Ruby

“	That's what you think! I'm an eternal flame, baby!	”
—"Keystone Motel"

Ruby
Nickname(s)	Eternal Flame (Herself)
Characteristics
Weapon(s)	Gauntlet
Gender Pronoun	She/Her
Traits
Gemstone	Ruby
Professional Status
Occupation(s)	Guardian
Personal Status
Status	Active (fused)
Friend(s)	Sapphire (Romantic partner) Crystal Gems
Media
First Appearance	"Jail Break"
Voice Actor	Charlyne Yi

"Ruby" is a Crystal Gem that debuted in "Jail Break", but had a small cameo in Fusion Cuisine. She is currently fused with Sapphire as Garnet.

Appearance

Ruby has light-crimson skin and maroon hair. She wears a maroon tank top, a matching colored headband around thick and fluffy, outgrown hair cropped at the neck, mid-thigh length burgundy shorts, and short, pointed maroon boots similar to Amethyst's. She is a few inches taller than Steven.

Personality

She embodies Garnet's fury and courage, contrasting Sapphire, who rather embodies Garnet's cool nature, discipline and kindness. She seems to not be very conversant, a trait which she carries onto Garnet, as Ruby mumbles and speaks somewhat awkwardly. She is shown to be very hot-headed, and has a very short temper. Ruby is very dramatic as well, even referring to herself as an "eternal flame". Ruby also places much value in trust and fusion, being absolutely outraged with Pearl when she learned she was tricked into fusing into Sardonyx and angered at the revelation of Peridot's experiments.

According to Rebecca Sugar, Ruby "has no sense of what’s going on around her" and "can only focus on one thing only at the expense of all things".

Abilities

File:Ruby's weapon-0.png

Ruby's Gauntlet

Ruby possesses standard Gem abilities and traits. Ruby can fuse to form Garnet, Sugilite, Alexandrite and Sardonyx. Ruby seems to possess a higher degree of strength than most Gems, as she was able to shake the walls of her prison with a single punch, lift Sapphire with little effort in "Jail Break", and flip a diner booth table with relative ease in "Keystone Motel".

Skillset

• Gauntlet Proficiency: Through sheer anger and feeling the need to release this through violence, Ruby is able to summon her gauntlet. Although only seen once in the series, it is clear that Ruby possesses some knowledge of how to use it.

Unique Abilities

• Thermo-regulation: Ruby is able to increase her core temperature. This is shown in "Keystone Motel", when her body gets so hot that it begins burning the carpet of the motel room, and when she boils the pool to nothing but steam in a very short amount of time. It is also shown to relate to Ruby's anger because when she gets furious, she increases her temperature subconsciously.

Color Palettes

• Day/Regular
• Night

Image	Description
	Ruby's day/regular color palette.

Image	Description
File:Noche.png	Ruby's color palette at night.

Relationships

Sapphire

“	Sapphire... No, no no no no no! This is all my fault! I-I didn't want to look for a solution, I-I just wanted to be mad! Y-You're right! You're always right! I was being stupid!	”
—"Keystone Motel"

Ruby, embracing Sapphire.

She and Sapphire have a romantic relationship, shown in "Jail Break", when she immediately panics when realizing that the two have been separated and becomes reckless trying to find her, trying to pass through the energy field (as hinted by the screams of pain heard in the beginning of the episode), running around without checking if Peridot and Jasper are around and loudly shouting for Sapphire whenever she stops singing. When she finds Sapphire, the two embrace and Sapphire kisses away Ruby's tears, showing their romantic relationship. Ruby cares strongly for Sapphire's well-being as she expressed deep concern for possible injury. Garnet's dialogue in "Love Letters" implies that Ruby and Sapphire's relationship developed gradually over a period of time. The episode, "Keystone Motel", reveals that their relationship can be strained at times due to Sapphire's future vision causing her to be preoccupied with the outcome of events, instead of the events as they happen. This puts her at odds with the passionate Ruby who very much lives "in the now". In the said episode, Ruby was furious over Pearl's deception in "Cry for Help", but Sapphire wasn't because she had seen that in the future they would all get along again- this greatly irritated Ruby as she felt that Sapphire was acting cold, uncaring, emotionless and distant.

