Garnet: We need to be bigger. Steven: Then let's fuse, all four of us! It's the only way we're gonna get up to her head! Amethyst: I'm in! Pearl: I'm in, too.
”
—Garnet, Steven, Amethyst, and Pearl before forming Obsidian, "Change Your Mind"
Obsidian is a massive fusion with eight arms, glowing orange eyes, gray skin, and slightly curly charcoal-black hair that reaches their knees. The skin and hair have bright orange markings, which appear to be lava. They have plump lips, and their knee caps are diamond-shaped. Steven's clothes can be seen on second left hand, a reference to where Steven's laundry is hung up in the Crystal Temple.
They also flaunt a secondary face (or "mask") where their forehead would be. This "mask" exhibits a combination of the component Gems' facial features, with a nose resembling Pearl's and a non-functional mouth with plump lips similar to Amethyst's. The "mask" itself also has its own pair of functional eyes, giving Obsidian four eyes in total. The seam between the face and the "mask" opens up like a lid, revealing a gaping third mouth lined with sharp fang-like teeth. The third mouth is filled with lava that Obsidian uses to forge their sword.
Their appearance greatly resembles that of the Crystal Temple's statue figure.
All the components' gemstones appear solid black.
Personality
Obsidian does not speak, only making vocalizations such as growls and roars. They have a ferocious side, as demonstrated when they roared into the eye of the Diamond Mech. However, they do retain their love of their friends as they protected Connie from falling.
In an effort to ascend the complete Diamond Mech, Steven suggests that the four core members of the Crystal Gems should fuse. The other Gems agree, and Garnet declares that it is time to form Obsidian. Garnet, Steven, Pearl, and Amethyst soon perform a fusion dance before coming together to form Obsidian. As Obsidian lets out a tumultuous roar and the other Crystal Gems express their awe in seeing Obsidian, the Diamond Mech soon returns. Obsidian begins to climb up the mech briskly while Connie, Bismuth, Peridot, and Lapis distract the upper part of the mech.
After ascending most of the mech, Obsidian begins to summon their weapon, a gigantic greatsword. Doing so leads to the attack of the Diamond Mech, managing to slice the wrist of the mech's right arm, and in half for the left arm. They then proceed to immediately thrust their sword into the mech's chest, and Obsidian then leaps onto the mech's face, roaring into its eye. Thrown off-balance, the Diamond Mech proceeds to tumble throughout the Homeworld city, ramming its face into a pillar and unfusing Obsidian.
During Steven's traumatic flashbacks, he remembers the moment when he was bashed into a wall by the Diamond Mech, while fused as Obsidian.
Abilities
Obsidian's sword.
Obsidian's sword's hilt.
1/2
Obsidian possesses standard Gem abilities: bubbling, shapeshifting, fusion, regeneration, agelessness, gravity shifting, weapon-Summoning, photokinesis, gem storage, and superhuman strength/durability. As the fusion of all four (five, counting Ruby and Sapphire separately) core members of the Crystal Gems, Obsidian is presumably the strongest fusion so far in the series, possibly stronger than both Malachite and Alexandrite.
Skillset
Obsidian summoning their greatsword.
Greatsword Proficiency: Obsidian forms the hilt of their sword by combining Pearl's spear, Steven's shield, Garnet's gauntlets and Amethyst's whip; Obsidian then smelts the blade of the sword by opening up a third mouth full of lava and sticking the hilt into their mouth. The red-hot sword that they pull out of their mouth is then capable of slicing through nearly anything, as it destroys Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond's ships with seeming ease. The sword has a series of runes that run up the length of the blade, though the meaning of these runes is unknown. (It is very likely to mean "Everyone" or "Together" from a theory.)
Natural Abilities
Immense Strength & Durability: Obsidian has immense amounts of physical strength and durability because she's a fusion of many different Gems, including a Diamond, she can leap massive distances and is logically stronger than Alexandrite.
Unique Abilities
Amalgam Physiology: Due to their nature as a Fusion, Obsidian possesses the potential to use all the summoned weapons and innate abilities of their component Gems and the smaller Fusions within them, however, these abilities may be blunted by the complexity of the other components, causing them to become functionally unusable, or taking an extreme amount of concentration to make use of. Alternatively, abilities can also be buffed by the gained components.
