| This article is about the corrupted Gem known as "Centipeetle". You may be looking for other Nephrites, or the Centipeetle constructs. |
| “ |
I'm sorry for my failure to heed my Hessonite's evacuation orders. My team and I tried our best to make it out before the attack, but... but you're here, it must've worked. You finally avenged Pink Diamond! You destroyed Rose Quartz! |
” |
| —"Legs From Here to Homeworld" | ||
Nephrite (specifically Nephrite Facet-413 Cabochon-12), also known as the Centipeetle Mother in her corrupted state, is a formerly-corrupted Homeworld Gem that debuted in "Gem Glow". Before her corruption, she was the captain of a squadron that served Pink Diamond and a Hessonite commander. She was sent to Earth 5,750 years ago in a ship to colonize Earth, and later was trapped on Earth during the Rebellion. She used to reside in her old ship after being reunited with her crewmates in "Monster Reunion" until "Legs From Here to Homeworld", where Nephrite was uncorrupted temporarily by Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond, and Steven, with seemingly no memory of being corrupted afterwards. She was later uncorrupted permanently with her memories intact in "Change Your Mind". Now being healed and restored, she is currently living at Little Homeworld, partaking in Little Homeschool.
Appearance
Corrupted
Nephrite's corrupted form is that of a giant centipede-like creature, known as a "Centipeetle". She is composed of roughly thirteen (visible) dark-green segments (excluding the head and the rear) that each bear one pair of similarly colored legs. The final segment bears no legs, but what appears to be a pair of claw-like cerci. Each of these segments is covered on the top side with a solid crystal covering. Her head is composed primarily of a large pair of jaws/mandibles with a gem in the back of the "mouth". This gem is circular in shape and colored light green with dark green contour lines surrounding the circumference of the gem, connecting to a circular shape. Her gem seems to act as her iris, being in the middle of what would rationally be a sclera. It also features a green crystal protuberance on the base of the head that forms a broken horn-like structure. She has a flowing, light-cream colored mane immediately behind her head.
Small
After being released from the bubble in "Monster Buddies" and regenerating, she appears in an all-around reduced form. Her body is reduced to only two segments, and her mane, head, and cerci have been reduced in size as well probably indicating that she has to grow over time. This can be seen as Nephrite grows throughout the episode. Her gem now comprises the entirety of her whole eyeball instead of just the iris, and the gem on her head is now gone.
Semi-Corrupted
While her mind is still damaged by the Diamonds, her form takes on a more humanoid appearance thanks to Steven's healing. Her body appears more humanoid, and her head is slightly different from her fully corrupted form, her eye is no longer inside of her mouth. Her posterior exhibits an insect-like abdomen, which is tipped with claw-like cerci. She wears a torn-up light gray midriff that tapers off of her right shoulder, brown gloves and boots that reach her mid-calf, and what appears to be a black bodysuit with green accents similar in style to Pearl's in "Space Race".
Uncorrupted
With the combined efforts of Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond, and Steven, Nephrite was uncorrupted temporarily. The bodysuit she wears is almost identical to the one she wears in her semi-corrupted form, now with a Pink Diamond insignia on the center of her chest. Much like her semi-corrupted form, her face is green, and she has plump lips similar to Amethyst's. Additionally, her white hair is significantly reduced, now a flipped out bob cut – tufting both inwards and outwards. Her black-and-green bodysuit now has a light green coat tail, two white tufts of fur on her shoulders and she now wears a black skull cap over her hair. Her boots and gloves are dark brown. In Steven Universe Future's title sequence, she is shown to have six short, conical spines on her upper arms and dark green sclerites on her forearms, signifying a corruption scar.
Personality
Like nearly all corrupted Gems, Nephrite was aggressive, disoriented, and practically feral. She did show to form a strong and trusting relationship with Steven when she was still corrupted, however. When she was initially uncorrupted, she appeared very nervous and shook up, only calming down with Steven’s help and calming touch. When she was able to speak she showed herself to be a strong and loyal character, addressing the Diamonds in a professional way.
