Pearl

"Pearl" is a main protagonist in Steven Universe.

One of Rose Quartz's closest followers, Pearl is one of the last surviving Gems on Earth who joined the Crystal Gems in their rebellion against the Gem Homeworld. Pearl would afterwards protect the Earth over the next several millennia alongside her friends, while later teaching Rose's son, Steven, the ways of her people.

Personality
"Pearl is like a Samurai. She is, like, incredibly precise."

Pearl is a perfectionist who values thought and reason, she has a wide range of knowledge on many topics, and is extremely organized, with a penchant for symmetry (going so far as to impale M.C. Bear Bear to maintain the symmetry of a pile of appliances and school supplies). Despite her intelligent and calm demeanor, Pearl is easily flustered and overwhelmed when confronted by something she does not understand or when her plans fail, which can lead to Pearl making rash decisions or speaking without thinking, backing herself into a corner.

Despite her perfectionism, Pearl has low self confidence, in "Friend Ship" she is very dependent on others to validate her, which loops into a strong inferiority complex. According to Amethyst in "Reformed", she needs everyone's constant approval to feel secure. Without anyone to tell her what to do or to depend on her, Pearl feels lost and without meaning or value, admitting she often feels weak or like nothing when compared with others or even that she is useless on her own. This has lead her to take drastic actions in order to prove herself — though, thanks to Garnet's encouragement in "Friend Ship", she has begun to try being strong for herself and follow her own path rather than let herself be defined by others.

While Pearl tries to remain composed, there are times where she lets her emotions get the better of her or rule her judgment, causing her to be unthoughtful and irrational. Her inner turmoil over her love for Rose (and her subsequent absence) has made Pearl lash out at Steven more than once; her desire to feel stronger made her betray Garnet's trust and principles so they could keep forming Sardonyx. When realizing how much she hurt others, Pearl will apologize and try as hard as she can to set things right.

Out of all the Crystal Gems, Pearl appears to be the most poorly adjusted to life on earth, being unaware of human social conventions and culture, such as jokes, games, arcades, food, and birthday parties. Pearl has expressed a great desire to leave Earth in Space Race, going so far as to risk her and Steven's life. Pearl also has a pessimistic view of humanity, as evidenced by her statement in "Keep Beach City Weird".

"Humans just live short, boring, insignificant lives, so they make up stories to feel like they're a part of something bigger. They want to blame all the world's problems on some single enemy they can fight, instead of a complex network of interrelated forces beyond anyone's control."

Despite this, she is dedicated to her cause in protecting humanity more or less out of her love, loyalty and admiration for Rose Quartz. She does, however, find certain aspects of Earth rather amazing, and despite her poor understanding of human society, she was able to pay for the Cookie Cats Amethyst and Garnet stole in "Gem Glow", drive Greg's van in "Ocean Gem", then subsequently fix it in "House Guest".

In the past, Pearl's personality was drastically different. She was very arrogant and viewed herself and the Crystal Gems as superiors to humans. This was best shown in "We Need to Talk", as she viewed Greg as insignificant, doubting he could ever fuse with Rose. However, this eventually changed over time.

Appearance
Pearl has a slender build, very light peach skin, blue eyes, a pointed nose and thin lips. She has a peach-colored pixie-cut hairdo. Pearl is usually drawn without eyelashes or pupils, however, they are seen in some close-ups. She is a few inches shorter than Garnet.

Pre-Regeneration (debut)
Pearl wore a sleeveless, sky blue tunic that had a diaphanous chest and transferred into a fishnet ballet skirt on the lower half. She also wore short peach-colored leggings, light green socks, and flats that match her tunic.

Post-Regeneration (current)
Pearl wears a bright teal tunic with a turquoise satin sash ribbon around her waist. She wears short mustard-yellow/amber-colored leggings, salmon-colored socks, and narrow ballet flats that match her tunic.

