids"; however, they gradually came to accept Lars into their group of friends. They are later seen happily hanging out with him in "Joking Victim" and Jenny thanked him for inviting them over. They are also seen together during the Beach-a-Palooza in the episode "Sadie's Song".

Dante and Martha Barriga
Not much is shown of Lars' relationship with his parents, but they are shown to be generally supportive despite his poor attitude which they try to talk to him about. It is implied that whenever they talk to him about his grades, he would loudly yell at them, possibly swearing. While they love their son, when it appeared that he is robbing Steven's house they are shocked but ultimately not surprised.

Off Colors
After saving them from a bunch of Shattering Robonoids, at the cost of his own life, the Off Colors accepted Lars as a member of their own. When he offers them a way to live on Earth, they reject it, as Fluorite states that they will stay with him to help him survive on Homeworld and get back home.

Trivia

 * Along with Sadie, Lars is one of the first human characters to be shown in either the main series or the pilot.
 * Lars, Sadie, and Steven are the only people that have been seen working at the Big Donut.
 * He is sometimes antagonistic towards Steven and Sadie, but he is not technically an "antagonist".
 * Lars and Sadie were some of Rebecca Sugar's first characters, made while she attended college.
 * On the Steven Universe Character Page on cartoonnetwork.com, it says in Lars' description that he is a "High School Slacker", implying that he is currently in high school.
 * This is cited in "The New Lars".
 * Lars does not like fries, as revealed in "Frybo".
 * Lars attends Beach City's underground wrestling arena with Sadie.
 * Rebecca Sugar has confirmed that Lars is banned from the local video game store in Beach City. This is also confirmed by Sadie in the episode "Joking Victim".
 * In "Island Adventure", Lars demonstrates a decent ability to cook food.
 * It has been implied that Lars might have a relationship with Sadie that is beyond friendship since they kissed and had a falling out in "Island Adventure".
 * In "Horror Club", Lars still has feelings for Sadie as he tries to gain her attention to the annoyance of Ronaldo and Steven.
 * His birth name is presumably "Laramie", as he is called by Martha and Dante in "The New Lars", meaning that "Lars" is a self-given nickname.
 * His birth name is of French origin, meaning tears of love, which could be foreshadowing to how he is revived.
 * His last name is revealed to be Barriga in Keep Beach City Weird: You Can't Hide the Truth!!!.
 * "Barriga" means "belly" in many languages (including Asturian, Galician, Portuguese, and Spanish).
 * Ian Jones-Quartey stated that Lars is not white and later confirmed that Lars is of Filipino descent.
 * Lars was originally designed with black hair and a darker skin tone in the pilot.
 * His surname, Barriga, is of Spanish origin, a common trait among Filipino surnames due to Spanish influence in the Philippines.
 * In "The Good Lars", Lars reveals he is very familiar with eating and baking with Ube, a species of purple yams popular in the Philippines.
 * It is revealed in "The New Lars" that he sleeps naked.
 * As of "Stuck Together," Lars is the first human to step foot on Homeworld.
 * As a full human, Lars is undetectable by Shattering Robonoids, who can only lock on to Gems' gemstones.
 * As of "Off Colors", Lars is the first human character to have died, then brought back to life.
 * Lars' revival could offer an explanation about Lion's origins, as well as the reason his fur is pink.
 * Notably, after Lars is revived, the collar of his T-shirt is ripped in five places, forming the rough shape of a star (two points on his chest, one on each shoulder, and one on his back).  This is reminiscent of Lion's mane, the shape of which also roughly forms a star.
 * As of "Lars' Head", Lars is the first known full human to gain Gem-like abilities due to Steven reviving him.

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