History
Pre-Corruption
Nephrite was created before the Rebellion for Pink Diamond. Nephrite and her squadron were ordered to travel to Earth on an Ancient Gem Colony Ship with the plans of colonizing the planet. Once the Rebellion had begun, Nephrite and her crew fought in the war, but Nephrite eventually got split up and was on her own. Nephrite's commander, Hessonite, ordered all the Gems to retreat either through the ships or Warp Pads, but she had been left behind, unable to escape. She was then corrupted, along with nearly every other Gem that remained on Earth, by a power used by the Diamonds.
Corruption
In "Gem Glow", Nephrite attacks the Temple along with a bunch of little Centipeetles that she summons. Once the infestation appears to be over, Nephrite returns. To prove himself worthy, and to protect the Crystal Gems, Steven throws his Cookie Cat refrigerator at Nephrite, electrocuting her, and Nephrite is poofed and bubbled.
In "Monster Buddies", Steven accidentally pops Nephrite's bubble, and she transforms into a smaller, less menacing version of herself. When the other Gems come to protect Steven from the apparent threat, Steven defends Nephrite, and the Gems let him try to train her. Steven eats Chaaaaps, which attracts Nephrite, and Nephrite displays enjoyment for Chaaaaps. When a seagull comes to try and take the chips away, Nephrite comes to Steven's rescue and attacks it. Later, Garnet explains that Nephrite could be used on a mission to retrieve the Shooting Star. Traveling through the ice caves, Nephrite easily uses her corrosive liquid to erode the cave walls and get to the Shooting Star. When the cave is about to collapse, Nephrite pushes Steven out of the way of a falling icicle and sacrifices herself. She is bubbled once more.
In "Monster Reunion", Steven's healing spit is back and he convinces the Gems to let him try and heal Nephrite with his power. He does so, but Nephrite transforms into a semi-corrupt form, gaining humanoid arms and legs but still not being able to speak properly. Steven convinces the Gems to let Nephrite stay, and later, Nephrite and Steven communicate through art. Nephrite tells Steven her backstory and then begins to revert to her corrupted form. Steven tries to heal her again but to no avail. Nephrite attempts to use the warp pad but cannot, so she reveals to Steven that she wants to go to her ship. Steven takes her there, and on the way, Nephrite reverts to her corrupted form completely. Inside the ship are other Nephrites that look exactly like herself, and it is revealed through Nephrite's writing (which is in the Gem language) that it was her crew members that were waiting for her to return home. Nephrite is currently living inside of the ship with her crew.
In "Legs From Here to Homeworld", Steven shows Nephrite to Yellow and Blue Diamond as a result of what their attack did. After convincing them to help her, Steven, Yellow, and Blue combine their powers and transform Nephrite back to her normal state. Upon seeing Yellow and Blue, Nephrite apologizes for not being able to retreat in time of the attack and believes that they finally returned to Earth and avenged Pink Diamond by destroying Rose Quartz, revealing she has no memory of her time corrupted. Upon hearing this, Yellow and Blue let go of her, causing Nephrite to revert into her monstrous Centipeetle form. Yellow tells Steven that in order to permanently heal Nephrite and the other Corrupted Gems, they need help from White Diamond.
Post-Corruption
In "Change Your Mind," Nephrite is one of the first gems Steven and the Diamonds uncorrupt permanently. In her Centipeetle form, she dives after some Chaaaaps that Amethyst throws into Rose's fountain and emerges healed, where she and Steven gleefully greet each other.
Abilities
Nephrite possesses standard Gem abilities: bubbling, shapeshifting, fusion, regeneration, agelessness, gravity shifting, photokinesis, gem storage, and superhuman strength/durability.
Skillset
- Piloting: It was revealed in "Monster Reunion" that she was a space captain. She shares the ability to pilot Homeworld ships with Peridot, Pearl, and "Doc".
Corrupted Form Abilities
Acid emitted from corrupted Nephrite's mouth that disintegrates the floor.
While corrupted, Nephrite is capable of eating with her mouth despite her eye blocking her throat, thus making it so that there are no visible means of having the ingested food reach any stomach.
- Hybrid Arthropod Physiology: Due to having the appearance of two arthropods (while corrupted), specifically a centipede and a beetle, Nephrite has the innate abilities of both organisms.
- Chilopoda Physiology: Like a centipede, Nephrite uses her jaws to attack enemies or prey. Both employ deadly substances in their attacks. The centipede uses venom while Nephrite uses a corrosive liquid.
