| “ |
Sadie...? Do you ever get lonely... Even when you're around people? |
” |
| —"Island Adventure" | ||
Laramie Barriga, better known simply as Lars, is a resident of Beach City and an employee at the Big Donut with Sadie. He debuted in the Pilot.
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.
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 think much of them; It is worth noting that this too could be a facade. 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.
History
- Main article: Lars Barriga/History
Lars is seen listening to music at the Big Donut while Steven is putting up flyers for his dads guitar lessons. Buck then walks into the Big Donut which gets Lars' attention, Buck orders a caprese salad, when Sadie begins to tell Buck they only sell donuts, Lars' assures Buck that he will make Buck a salad running in the back with Sadie telling Lars they don't have vegetables at the Big Donut.
Lars is then seen walking in town when he is hit with a Guitar Dad T-Shirt by Buck and Steven, at first he thinks the shirt is garbage, but when notices that Buck made it, he begins to to accept shirt thanking buck for it. Lars is then seen at Mayor Dewey's bench commemoration, while there Steven begins launching T-Shirts at everyone which is revealed to be a design of a picture Buck made for his father when he was child, this makes Lars,Jenny, and Sour Cream laugh.
As Mayor Dewey and Steven drive through the city, they stop at the Big Donut where Lars and Sadie are cleaning all the melted ice cream from the power outage. Later Lars is seen with the crowd of people forming a mob, blaming Mayor Dewey for his failure to bring back the power
Lars is seen evacuating the city with the rest of the Beach City residents.
Lars can be seen sleeping outside the Big Donut while Sadie is cleaning.
Relationships
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.
Steven Universe
In early episodes, Lars appears to be annoyed by Steven because he sees him as a little kid that cramps his "cool teenager style". Steven is oblivious to this fact and, as younger kids often do, looks up to the older and cooler Lars and wants desperately to be his friend. He even goes so far as to call him his "BFF" in "Bubble Buddies", despite Lars blatantly making fun of and teasing him. In "Future Vision" Steven does not mind risking getting third-degree burns all over his body for a slim chance of receiving a high-five from Lars. However, he once became angry with Lars and called him a jerk for insulting his mother. As of "Lars and the Cool Kids", Lars and Steven find a way to connect and Lars is seemingly on better terms with Steven, having not insulted him since.
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
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.
Episode Appearances
| Season 1 | ||||||||||||
| Season 1A | ||||||||||||
| 1. "Gem Glow": | Appears | 14. "Lars and the Cool Kids": | Appears | |||||||||
| 2. "Laser Light Cannon": | Non-speaking | 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": | Appears | 18. "Beach Party": | Absent | |||||||||
| 6. "Cat Fingers": | Appears | 19. "Rose's Room": | Appears | |||||||||
| 7. "Bubble Buddies": | Appears | 20. "Coach Steven": | Appears | |||||||||
| 8. "Serious Steven": | Absent | 21. "Joking Victim": | Appears | |||||||||
| 9. "Tiger Millionaire": | Appears | 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": | Appears | 26. "Ocean Gem": | Appears | |||||||||
| Season 1B | ||||||||||||
| 27. "House Guest": | Absent | 40. "On the Run": | Absent | |||||||||
| 28. "Space Race": | Absent | 41. "Horror Club": | Appears | |||||||||
| 29. "Secret Team": | Absent | 42. "Winter Forecast": | Absent | |||||||||
| 30. "Island Adventure": | Appears | 43. "Maximum Capacity": | Absent | |||||||||
| 31. "Keep Beach City Weird": | Absent | 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": | Non-speaking | 47. "Shirt Club": | Appears | |||||||||
| 35. "Lion 3: Straight to Video": | Appears | 48. "Story for Steven": | Absent | |||||||||
| 36. "Warp Tour": | Absent | 49. "The Message": | Absent | |||||||||
| 37. "Alone Together": | Appears | 50. "Political Power": | Appears | |||||||||
| 38. "The Test": | Absent | 51. "The Return": | Non-speaking | |||||||||
| 39. "Future Vision": | Appears | 52. "Jail Break": | Absent | |||||||||
| Season 2 | ||||||||||||
| 1. "Full Disclosure": | Non-speaking | 14. "Historical Friction": | Cameo | |||||||||
| 2. "Joy Ride": | Absent | 15. "Friend Ship": | Absent | |||||||||
| 3. "Say Uncle": | Appears | 16. "Nightmare Hospital": | Absent | |||||||||
| 4. "Love Letters": | Absent | 17. "Sadie's Song": | Non-speaking | |||||||||
| 5. "Reformed": | Absent | 18. "Catch and Release": | Absent | |||||||||
| 6. "Sworn to the Sword": | Absent | 19. "When It Rains": | Absent | |||||||||
| 7. "Rising Tides, Crashing Skies": | Absent | 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": | Appears | 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": | Absent | 16. "The New Crystal Gems": | Non-speaking | ||
| 4. "Mindful Education": | Absent | 17. "Storm in the Room": | Absent | ||
| 5. "Future Boy Zoltron": | Appears | 18. "Rocknaldo": | Absent | ||
| 6. "Last One Out of Beach City": | Absent | 19. "Tiger Philanthropist": | Appears | ||
| 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": | Appears | ||
| 12. "Adventures in Light Distortion": | Absent | 24. "Are You My Dad?": | Appears | ||
| 13. "Gem Heist": | Absent | 25. "I Am My Mom": | Appears | ||
| Shorts | ||||||||||||
| 1. "Lion Loves to Fit in a Box": | Appears | |||||||||||
| 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
- 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.
Young Lars as seen in "Horror Club"
- 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.[1]
- 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 sighted 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.[2] 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 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.[3]
- Lars was originally designed with black hair and a darker skin tone.
- It is revealed in "The New Lars" that he sleeps naked.
Galleries
Lars Barriga.
Lars Barriga.