Steven Universe

“	No! Steven, it's all us!	”
—"Keystone Motel"

File:KeystoneMotel nogoodnamefound.png

Steven, trying to calm Ruby down.

At first, Ruby seemed cold and distant towards Steven due to wanting to find Sapphire as quickly as possible. Despite this, Ruby cares deeply for Steven, as shown when she tries to tell him not to put his hand through the force field for his own safety. Also, Garnet says that both her and Sapphire had already loved Steven when he asked if he made a good first impression. She was also upset by the fact that their plan of revealing themselves on Steven's birthday had failed, apparent when she said to Steven, "Oh, great! This is just perfect!" and "Don't look at me". In Keystone Motel, she obliges in Steven's attempts to calm her down, and upon seeing how Steven was affected by her and Sapphire fighting, Ruby and Sapphire both felt very guilty and made up.

Crystal Gems

“	You met Ruby and Sapphire?!	”
—Amethyst, "Jail Break"

Pearl and Amethyst have been aware of Garnet's true identities for several millennia. Their perception of the two while separated remains unknown, but given their good relationship with Garnet, it can be assumed it is a positive one. Ruby holds a great deal of trust and respect for their teammates and becomes furious when Pearl betrays that trust in "Cry for Help".

The Cluster

“	So this is what Homeworld thinks of fusion!	”
—Garnet, "Keeping it Together"

File:GarnetCluster.png

Upon encountering The Cluster, Ruby and Sapphire were both disturbed to the point of almost unfusing. While Ruby reacted with the most verbal anger and outrage at what Gem Homeworld had done to their fallen friends, it was Garnet's right eye that represents Ruby that started crying indicating that she was deeply saddened as well.

Pearl

“	She lied to us so we'd form Sardonyx! She tricked us; don't you feel used?!	”
—"Keystone Motel"

Not much is known about the relationship between Ruby and Pearl, except during "Keystone Motel", where Ruby feels used after Pearl tricked Garnet to fuse with her by rebuilding the Communication Hub twice. Ruby was very angered by this, which contrasted Sapphire's opinion of wanting to forgive Pearl, even leading to them unfusing.

Greg Universe

“	Oh boy... Where's the other one?	”
—Greg Universe, "Keystone Motel"

Not much is known about her relationship with Greg, but Greg at least knew that she and Sapphire were the fusion components of Garnet, and considering most humans aren't close enough to her to know this knowledge this at least shows he knows her rather well.

Lapis Lazuli

Not much is known of Ruby's specific opinion on Lapis Lazuli, however, if it is anything like Garnet's, she is rather indifferent about her and would possibly look at her as not much of an ally but not much of an opponent either. However, based on the line "Oh, it's just you!", she seems to face Lapis in a more negative light.

Appearances

Season 1

• "Fusion Cuisine" (silhouette cameo)
• "Jail Break"

Season 2

• "Love Letters" (mentioned)
• "Keeping it Together" (mentioned)
• "Keystone Motel"
• "Friend Ship" (mentioned)

Other

• We Are The Crystal Gems
• What Are Gems? (gemstone only)

Quotes

Main article: Ruby/Quotes

Trivia

File:Steven.Universe.S01E32.Fusion.Cuisine.720p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-RainbowCrash.mkv snapshot 07.40 -2014.11.12 23.12.05-.png

