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 lead 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.

Appearance
Bismuth has a large, bulky body type with broad shoulders similar to that of Jasper. 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.

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.

Personality
Bismuth is 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 wounds her.

Bismuth also relishes the freedom and possibility that results from being a Crystal Gem. She speaks with passion and wonder 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, assigned to help construct the colony on Earth. 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.

At some point before the war ended, she created the Breaking Point and presented it to Rose, who disagreed with the weapon and Bismuth's intentions with it. Bismuth, in a rage, attacked Rose under the belief that Rose 'left her no choice' and was poofed by Rose, bubbled, and placed inside of Lion's Dimension. Rose then hid the truth from everyone, telling them that she had lost track of Bismuth at the Battle for the Ziggurat.

Approximately 5,300 years later, Steven freed her from the bubble by accident. After regenerating, she wondered where all of the other Crystal Gems are. Bismuth was 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.

Bismuth then showed them the Forge and how she makes weapons. Later, Bismuth presented the Breaking Point to Steven. When Steven rejected the weapon as Rose did, Bismuth attacked him in a rage as she had done to his mother, forcing him to impale her on Rose's sword and poof her before destroying the Breaking Point.

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 Burning Room with the Corrupted and Cluster Gems while mourning their fallen friend.

In "Mindful Education", it is revealed that Steven is still traumatized from the events of "Bismuth" and feels guilty for being unable to help her, along with Jasper and Ruby (Eyeball).

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.

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 most rough 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.

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.

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."

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.

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 is extremely similar to the unknown Gem that was shown poofing Lapis during the war in "Same Old World".
 * Bismuth was poofed roughly 5,300 years prior to the show, which is around the Late Bronze Age in the Middle East.
 * It is unknown whether Bismuth knows about the Corrupted Gems or if she just thinks all the other Crystal Gems are shattered.
 * Bismuth was 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.
 * 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 whose gemstone is a metal rather than a gem.

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 19000000000000000000 years, 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.
 * This hoppering is caused when electrical attraction is 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 hoppering 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
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