- Coleopteran Physiology: Like a beetle, Nephrite's defenses are increased due to the hard gem-like covering each segment possesses.
- Climbing Skills: She can climb vertical walls and sheer cliff faces.
- Creature Creation: Nephrite can produce and command Centipeetles that aid her in battle.
- Corrosive Acid Generation: She can produce an extremely corrosive substance that can easily erode various materials, ranging from wood to stone to ice. She can use this corrosive substance as a projectile to attack from afar or assault enemies with a constant torrent of the substance to easily break down their defenses.
- Rotative Spitting: In "Monster Buddies", the small corrupted Nephrite is shown to be able to rotate her head in a complete circle. She utilized this ability when she spun her head rapidly and sprayed her corrosive substance, showering the immediate area in a manner extremely similar to that of a sprinkler.
Relationships
Steven Universe
| “ |
You love chips, and I love chips! We love chips from Chaaaaps! |
” |
| —"Monster Reunion" | ||
Steven embracing Nephrite.
Initially, Nephrite is presented as an antagonist to Steven, with she and her underlings attacking the Crystal Temple and the Crystal Gems. When she saw the Crystal Gems, she was more terrified because she was being "attacked" by them. Nephrite was a Corrupted Gem, and as such, she had animalistic behavior, and so the Crystal Gems were not close to terms with her. Such behavior causes Steven to electrocute and poof her to protect the Crystal Gems.
However, when Steven accidentally releases her from her bubble and decides to train her, she is enticed by the aroma of Chaaaaps which allows her to trust and form a bond with Steven.
Steven reminding Nephrite about their last time together.
Nephrite is seen to be protective and motherly towards Steven, as when Steven is harmed by any threat Nephrite sees, such as the Seagull who bit him in "Monster Buddies", she spits acid at them to save her friend. She is even willing to risk her life for Steven, such as when she sacrificed herself to save him from a falling rock.
After being healed by Steven and entering her semi-corrupted form, Nephrite, at first, does not appear to remember him. However, after Steven opens a bag of Chaaaaps, her memories begin to return, and she starts remembering him, and her memories of before she was corrupted. Steven helps her reunite with her crew, showing the bond between them. Nephrite appears to be very friendly towards Steven, retaining this feeling even after reverting to her fully corrupted form.
Upon being fully healed in "Change Your Mind", Steven happily greets Nephrite who appears to recognize and remember him upon seeing him again. Later on, she and Steven were conversing with the now-Uncorrupted Watermelon Tourmaline, Ocean Jasper, and Biggs Jasper when Jasper finally emerged from the healing waters. Sometime later, Nephrite and Steven are still talking with one another as most of the Corrupted Gems are now cured.
Crystal Gems
Nephrite's relationship with the Gems was antagonistic at first. They did not have a clear interaction because of Nephrite's hostility. At some point, she gained a fear of Garnet's gauntlets even when she summoned them for other purposes. After being healed by Steven, Nephrite made drawings regarding the events of the war in Gem language that only the Crystal Gems decoded, one of them being the whereabouts of her crew.
Nephrite's current relationship with the Gems is unknown, but she is likely on good terms with them, just as she is with Steven.
Nephrite's Crew
Nephrite's former crew also turned into Centipeetles. They were with Nephrite when they came to Earth. As her subordinates, they presumably respected her authority and followed her orders. Nephrite and her crew appear happy to be reunited in "Monster Reunion", all currently living at the Ancient Gem Colony Ship. As of "Change Your Mind", Nephrite and her Crew were greeted by Steven who showed them to White Diamond as Steven and Blue Diamond came up with a plan to uncorrupt the Nephrites along with all of the other Corrupted Gems. They were then led to Rose's Fountain as the Diamonds planned to bathe in the waters and use their energies to uncorrupt the Corrupted Gems en masse, seeing as the first Corrupted Gems began to return to their original selves, Nephrite's crewmembers scurried into the pool and bathed in the Diamond-infused waters returning to their normal selves again as Amethyst tossed in the bag of Chaaps that their captain was chewing on into the pool near them as Nephrite dived right in and became uncorrupted and warmly greeted by Steven. They then soon saw as Watermelon Tourmaline emerged from the pool near them, soon followed by Biggs Jasper, who was happily tackled back into the pool by an exuberant Bismuth, glad that her best friend was returned to normal again.