Color palettes

 * -|Day/Regular =
 * -|Sunset =
 * -|Twilight =
 * -|Night =
 * -|Kindergarten =
 * -|Facet Five =
 * -|Galaxy Warp =
 * -|The Desert =
 * -|Green Light =

Abilities
"I am a gem of many talents. A dedication to fact is just one of them." Pearl possesses standard Gem abilities and traits. Pearl can fuse to form Opal, Sardonyx, Rainbow Quartz and Alexandrite.

Throughout the series, Pearl has been shown to have knowledge in multiple aspects of technology, from fixing Greg's Van, to making a semi-functioning spacecraft out of leftover machine parts, to fixing Peridot's Escape Pod and even reverse-engineering it to track Peridot's movements.

While Pearl is quite graceful, she has surprising resilience to injury. In "Coach Steven", she took a headbutt from Sugilite, and could still move, given Steven's encouragement. In "On the Run", she took an explosion from Amethyst's whip directly and was fine almost immediately after, despite being briefly immobilized and scratched.

In "Historical Friction" she says one of her talents is detail to facts. She has shown this skill in the past usually coupled with her holograms. Her immortality and attention to detail have allowed her to recall historical events as they truly happened, such as the beginning of the Crystal Gems's rebellion and the founding of Beach City.

Skillset

 * Spear Proficiency: Through her many years of training, Pearl is able to summon her weapon, a pearlescent spear. Pearl is very skilled in the art of spear-wielding, and goes in tandem with her pattern of fighting that involves dancing. She moves gracefully and swiftly, attacking with grace and poise. She handles herself well in melee skirmishes.
 * Dual Wielding: Pearl is capable of wielding dual spears in battle, implying she may be ambidextrous.
 * Energy Projection: Pearl can fire arrow-like blasts of energy from the tip of her spear. This can be done as rapid-fire, or charged to unleash a more powerful blast. In Attack the Light, this ability is named, "Fireball".
 * Swordsmanship: Pearl possesses expert knowledge and skill with a sword, and, as with her spears, can wield two at once.

Unique Abilities

 * Holographic Projection: Pearl can project holographic images from her gemstone, which she uses mainly as a visual aid when lecturing Steven. While most of the holograms seem to be intangible, some, like Holo-Pearl, are able to interact with solid matter. Furthermore, the holograms can function without Pearl's presence up to two weeks, implying that her holograms can live independently. In "Chille Tid" it is shown Pearl's dreams are projected as holograms as she sleeps.Pearl Self-Replication.gif
 * Self-Duplication: Aside from Holo-Pearls, which are projected through her gem, Pearl can also replicate herself several times into hologram-like clones of herself, as seen in "Beach Party"Fusion Dance.gif


 * Psammokinesis: Pearl is shown manipulating a small amount of sand to create figurines in "Giant Woman". It is currently unknown how much sand she can control at one time. This ability has only been shown once so far.


 * Levitation: Pearl temporarily levitates to battle Sugilite in "Coach Steven".
 * Nephelokinesis: In "Sworn to the Sword", Pearl is able to channel clouds in the direction of her choice, able to gather clouds surrounding the arena around her to create a fine mist, reducing visibility and able to quickly dissipate it.
 * Photokinesis: In "Keeping it Together" Pearl can be seen using her gem like a flashlight.
 * Gemtech interfacing: While not to the extent of Peridot, she was first shown in "Jail Break" and later shown in "Friend Ship", able to interface and control Gem technology such as the Gem Warship and to a greater extent Peridot's escape pod.
 * Water Walking: Pearl can walk on water, an ability she shares with Opal, Lion, and Lapis Lazuli.

Additional Tools

 * Swords: In "Together Breakfast", Pearl retrieves a sword that Amethyst took, then summons a collection of swords in her room. She also uses multiple swords when teaching sword fighting lessons.
 * Battleaxe: In "Onion Trade", Pearl asks Amethyst to return her battleaxe.
 * Replicator Wand (former): In the same episode, Pearl had a wand that would make identical copies of almost anything. However, Garnet destroyed it because she didn't want to get rid of the millions of copies that Onion made.

Steven
"All that matters is that Steven is happy."