• Garnet and the other Crystal Gems had planned to wait for Steven's birthday to introduce Ruby and Sapphire to him.
  • It is unknown whether or not they will still do this.
• Although she was not formally introduced until "Jail Break", her silhouette, along with Sapphire's, can be seen when Alexandrite unfuses in "Fusion Cuisine". To the left of "Garnet" is seen as Ruby, and to the right of "Garnet" is seen as Sapphire.
• Most of Garnet's sensitive side seems to come from Ruby; whenever Garnet cries, her tears fall from her right eye (the red-colored one) that represents Ruby.
  • Also, Ruby cried when she and Sapphire met again in "Jail Break", while Sapphire herself appeared to remain calm, also in "Keeping it Together" after meeting the Cluster Gems.
• When asked if Ruby was blind from when she says "I can't see", Joe Johnston merely stated that she was "used to being fused with Sapphire, and so, used to having two types of vision."
• Ruby is the birthstone of the creator of Steven Universe, Rebecca Sugar.
• Ruby and Sapphire both lack stars or diamonds on their outfit.
  • This is explained in "Story for Steven". The Crystal Gems seemed to not have adopted the star symbol until after Rose Quartz's death, and Ruby and Sapphire have been fused since before then.
• It is possible that Ruby and Sapphire both have rooms in the Crystal Temple, due to the fact that they both have their corresponding gemstones on the Temple Gate.
• Ruby's gemstone location is not symmetrical, along with Sapphire's.
  • When fused as Garnet, however, their combined gemstones become symmetrical in relation to each other.
• During times of great conflict of opinion, she and Sapphire are able to talk to each other individually through Garnet, as shown in "Keeping it Together" and "Keystone Motel".
• In the extended theme song, Ruby is shown to be cracking or holding her knuckles, a sign of toughness, or that she's ready to fight, while Sapphire is holding her hands together, interlocking her fingers. This shows that she is calm, graceful and passionate. On the other hand, Ruby seems calmer than expected from her, and Sapphire more upbeat than usual, possibly indicating that being Garnet brings balance to their personalities.
• Ruby is denser than water, and, as such, she sinks in the pool in "Keystone Motel".
  • This is according to the ruby gemstone, that also sinks in water.
• Ruby's gauntlet may resemble the superhero Hellboy's "Right Hand of Doom".
• Ruby's thermo-regulation of raising the temperature directly opposes Sapphire's thermo-regulation of lowering the temperature, representing their polar opposite personalities.
  • Ruby's ability to raise the temperature is somewhat of a pun being that in the episode "Keystone Motel" Ruby is quite literally letting off steam, and acting like a "hot-head", this is also shown when Sapphire says "she'll burn herself out eventually."
  • Ruby and Sapphire's relationship is similar to the phrase "fire and ice", with Ruby representing the fire with her temper and her ability to raise temperatures.

• Although Ruby's gem is in her left palm, she is shown summoning her gauntlet on her right hand.
  • Ruby is most likely able to summon gauntlets for both hands.
• Ruby is voiced by Charlyne Yi, who voices Chloe Park in We Bare Bears, another Cartoon Network original series.

Gemology

Gemstone Information

• Ruby is a gemstone of emotion, associated with passion, strength and anger. This shows in Ruby's emotional temperaments and overall emotional/angry attitude as well as her strength.
• Ruby is the birthstone for those born in July and is also the zodiacal stone for Capricorns.
  • Ruby is also used to celebrate the fifteenth and fortieth wedding anniversaries.
  • The day assigned to ruby is Tuesday (hence the Rolling Stones song, "Ruby Tuesday").
  • Ruby is assigned to the planets, Mars and Pluto.
• Since ruby is a member of the corundum group, it is closely related to sapphire and thus shares some properties, such as hardness, composition and double refraction, with sapphire.
• The vivid red color of ruby means that it is associated with desire, and it is thought by some to be a stone of love with an aphrodisiac effect.
• Ruby can be identified by its hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale, and vibrant colour.
  • Natural ruby can be distinguished from synthetic ruby by its inclusions; natural ruby typically exhibits inclusions, whereas synthetic ruby tends to be eye clean.

Gemstone

Image	Description
	Ruby's gemstone is located on the palm of her left hand, featuring a squared facet. The front and back are symmetrical, and it has a light pink ring around it, which is usually hidden inside her body unless she's regenerating. It is a decahedron, specifically a truncated tetragonal dipyramid.

Gallery

Click to view the gallery for Ruby.