The Great Diamond Authority
Before her corruption, Nephrite served the Diamonds, and Pink Diamond in particular.
In "Monster Reunion", the half-corrupted Nephrite demonstrates knowledge that she was corrupted by the Diamonds' attack, and becomes traumatized when recalling the event.
In "Legs From Here to Homeworld", Nephrite appears to recognize Blue and Yellow Diamond even while corrupted, as her jaw drops shortly after noticing them. Upon being uncorrupted, Nephrite expresses typical Homeworld Gem loyalty to them and joyfully assumes that they destroyed Rose Quartz.
Episode Appearances
| Season 1 | ||||||||||||
| Season 1A | ||||||||||||
| 1. "Gem Glow": | Debut | 14. "Lars and the Cool Kids": | Absent | |||||||||
| 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": | Absent | 19. "Rose's Room": | Absent | |||||||||
| 7. "Bubble Buddies": | Absent | 20. "Coach Steven": | Absent | |||||||||
| 8. "Serious Steven": | Absent | 21. "Joking Victim": | Absent | |||||||||
| 9. "Tiger Millionaire": | Absent | 22. "Steven and the Stevens": | Absent | |||||||||
| 10. "Steven's Lion": | Absent | 23. "Monster Buddies": | Appears | |||||||||
| 11. "Arcade Mania": | Absent | 24. "An Indirect Kiss": | Absent | |||||||||
| 12. "Giant Woman": | Absent | 25. "Mirror Gem": | Absent | |||||||||
| 13. "So Many Birthdays": | Absent | 26. "Ocean Gem": | Flashback | |||||||||
| 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": | 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": | Absent | 47. "Shirt Club": | Absent | |||||||||
| 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": | Absent | |||||||||
| 38. "The Test": | Absent | 51. "The Return": | Absent | |||||||||
| 39. "Future Vision": | Absent | 52. "Jail Break": | Absent | |||||||||
| Season 3 | |||||
| 1. "Super Watermelon Island": | Absent | 13. "Kiki's Pizza Delivery Service": | Absent | ||
| 2. "Gem Drill": | Absent | 14. "Monster Reunion": | Appears | ||
| 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": | Mentioned | ||
| 6. "Steven Floats": | Absent | 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 5 | |||||
| 1. "Stuck Together": | Absent | 15. "Pool Hopping": | Absent | ||
| 2. "The Trial": | Absent | 16. "Letters to Lars": | Absent | ||
| 3. "Off Colors": | Absent | 17. "Can't Go Back": | Absent | ||
| 4. "Lars' Head": | Absent | 18. "A Single Pale Rose": | Absent | ||
| 5. "Dewey Wins": | Absent | 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": | Absent | ||
| 10. "Kevin Party": | Absent | 25. "Legs From Here to Homeworld": | Appears | ||
| 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": | Non-speaking | ||
| Future | |||||
| 1. "Little Homeschool": | Absent | 11. "In Dreams": | Absent | ||
| 2. "Guidance": | Absent | 12. "Bismuth Casual": | Absent | ||
| 3. "Rose Buds": | Absent | 13. "Together Forever": | Absent | ||
| 4. "Volleyball": | Absent | 14. "Growing Pains": | Flashback | ||
| 5. "Bluebird": | Absent | 15. "Mr. Universe": | Absent | ||
| 6. "A Very Special Episode": | Absent | 16. "Fragments": | Absent | ||
| 7. "Snow Day": | Absent | 17. "Homeworld Bound": | Absent | ||
| 8. "Why So Blue?": | Absent | 18. "Everything's Fine": | Absent | ||
| 9. "Little Graduation": | Absent | 19. "I Am My Monster": | Absent | ||
| 10. "Prickly Pair": | Absent | 20. "The Future": | Absent | ||
Trivia
- Her confirmed instrument that plays in her themes is the Synth Gamelan.[1]
- When Nephrite was reforming herself after she escaped from the bubble, she briefly took a humanoid-like form before taking her corrupted form.
Nephrite's transformation after being released from bubble by Steven.
- It was revealed in "Ocean Gem" that Nephrite, along with most of the monsters previously fought, used to be humanoid Gems. The Corrupting Light, an attack launched by the Diamonds around 4,500 years ago that was intended to obliterate all gems on the planet, corrupted the Crystal Gems and stranded Homeworld Gems alike.