Pearl acts as a kind but overprotective mother towards Steven. She loves teaching Steven about Gem history and culture, as well as teaching him other things such as the art of sword fighting.

As opposed to Garnet's more pragmatic and Amethyst's more fun-loving personalities, Pearl acts as a mentor. She always tries to speak gently to him and is usually the first to show concern when taking him on a dangerous mission. However, in "Space Race", she allows her own interest in returning to space to cloud her better judgement despite trying to attain her original goal of showing Steven the cosmos.

Pearl also tends to patronize Steven and frequently underestimates his abilities, thus viewing him more as a child than as a fellow Crystal Gem although over time she does respect the fact he is growing up. She is surprised to find that Steven is able to summon his shield in "Gem Glow", return to normal after transforming his fingers into cats in "Cat Fingers", think of strategies to escape the obstacles that they encounter in "Cheeseburger Backpack", as well as the Pyramid Temple in "Serious Steven". She ignores Steven when he brings up the idea of everyone eating breakfast together in "Together Breakfast". She also does not feel that Steven is prepared to learn about the dark side of gem history, when she tells Amethyst that Steven "isn't ready" to learn about the bad history of Gems in "On the Run". In "Sworn to the Sword", it is shown Pearl's maternal feelings towards Steven stems from her love and admiration for Rose Quartz.

Despite recent events and her guilt, she is shown to support Steven and his endeavors in "Historical Friction". She compliments him on his wisdom when he says the flaws and working through them are important in anyone. She helps rewrite the play to be more accurate and is the only Gem to watch it. She is excited to see Steven on stage, so much that she waves and calls out to him.

Garnet
Like the other Gems, Pearl respects and follows Garnet's orders without question. She does, however, believe that the Gems are a team and may not exactly see Garnet as the leader, most likely because she will always see Rose Quartz as leader despite her being gone. When there are signs of danger, however, Pearl usually turns to Garnet, often hiding behind her or holding onto her arm when worried. In "Secret Team", it is clear that she shares an unprecedented fear towards her with Amethyst, so afraid of Garnet's disapproval (as well as what she would do if she found out) that both she and Amethyst willing to put past their differences to keep the popped Gem-bubble a secret. She has known about her true identities for several thousand years. In "Cry for Help", it is apparent that Pearl looks up to Garnet as she was excited to fuse into Sardonyx in order to destroy the Communication Hub that Peridot rebuilt. Pearl enjoyed fusing with Garnet so much that she rebuilt the Communication Hub twice so she and Garnet could just fuse into Sardonyx resulting in Garnet getting very angry at Pearl and refusing her apologies, causing Pearl to be sad afterwards. In "Friend Ship" Pearl makes up with Garnet. She is shown to idolize Garnet, or rather Ruby and Sapphire's relationship, as in that same episode she claims that they are the perfect relationship and she wanted to fuse so badly because she craved being a part of a stable relationship.

Ruby and Sapphire
Pearl has not been shown interacting with either Ruby or Sapphire individually. However, during "Keystone Motel", Ruby is greatly angered by Pearl's trickery regarding the Communication Hub, whereas Sapphire is more willing to forgive. This conflict led to Garnet temporarily defusing.

Amethyst
"I hope you can forgive me...You're the one good thing that came out of this mess, I always thought you were proud of that."

The two have a strained relationship which is likely due to their contrasting personalities. Pearl is often seen scolding Amethyst, who often teases Pearl in return. Regardless of their differences, Pearl and Amethyst have been shown to be able to put their differences aside on multiple occasions in order to work together. For example, in "Secret Team", Pearl and Amethyst are forced to fight together, and complement each other's skills, even sharing appreciative smiles; in "Warp Tour", they praise and admire each other's fighting techniques; in "On the Run", the two reveal that they really do deeply care about each other, despite their differences and frequent fights. In "Story for Steven" they are shown having a much closer relationship before the events of the series, close enough to be perfectly content hugging and resting in each other's arms. It can be assumed that Rose's departure and Steven's birth somehow lead to their relationship deteriorating with time, as Amethyst implies that they used to fuse more often in "Giant Woman". Their relationship seems to have been slowly improving through the course of the series.