Future Vision: Obsidian possesses Sapphire's future vision, however, it is useless as the number of Gems make it sound like "a cacophony of noise" according to Rebecca Sugar.[1]
Pyrokinesis: When Obsidian was eventually formed, their eyes produced a fiery aura. This ability appears to be a buff of Ruby's thermal regulation and pyrokinetic touch.
Enhanced Grip: Obsidian can scale any surface, such as the Diamond Mech, easily using just their bare hands, and without the need for extra tools such as Sunstone's suction cups. Steven is shown using this ability on his own in Steven Universe: The Movie,
Obsidian opening their third mouth.
although it appears very difficult, while Obsidian does so with ease.
Lava Generation: Obsidian's third mouth acts as a forge and is filled with lava, which they use to craft their greatsword by putting the sword hilt near their mouth. This ability seems to be exclusive to Obsidian (Rose Quartz) and Obsidian (Steven), and not obtained from any of the gems smaller forms, although this may be an amplified reflection of Ruby's thermokinesis. Meaning anything themed about lava on Obsidian is a reflection of the thermokinesis.
Obsidian lending Connie their hand to save her from falling to her death.
Connie, along with the other Crystal Gems, was in awe when first witnessing Obsidian's appearance.
Just like their components, Obsidian cares about Connie's well-being. This is demonstrated when they save Connie from falling. After being caught, Connie draws her sword in an attempt to take on the mech herself, but decides to let Obsidian handle it after they summon their own sword.
The name of Obsidian was first seen in the Steven Universe: Art & Origins book, as an older name for the Crystal Temple (being called the "Obsidian Temple").
Obsidian was formed before with Rose. Rose's Obsidian fusion is the basis of the statue that makes up the Crystal Temple and was the fusion that led William Dewey to the beach where he established Beach City.[2]
According to Joe Johnston's Tumblr, Obsidian uses both she/her and they/them pronouns.
Obsidian is the first 5 cross-gem fusion seen in the show.
Obsidian is Garnet's only known fusion who doesn't wear some variation of her visor.
Obsidian is also Ruby and Sapphire's only known fusion to not wear their wedding rings from "Reunited".
Despite the inclusion of Pearl and Steven, Obsidian has fewer eyes than Sugilite (four as opposed to Sugilite's five).
Obsidian is the second fusion that Steven has had to dance with in order to fuse in their debut appearance, the first being Stevonnie.
Cultural References
The fact that Obsidian has the ability to create/hold lava within their body may be a reference to the fact that, in real life, obsidian is a type of volcanic glass formed when felsic lava cools.
One of the uses of obsidian in human history is as material for cutting and piercing tools. This is referenced through Obsidian's weapon of choice in the form of a sword, its extreme sharpness mirroring the real-life obsidian's own.
Obsidian blades were the primary material components of Aztec weapons like the Macuahuitl, mainly arrowheads and speartips.
Obsidian's sword strongly resembles both the Flameblade and the Great Flameblade from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The sword's fiery properties and color resemble the Flameblade and Great Flameblade while the sword blade's outline more resembles the Great Frostblade, and all three blades have geometric patterns on the blade surface.
Obsidian's sword also bears a coincidental resemblance to the Crucible from Doom Eternal, including the hilt, arcane text on the molten blade, and method of creation. However, this episode debuted over a year before the game's release.
Obsidian bears a resemblance to the Hindu war goddess Kali, who is commonly depicted as an ash-skinned or blue-skinned warrior woman with many arms and long black hair. However, this is unconfirmed to be the design inspiration of Obsidian.
Obsidian's formation to combat White Diamond may be a reference to the fact that while diamonds are a crystalline mineral, obsidian is not an actual mineral (it is, instead, mineral-like glass) and lacks a crystal structure entirely, as the lava that forms it cools too quickly for crystals to form. This is ironic given that they are the fusion of all the core Crystal Gems.
Additionally, their coloration could be a reference to colors in terms of light versus pigmentation. In light, white is the presence of all colors and the absence of colors in pigmentation. Black is the absence of light, but the presence of multiple or all colors in pigmentation.
Pearl's gemstone on Obsidian. It is a smooth ellipsoidal cabochon in the shape of an oval.
All far-distance renders of the other gems displayed on Obsidian. They are all polyhedral, specifically truncated dipyramids. Though not seen, they are faceted.
Galleries
Click to view the gallery for Obsidian.
Click to view the designs for Obsidian.
Video
Steven Universe Battle of Heart and Mind Crystal Gems form Obsidian Cartoon Network
