| “ |
Steven, it's not lying when you're the mayor. It's politics. |
” |
| —"Political Power" | ||
William "Bill" Dewey is a recurring character in Steven Universe, who made his debut in "Cat Fingers". He was the mayor of Beach City until the events of "Dewey Wins", where he had withdrawn from the next election, therefore resigning from his position. As of "Letters to Lars", he now works at the Big Donut.
Appearance
Bill Dewey has balding dark-brown hair and coral skin. He normally wears a light violet-gray coat with a beige collared shirt underneath, a dark-violet necktie tie, gray-brown pants, black socks, chocolate-brown shoes, and black shoelaces with dark-violet stripes.
Personality
Bill Dewey displays some of the common stereotypes of politicians: he believes his position entitles him to certain privileges, he's overly concerned about money, he's distinguished in public but lacks confidence in private (especially when put under any pressure), etc.
He likes to pretend that he has more importance, influence, and control over Beach City than he really does. It is also implied that Bill has made some less than legal choices during his career as mayor.
He refers to the town as "a magnet for disaster", which is a fair assessment as the locale is often the target of unnatural phenomena such as dangerous Corrupted Gems, destructive machines from space, and other disasters like the recession of the ocean or the falling debris from the Gem Warship.
He's slightly incompetent at his job of managing the city (he pitifully tries to refill the ocean with a watering hose when it recedes), so he employs a "bread and circuses" political tactic to keep himself in the town's good favor.
He believes it's his job to keep the citizens feeling calm and secure, so he often sets up various diversions and attractions such as the world's largest bowl of ice cream ("Joking Victim"), a Summer Season welcoming speech ("Mirror Gem"), a New Year's Eve fireworks show ("Maximum Capacity"), and a statue of himself.
After losing his position as mayor, he shows himself to be extremely insecure without having other people to rely on him, and he wanders around town aimlessly in a desperate attempt to feel useful. He becomes fulfilled and happy again after taking over at the Big Donut, naming most of the menu items after himself.
History
"Cat Fingers"
He visits It's a Wash to have his campaign vehicle cleaned in "Cat Fingers". He is upset when Steven sprays him during a hose fight and tells Greg to control his kid. Greg apologetically says the car wash was free, and Mayor Dewey seems satisfied.
"Lars and the Cool Kids"
He later makes an appearance in "Lars and the Cool Kids" where he is seen giving a re-election speech and kissing a baby as Sour Cream, Jenny, Steven, and Buck Dewey drive by in Jenny's Car.
"Joking Victim"
He appears in "Joking Victim" when he presents the biggest ice cream bowl in Beach City. When Lars burns it with the Fire Salt, he seems to be unaware that it could melt.
"Mirror Gem"
In "Mirror Gem", Mayor Dewey is first seen driving on the boardwalk, which Steven happens to be walking on. After telling him to "go get run over somewhere else", Dewey drives to the ocean-side, where he makes a speech to the people of Beach City about the coming of summer.
Unfortunately, his speech is full of double entendres, which Steven and The Mirror mock in order to make fart jokes. The audience is more entertained by Steven’s antics than the speech, leaving Dewey mildly put off.
"Ocean Gem"
He appears again in "Ocean Gem" on the beach and is panicked over the sudden disappearance of the ocean. He's seen grieving about the resulting damage that's likely to be inflicted on the city tourist industry, as well as the likely end of his career.
After Steven and his friends return the ocean, Dewey desperately yet thankfully embraces Steven as the rest of the townspeople celebrate his heroism.
"Shirt Club"
He is seen unpacking inventory in the Abandoned Warehouse, and practices "acting cool" in front of Buck but always fails. He made a poster for "Bench City" (which was actually just a poster that says "Welcome to Beach City" rewritten into "Welcome to Bench City" by Mayor Dewey in permanent marker).
He is rushed out of the Warehouse by Buck and is later seen again, giving a speech about the bench that was positioned behind him. He is shot in the stomach with a T-shirt by Steven as his bodyguards and the whole crowd goes wild and runs in different directions as they see T-shirts randomly being shot out from nowhere.
"Political Power"
He takes on the main role in "Political Power" after the Crystal Gems accidentally knock out all the power in the city with an EMP. Enlisting the help of Steven, he travels around the town assuring the citizens that everything will be fine and that the power will return that night. After the power doesn't return the citizens of Beach City turn on him for lying.
He is quickly saved by Steven who encourages all of them to stay strong and to not turn on each other. He also gives Steven advice and explains to him the basis of politics, which, as he understands it, is making stuff up to ensure that the citizens of the town are kept happy and safe.
"The Return"
He returns again in "The Return" after being called by Steven, shown cowering behind a curtain in response to Peridot's ship. Steven calls on him to use his political powers to convince the citizens of Beach City to evacuate to keep them safe from the approaching threat.