- Nephrite is the first corrupted Gem to be shown and the first that Steven defeats. She is also the first to be released from her bubble, be (temporarily) healed, and to display some level of higher intelligence.
- Her gemstone bears a resemblance to a Poké Ball from the Japanese franchise Pokémon.
- Her corrupted form's name ("Centipeetle") is a portmanteau of the words "centipede" and "beetle".
Healed gemstone
- When semi-corrupted, her gemstone's design slightly differs from when she is corrupted and remains altered throughout the rest of her appearances. It is possible that this is an example of retroactive continuity (retconning), as corruption has not been shown to change gemstones at any other point in the future, and Nephrite's gem never changes again.
- Nephrite serves as the antagonist of the iOS game, Crystal Gem Smash.
- Nephrite is the first Corrupted Gem to reform onscreen.
- As shown in "Monster Reunion", Nephrite is literate in the Gem language even while she is still semi-corrupted.
- Nephrite, although unable to communicate properly through speech while corrupted, was able to state where her crew was in the Gem language's writing system legibly.
- Nephrite's semi-corrupted form bears resemblance to the villain "Zorak" from the Space Ghost metaseries.
- Nephrite's fully-corrupted form bears resemblance to a Magtail, a type of monster from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, including a centipede-like body shape with a single eye in the center of its mouth. However, unlike Nephrite, the Magtail's jaws open horizontally.
- Nephrite (as the Centipeetle Mother) shares the same voice with a mouth part available in Spore that appears with three other members during the Tribal stage.[2] These are both voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, so it is likely that he used the same sound effect for the role.
- Although stated by the Crewniverse that a Gem cannot change the location of their gemstone, Nephrite's gem has moved from her oropharynx, in her corrupted form, to her face, in her semi-corrupted form, although it functions as an eye in both forms. This means that through corruption a Gem may be able to change their gem's location.
- However, this may be due to her physiology in her corrupted form, as she does not have a defined face in said form.
- It is possible that the location of the gemstone can be changed, but much like changing the base body, it puts them under severe stress, but is in fact possible. This is likely as corruption also alters the base form of the Gem. It has also been shown that the orientation/angle of the gemstone can be changed, but appears to only happen with immense effort or stress.
- When she is uncorrupted, her gemstone appears to be the largest in relation to body size of any other type of gem shown so far.
- According to Yellow Diamond, Nephrite is a "perfectly adequate" Gem when uncorrupted.
- Before Steven helps Yellow and Blue Diamond heal Nephrite temporarily, Nephrite repeats "No, please, no! No, no, we're all gonna be-"'". This is most likely what she said immediately before being corrupted.
- Nephrite is the only Gem to be included in the intro sequence for Steven Universe Future but not make an appearance in the show itself.
- She does briefly appear in a flashback in her corrupted form.
- Nephrite's voice actress Aparna Nancherla also voices the Jades and their fusion in "Together Alone".
- As nephrite is one of two minerals traded as "jade" in real life (the other being jadeite), the Jades and Nephrite sharing a voice actress may imply that Nephrite-type Gems are types of Jade in the series. Although their appearances suggest this casting choice is simply a nod to real-world mineralogy, and that Nephrite and Jade are two separate types regardless.
- Nephrite's identification, facet-413 cabochon-12, is likely a reference to the webcomic Homestuck, where the numbers 413 and 612 are symbolically important; one of the storyboard artists for the episode where these numbers are given, Danny Cragg, is a close friend of Homestuck's author, and his spouse Shelby was responsible for the in-character drawings of one of Homestuck's key characters, Calliope.
Gemstone
| Image | Description |
|---|---|
| Nephrite's gemstone is located where her eye is supposed to be and serves as one. When corrupted this function remains. However, the location moves to her oropharynx. It is a green spherical cabochon with a black band-like structure around it which forms an eye-like ring at the front. |
Galleries
Nephrite.
Nephrite.
References
- ↑ "We're aivi & surasshu, the music composers of Steven Universe. Ask us anything ♫" – r/stevenuniverse on Reddit
- ↑ "Steven Universe to Spore Comparison. Centipeetle Voice." – via YouTube
| v • e Corrupted Gems | ||||
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| v • eHomeworld Gems | ||||
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