Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-4224349-20150212230234/@comment-26061718-20150213022340

Marhawkman wrote: Interesting thought.... but what distinguishes whether a gem can manifest a proper body? Pearl seemed to be essentially comatose when she was temporarily incapacitated. This gem seemed to be fully aware but with no proper body.

We can take into account the shards from "Frybo" that took over clothes. The shards in "Secret Team" that scattered around everywhere on their own. The fact that despite Lapis being trapped in a mirror and her gem being cracked she was still aware. I could even argue that Desert Glass from the episode "Steven's Lion" cannot form a physical body but could form a fortress by possessing or project its magic on the sand around it.