He is later seen driving around town with a new truck jingle urging the citizens to evacuate. After Steven is knocked out of Greg's van from the airbag he is seen standing around with the rest of Beach City's Citizens making sure that Steven is not hurt.
"Historical Friction"
He writes the play about William Dewey originally before Pearl fixes it. Later, while the play is being presented by Steven and Jamie, he realizes the script's been changed and he's worried at first until the townspeople enjoy it.
"Rising Tides, Crashing Skies"
He appears at his desk being interviewed by Ronaldo being asked about the Gem Warship, but he confuses it for people voting to save Beach City by electing, but he soon finds out that he's talking about the Crystal Gems.
He asks why he's talking about them, and Ronaldo says he's covering the story about them, but he then confuses it for asking about a cover-up and gets security to eject him from his office.
"Dewey Wins"
Bill Dewey runs for re-election with the help of Steven but loses to Nanefua Pizza. After resigning, he leaves the debate event discouraged and jobless.
"Letters to Lars"
The unemployed former mayor goes around town offering favors to other citizens in order to feel useful, but finds his help largely unneeded. He eventually takes Steven's advice to start working at the Big Donut, which had closed due to the absence of Lars and Sadie. It was here that he found his purpose at last and has happily run the restaurant ever since.
Relationships
Buck Dewey
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Bill embarrassing his son, Buck.
Buck Dewey is Bill Dewey's son. According to Buck Dewey in "Lars and the Cool Kids", Bill was never affectionate towards him, saying that he never received "daddy kisses" from his father. In the episode "Shirt Club", Bill was happy that Buck seemed to be "returning to the family business". It can be assumed that Buck used to be an active part of Mayor Dewey's campaign for mayor but now doesn't involve himself with it anymore.
Buck Dewey consistently shows resent and annoyance towards his father, being exasperated at his father's attempts to seem cool and hip as well as his father being interested in him rejoining his campaign for re-election.
After Steven finds a box of drawings of a young Buck and his father that reads "Vote for My Dad" on the top, Mayor Dewey begins to get emotional over them and the memories behind them which result in Buck hurriedly rushing him out and then crumpling the drawing afterward in angst.
Later, Mayor Dewey gets emotional again after seeing the shirts with the same drawing. The back story of Bill and Buck Dewey is currently unknown. In "Joy Ride", Buck says that his father always has to say something about everything he does because he's the "mayor's son".
Steven Universe
Bill hugging Steven in Ocean Gem.
In his first seen interaction with Steven, he was annoyed that Steven sprayed him with water. Since then, however, Dewey has repeatedly turned to Steven and the Crystal Gems in moments of crisis for the city.
He was incredibly grateful to Steven when he returned the ocean in time for the summer tourist rush. Steven helped Mayor Dewey save face with the town when the power went and seems to have gained Dewey's direct phone number in the process.
Steven believes Mayor Dewey sometimes lies to the townspeople because he loves them and wants to protect them.
Greg Universe
Greg cleaned Dewey's campaign van in the episode "Cat Fingers". Mayor Dewey was happy to accept a free cleaning as compensation for getting sprayed with the hose by Steven.
Residents of Beach City
Dewey believes that the citizens, whom he sometimes refers to as "the Boardies", of Beach City need to be coddled and distracted from the major issues of town. He knows that the city is a major site of unnatural activity and fears that if the people aren't kept calm they might riot (like in Ocean Town) or worse – not re-elect him.
Crystal Gems
Bill blushing over Pearl.
Mayor Dewey does not have much interaction with the Gems, other than when major things happen to the town, such as a power outage or the ocean disappearing.
He understands that the Gems have some connection to whatever unusual activity is happening to the town and is happy to let them take care of it. As the Gems live in Beach City, he tries to assert his authority over them in "Ocean Gem" by demanding they return the ocean.
Like most citizens of Beach City, he doesn't fully understand what the Crystal Gems are or what their relationship is with the Universe family. He knows they're Steven's caretakers and assumes they're his sisters.
He does, however, appear to be attracted to Pearl as shown in "Political Power". He refers to Garnet as "the tall one", Amethyst as "the purple one", and Pearl, revealingly, as "the hot one". He then swoons and blushes when she appears by the door.
In "Historical Friction", he leaves out the fact it was the Crystal Gems that helped his ancestor find Beach City. Mayor Dewey tries to impress Pearl by stating he wrote the play but becomes disheartened when she leaves for another seat.
Once the play is over and Steven credits the play's success to Pearl, Mayor Dewey thanks her for preserving his family's legacy. She gently pats him on the head and calls him a "friend", which causes him to blush and leave.