Greg
"Greg is... nice, Steven, but I doubt Rose would've entrusted someone like him with such a powerful weapon."

She is on speaking terms with Greg and has shown to at least try to be civil towards him, even fixing his van after it was wrecked in "Ocean Gem". In "House Guest" she was anxious about him living with the Crystal Gems and she is usually the first (and often the only one) of the Crystal Gems to get irritated or even mad at him as shown in "The Message". Because of Pearl's close relationship with Rose Quartz it is possible that her negative view of Greg stems from her blaming him for his part in Rose's "death" in giving birth to Steven, much like she harbors a similar resentment towards Steven as revealed in "Rose's Scabbard".

In "Reformed", however, the two are seen casually tinkering with his van together and seemingly getting along very well, showing an improvement of their relationship.

The episode "We Need to Talk" further explores their relationship in the past when Rose was still alive. Pearl is shown to be very jealous of Rose's new-found affection for him and goes to great lengths of trying to challenge him and dissuade him from pursuing a relationship with Rose. This, combined with the fact that she sees Greg partially responsible for Rose's demise, explains why she seems to be uncomfortable, condescending and resentful towards him in episodes set in the current time.

In "Chille Tid", Pearl has a dream in which she suggests to Rose that they forget about Greg and explore the galaxy together. Much to her horror, Rose's face turns into Greg's.

Sugilite
"You're just too much!"

Pearl dislikes Sugilite due to her reckless and violent nature. Pearl almost grudgingly admits that she's jealous of Sugilite's strength (in a song), but she cuts herself off before finishing the line. Her dislike for Sugilite also stems from concern over Garnet and Amethyst as she believes it is dangerous for them to stay fused for longer periods of time; they might start losing their own individuality. Since Amethyst and Pearl care for each other deep down and Pearl looks up to Garnet it is possible for Sugilite and Pearl to care about each other.

Rose Quartz
"Everything I ever did, I did for her. Now she's gone... but I'm still here."

Pearl's closest relationship before the series started was with Rose Quartz. She was loyal enough to fight alongside her against her own Homeworld at the Gem Battlefield, before they even found Amethyst, and believed herself to be Rose's "sole confidant" and privy to all her secrets. She became jealous and eventually devastated upon learning that this was not the case. Pearl looked up to Rose for guidance and support and often speaks very fondly of her, being shown to love her enough to stay on Earth and defend it instead of returning home alone. Like Amethyst, she grew emotional when they spoke of their relationship with her. In "Story for Steven", when Rose bragged about Greg's singing, Pearl is quick to note as soon as he is out of earshot that she can also sing, much to the amusement of the other three Crystal Gems. "Sworn to the Sword" reveals that she was so devoted to protecting Rose that she sacrificed herself constantly for her, having adopted the human title of a "knight" to heart to the point of obsessive recklessness.

"We Need to Talk" further explores the relationship between the two. Set in the 80's like the previous episode "Story for Steven" it reveals that Pearl was very jealous of Greg, constantly trying to persuade him that Rose's affections for him were just a "phase" because as a human he was eventually going to pass away while Rose, being a Gem, would live on. She also challenges him by defiantly convincing Rose to fuse with her in front of Greg, and later rubbing it in his face that as a human he would never know such intimacy with Rose. This jealousy, when put into perspective along with other episodes involving Pearl's affection for Rose, seemed to imply that her feelings for Rose were, like those between Ruby and Sapphire, of the romantic kind. This was later confirmed by show writer Matt Burnett via a tweet after the episode aired. As such, Pearl carries a great deal of grief for her loss, but finds comfort in her son, Steven.



It is not currently known whether Rose Quartz reciprocated Pearl's romantic feelings, however, when asked if Pearl's feelings for Rose were supposed to be a one-sided crush, Matt Burnett described the situation as "much more complicated". In any case, their relationship was a very close one, as they easily and casually fused into Rainbow Quartz.

In "Chille Tid" Pearl has a dream in which she suggests to Rose that they forget about Greg and explore the galaxy together.

Lion
Originally, Pearl saw Lion as just an average wild animal, being a little uneasy about Steven keeping him because of his probably dangerous nature. However, in "Rose's Scabbard", she gains a different kind of unease due to him containing Rose's Sword and thus having some connection to Rose. This knowledge distressed her greatly as Rose supposedly told her everything, causing her to resent Lion a bit to the point where she ran away with Rose's Scabbard to the Gem Battlefield. After gaining encouragement from Steven, she seems to respect Lion a bit more while still feeling tenuous about him in general.

Connie
"Remember, Connie. In the heat of battle, Steven is what matters. You don't matter."

Pearl originally saw Connie as just Steven's friend, but in "Sworn to the Sword", Pearl became touched by Connie's willingness to defend Steven, thus mentors her in the art of sword fighting, and related Connie to herself and Steven to Rose during the training. Now, Pearl thinks that Connie is practically an expert on sword fighting and that she and Steven can be great knights together.

Quotes
See Pearl/Quotes.

Trivia

 * In the transition from the pilot to the series, Pearl underwent the most drastic change of the three Gems. Among these changes are:
 * Removal of gold ring around her gem
 * Removal of earrings
 * Skin color changed (from blue to white)
 * Pointier nose
 * Rounder face
 * Slimmer, more cartoonish build
 * Drastically different outfit
 * Different hairstyle, covering ears and pointing backwards instead of forwards
 * Rose-pink hair color to peach
 * Eye color changed (black to a light blue)
 * Removal of hearts on slippers and slipper color changed (dark blue to light blue)
 * In "Together Breakfast", it is revealed that Pearl owns a wide collection of swords.
 * In "So Many Birthdays", Pearl revealed that all Gems (excluding Steven) are ageless.
 * It is shown that when Pearl blushes, she blushes light blue. This was first seen in "Cat Fingers".
 * The Gems' fighting style's are based on dancing styles. Pearl's fighting/dancing style is ballet.
 * In "Fusion Cuisine", Pearl states that she hates eating.
 * Pearl agrees to consume human food, expresses interest in eating, or admits to a preference for certain foods in "Together Breakfast", "Bubble Buddies", "Serious Steven", and "So Many Birthdays". These episodes all take place before "Steven the Sword Fighter". This could mean that Pearl used to like human food.
 * In a Twitter response to a fan, Matt Burnett explained that Pearl likes the process of pie, aka baking, rather than the consumption of it.
 * However, she is shown to enjoy tea, as shown when she brings a teapot to Funland in "Serious Steven", and when she talks about finding out Connie's favorite tea in "Bubble Buddies".
 * Rebecca Sugar confirmed Pearl is a lot like her.
 * In "Keep Beach City Weird", Pearl has shown a reluctance to shapeshift and is the only Crystal Gem who has not shown an ability to shapeshift outside regeneration.
 * However, in "Beach Party" she was able to shapeshift her outfit.
 * Despite having sung the most songs of any full Crystal Gem yet, she has yet to sing anything other than a duet during an episode("Strong in the Real Way" was sang with Steven and "Do It For Her" with Connie). She does, however, sing a solo in the full opening of season 2.
 * Pearl's weaponry includes a replicator wand, which was destroyed in "Onion Trade" by Garnet, and currently owns a collection of swords and a battle axe.
 * Pearl is the first Gem that's actually shown retreating into her gemstone to regenerate after sustaining serious injuries, as seen in "Steven the Sword Fighter".
 * She is also the first Gem in the series to have a gemstone on her forehead (the second being Peridot).
 * Pearl sings for the first time in the episode "Coach Steven".
 * "Joking Victim" is the first episode in which Pearl does not make an appearance, the second being "Garnet's Universe".
 * In "Steven and the Stevens", she is seen playing the violin.