Episode Appearances
| Season 1 | ||||||||||||
| Season 1A | ||||||||||||
| 1. "Gem Glow": | Absent | 14. "Lars and the Cool Kids": | Appears | |||||||||
| 2. "Laser Light Cannon": | Absent | 15. "Onion Trade": | Absent | |||||||||
| 3. "Cheeseburger Backpack": | Absent | 16. "Steven the Sword Fighter": | Absent | |||||||||
| 4. "Together Breakfast": | Absent | 17. "Lion 2: The Movie": | Absent | |||||||||
| 5. "Frybo": | Absent | 18. "Beach Party": | Absent | |||||||||
| 6. "Cat Fingers": | Debut | 19. "Rose's Room": | Cameo | |||||||||
| 7. "Bubble Buddies": | Absent | 20. "Coach Steven": | Absent | |||||||||
| 8. "Serious Steven": | Absent | 21. "Joking Victim": | Appears | |||||||||
| 9. "Tiger Millionaire": | Absent | 22. "Steven and the Stevens": | Non-speaking | |||||||||
| 10. "Steven's Lion": | Absent | 23. "Monster Buddies": | Absent | |||||||||
| 11. "Arcade Mania": | Absent | 24. "An Indirect Kiss": | Absent | |||||||||
| 12. "Giant Woman": | Absent | 25. "Mirror Gem": | Appears | |||||||||
| 13. "So Many Birthdays": | Absent | 26. "Ocean Gem": | Appears | |||||||||
| Season 1B | ||||||||||||
| 27. "House Guest": | Absent | 40. "On the Run": | Absent | |||||||||
| 28. "Space Race": | Absent | 41. "Horror Club": | Absent | |||||||||
| 29. "Secret Team": | Absent | 42. "Winter Forecast": | Absent | |||||||||
| 30. "Island Adventure": | Absent | 43. "Maximum Capacity": | Pictured | |||||||||
| 31. "Keep Beach City Weird": | Pictured | 44. "Marble Madness": | Absent | |||||||||
| 32. "Fusion Cuisine": | Absent | 45. "Rose's Scabbard": | Absent | |||||||||
| 33. "Garnet's Universe": | Absent | 46. "Open Book": | Absent | |||||||||
| 34. "Watermelon Steven": | Absent | 47. "Shirt Club": | Appears | |||||||||
| 35. "Lion 3: Straight to Video": | Absent | 48. "Story for Steven": | Absent | |||||||||
| 36. "Warp Tour": | Absent | 49. "The Message": | Absent | |||||||||
| 37. "Alone Together": | Absent | 50. "Political Power": | Appears | |||||||||
| 38. "The Test": | Absent | 51. "The Return": | Appears | |||||||||
| 39. "Future Vision": | Absent | 52. "Jail Break": | Absent | |||||||||
| Season 2 | ||||||||||||
| 1. "Full Disclosure": | Non-speaking | 14. "Historical Friction": | Appears | |||||||||
| 2. "Joy Ride": | Mentioned | 15. "Friend Ship": | Absent | |||||||||
| 3. "Say Uncle": | Absent | 16. "Nightmare Hospital": | Absent | |||||||||
| 4. "Love Letters": | Absent | 17. "Sadie's Song": | Absent | |||||||||
| 5. "Reformed": | Absent | 18. "Catch and Release": | Absent | |||||||||
| 6. "Sworn to the Sword": | Absent | 19. "When It Rains": | Absent | |||||||||
| 7. "Rising Tides, Crashing Skies": | Appears | 20. "Back to the Barn": | Absent | |||||||||
| 8. "Keeping It Together": | Absent | 21. "Too Far": | Absent | |||||||||
| 9. "We Need to Talk": | Absent | 22. "The Answer": | Absent | |||||||||
| 10. "Chille Tid": | Absent | 23. "Steven's Birthday": | Absent | |||||||||
| 11. "Cry for Help": | Absent | 24. "It Could've Been Great": | Absent | |||||||||
| 12. "Keystone Motel": | Absent | 25. "Message Received": | Absent | |||||||||
| 13. "Onion Friend": | Absent | 26. "Log Date 7 15 2": | Absent | |||||||||
| Season 3 | |||||
| 1. "Super Watermelon Island": | Absent | 13. "Kiki's Pizza Delivery Service": | Absent | ||
| 2. "Gem Drill": | Absent | 14. "Monster Reunion": | Absent | ||
| 3. "Same Old World": | Absent | 15. "Alone at Sea": | Absent | ||
| 4. "Barn Mates": | Absent | 16. "Greg the Babysitter": | Absent | ||
| 5. "Hit the Diamond": | Absent | 17. "Gem Hunt": | Absent | ||
| 6. "Steven Floats": | Imagined | 18. "Crack the Whip": | Absent | ||
| 7. "Drop Beat Dad": | Absent | 19. "Steven vs. Amethyst": | Absent | ||