 * It was shown in "Monster Buddies" that Steven keeps a framed picture of Pearl on the side of their fridge. It was later destroyed by the Centipeetle Mother.
 * Pearl appears to have her face on several coin-types.
 * Pearl is the first gem shown to be able to harness energy within their weapon for an attack in "Watermelon Steven".
 * In "Lion 3: Straight to Video", Pearl admits that she often watches Steven sleep.
 * Though stating during the same episode that Steven no longer wishes her to watch him sleep, she is observed intently watching him sleep when he wakes up from his first dream during "Chille Tid".
 * "Warp Tour" is the first episode Pearl and Steven have an argument.
 * It's confirmed by Steven in "Steven the Sword Fighter" that organizing messes is one of Pearl's favorite hobbies.
 * Considering the fact that Garnet is a fusion, Pearl is the second tallest non-fused Crystal Gem, right next to Rose Quartz.
 * It is revealed in "Reformed" that Pearl was always irked by Amethyst's crooked shoulder strap.
 * Pearl may be ambidextrous.
 * This is hinted at in "Ocean Gem". Pearl is shown to be able to wield two spears at a time.
 * Rebecca Sugar stated in an interview that the Crystal Gem Steven knows the least about at this point is Pearl.
 * In "Sworn to the Sword", Pearl says she was only a few thousand years old when she began fighting alongside Rose Quartz.
 * It was on Earth that Pearl learned of sword fighting.
 * In a flashback, it appears that Pearl engaged a gem (similar to Jasper) multiple times for Rose Quartz.
 * Pearl's gem represents a cabochon, a gem that has not been faceted but has been polished.
 * Pearl is one of three Gems to have made the most fusions, four, (Opal, Alexandrite, Rainbow Quartz, and Sardonyx); Ruby and Sapphire are the other Gems to have made four fusions.
 * All of Pearl's fusions have been dubbed Giant Woman or something similar by Steven with the exception of Rainbow Quartz.
 * However, this may be due to Steven not being present at the time.
 * In most if not all of her fusions, Pearl seems to be dominant with more features being attributed to her than her fusing partner.
 * Pearl is the first (and only) Gem to fuse with every non-corrupted Crystal Gem, except Steven.
 * She has fused with Garnet, but she hasn't fused with Ruby and Sapphire individually yet.
 * Pearl's reason for protecting Earth is to carry on Rose's fight.
 * Her lines from the extended opening are "I will fight in the name of Rose Quartz! / And everything that she believed in!"
 * Pearls aren't exactly "gems", as pearls are created underwater by living things.
 * Pearl finds life jackets very lame, puny, and unnecessary, as shown in "Chille Tid" as they are used to prevent drowning which opposes to pearls being formed underwater.
 * Her dancing is similar to how Princess Tutu dances from Princess Tutu
 * Rebecca Sugar has stated Pearl represents the group-dependency stage in the human emotional development spectrum.
 * When asked what songs would be on the Crystal Gems' playlists, Rebecca Sugar listed Sunmi's "24 Hours" and William Bolcom's "Graceful Ghost Rag".

Gemology
Gemstone Information


 * Pearls are the birthstone for those born in June, and are also used to commemorate the third and thirtieth anniversaries. Pearl is also an astral gemstone for the signs, Gemini and Cancer.
 * In gemstone mythology, pearls are often associated with virginity, beauty, modesty, purity, and happiness.
 * Pearls are organic gemstones that are formed by shelled mollusks, mainly bivalved oysters and mussels.
 * Pearls are available in a variety of colors. Colors of pearls include the following: White, pink, silver, cream, golden, green, blue and black. Some pearls exhibit iridescence, which is known as orient.
 * Pearl's chemical formula is CaC03•C30H48O11N9•n(H2O)•X. This is because pearls are made of:
 * Aragonite (CaC03)
 * Conquiolin (a protein made by molluscs) (C30H48O11N9)
 * Unknown amount of Water (n(H2O))
 * An unknown base-like object. Molluscs create pearls around this intruder object in their body.

Gemstone
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