| 8. "Mr. Greg": | Absent | 20/21. "Bismuth": | Absent | ||
| 9. "Too Short to Ride": | Absent | 22. "Beta": | Absent | ||
| 10. "The New Lars": | Absent | 23. "Earthlings": | Absent | ||
| 11. "Beach City Drift": | Absent | 24. "Back to the Moon": | Absent | ||
| 12. "Restaurant Wars": | Absent | 25. "Bubbled": | Absent | ||
| Season 4 | |||||
| 1. "Kindergarten Kid": | Absent | 14. "The Zoo": | Absent | ||
| 2. "Know Your Fusion": | Absent | 15. "That Will Be All": | Absent | ||
| 3. "Buddy's Book": | Pictured | 16. "The New Crystal Gems": | Mentioned | ||
| 4. "Mindful Education": | Absent | 17. "Storm in the Room": | Absent | ||
| 5. "Future Boy Zoltron": | Absent | 18. "Rocknaldo": | Absent | ||
| 6. "Last One Out of Beach City": | Absent | 19. "Tiger Philanthropist": | Absent | ||
| 7. "Onion Gang": | Mentioned | 20. "Room for Ruby": | Absent | ||
| 8/9. "Gem Harvest": | Absent | 21. "Lion 4: Alternate Ending": | Absent | ||
| 10. "Three Gems and a Baby": | Absent | 22. "Doug Out": | Absent | ||
| 11. "Steven's Dream": | Absent | 23. "The Good Lars": | Absent | ||
| 12. "Adventures in Light Distortion": | Absent | 24. "Are You My Dad?": | Absent | ||
| 13. "Gem Heist": | Absent | 25. "I Am My Mom": | Absent | ||
| Season 5 | |||||
| 1. "Stuck Together": | Absent | 15. "Pool Hopping": | Absent | ||
| 2. "The Trial": | Absent | 16. "Letters to Lars": | Appears | ||
| 3. "Off Colors": | Absent | 17. "Can't Go Back": | Absent | ||
| 4. "Lars' Head": | Absent | 18. "A Single Pale Rose": | Absent | ||
| 5. "Dewey Wins": | Appears | 19. "Now We're Only Falling Apart": | Absent | ||
| 6. "Gemcation": | Absent | 20. "What's Your Problem?": | Absent | ||
| 7. "Raising the Barn": | Absent | 21. "The Question": | Absent | ||
| 8. "Back to the Kindergarten": | Absent | 22. "Made of Honor": | Absent | ||
| 9. "Sadie Killer": | Absent | 23/24. "Reunited": | Non-speaking | ||
| 10. "Kevin Party": | Absent | 25. "Legs From Here to Homeworld": | Absent | ||
| 11. "Lars of the Stars": | Absent | 26. "Familiar": | Absent | ||
| 12. "Jungle Moon": | Absent | 27. "Together Alone": | Absent | ||
| 13. "Your Mother and Mine": | Absent | 28. "Escapism": | Absent | ||
| 14. "The Big Show": | Absent | 29-32. "Change Your Mind": | Absent | ||
| Movie | ||||||||||||
| Steven Universe: The Movie | Non-speaking | |||||||||||
| Shorts | ||||||||||||
| 1. "Lion Loves to Fit in a Box": | Absent | |||||||||||
| 2. "The Classroom Gems: What Are Gems?": | Absent | |||||||||||
| 3. "We Are the Crystal Gems": | Cameo | |||||||||||
| 4. "The Classroom Gems: How Are Gems Made?": | Absent | |||||||||||
| 5. "Unboxing": | Absent | |||||||||||
| 6. "The Classroom Gems: Fusion": | Absent | |||||||||||
| 7. "Cooking with Lion": | Absent | |||||||||||
| 8. "Gem Karaoke": | Absent | |||||||||||
| 9. "Steven Reacts": | Absent | |||||||||||
| 10. "Video Chat": | Absent | |||||||||||
| 11. "Steven's Song Time": | Absent | |||||||||||
Trivia
- It is possible that his last name is based on Dewey Beach, in Delaware, one of the locations that inspired Beach City.
- Both his first name and his son's first name, Buck, are related to money. A "buck" and a "bill" are slang terms for paper currency.
- It is revealed in "Political Power" that Dewey has a crush on Pearl, as he refers to her as "the hot one".
- It is revealed in "Shirt Club" that his son used to help him make posters for his election campaigns when Buck was young.
- In "Rising Tides, Crashing Skies", Dewey's response to a cover-up implies there may be one actually in place.
- On page 62 of Steven Universe: Art & Origins there is a picture of a statue of him that reads "Big Bill Dewey – Founder" indicating that he was once meant to be the founder of Beach City.
Gallery
