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The Diamonds, unique in their flawlessness, sought to expand their perfection across the galaxy. |
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| —Garnet, "Your Mother and Mine" | ||
The Great Diamond Authority is the matriarchal body of Gem leaders. Its membership roster consists of White Diamond, Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond, Steven Universe, and, formerly, Pink Diamond. They are the absolute ruling power over the Gem Homeworld and any of its remaining active colonies.
Description & Influences
Overview
The Great Diamond Authority has complete control over every Gem and their race's endeavors. Each Diamond seems to be responsible for overseeing a specific part of Homeworld society. The Diamonds appear to split Gems up into groups; some belonging to Yellow, others to Blue and more to White. Gems wear a colored Diamond emblem on their outfit corresponding to the Diamond they serve.
In order to expand the Gem race the Diamonds took control of celestial bodies for colonization purposes. Each Diamond owned specific colonies and was in charge of making sure they were successful. The Diamonds seemed to have their own hierarchy as Pink Diamond was considered the lowest-ranked Diamond, seeing how she was commanded by the higher orders of Yellow and Blue and could not make her own decisions about colonization efforts. White Diamond, however ranked the highest of the Diamonds.
Displays of Loyalty
The Gem Salute.
Most Gems are very loyal and legitimately believe the Diamonds are the most elite beings to ever exist. Some members are passionate and enthusiastic about working for any Diamond. The loyalty Gems have for their Diamonds is such that some will do anything to avenge them. In addition to being widely regarded as a tragedy, Pink's "death" incited more than a few Gems to go so far as to seek vengeance on her behalf.
Appropriate & Expected Behaviors
Gems must show absolute respect and loyalty to any Diamond they interact with regardless of whether or not they serve them. Appropriate behaviors include addressing a Diamond (most commonly the one they belong to) as "My Diamond", saluting them by forming a diamond shape over their chest with their hands and optionally giving them many gracious titles, often to the point of bootlicking and excessive flattery before speaking with them.
At Homeworld balls like the ones formerly run by Pink, the Diamonds sit on their elevated thrones while members of their court indicate their presence. Then they can either accept or reject their court members. Specifically at the Era 3 Ball, Steven witnessed this when Gems: including his mother's Jades line up at his throne believing him to be Pink and tell him "Pink Diamond! It's wonderful to be in your presence!" followed by "Wow! So radiant and sparkly!" and "Wow! So radiant and exquisite!"
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Pink, quit fooling around! White Diamond is going to be there! We have to present her with our best possible selves, just as our Gems present us with their best possible selves. |
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| —Blue Diamond, "Together Alone" | ||
Just as other Gems are expected to behave in a certain orderly manner, the Diamonds are expected to do the same. They must present themselves as professional and powerful yet elegant and magnificent. This is not only to set an image of themselves for the Gem race but also White Diamond, the highest-ranking Gem in the empire.
Symbols
The symbol of the Great Diamond Authority appears on many Gem structures and has changed over time. On the structures mostly built as early as around 6,000 years ago, the logo consisted of four connecting diamond shapes:white (top), yellow (left), blue (right) and pink (bottom). On modern structures and Nephrite's (the partially-healed Centipeetle's) drawings in "Monster Reunion", the Pink Diamond symbol was removed leaving only the white, yellow and blue symbol shapes (now in the form of overlapping triangles with a small dark triangle in the middle; it was only three connecting diamond shapes in Nephrite's drawings). In addition to appearing on structures, the redesigned symbol appeared on the interiors of all modern Gem ships.
History
Eons Ago
The exact history of the Diamonds themselves remains unknown, including when and how they came to be. Based on the murals in the Earth Moon Base and drawings from "Familiar", White was created first, followed by Yellow, then Blue and finally Pink. What was known was that the Diamonds were to be eternally considered the most perfect, powerful and absolutely flawless Gems by virtually all of their peers and it can be assumed this was how they rose to power over the entirety of their species, using the influence they gathered to collectively cull a following of any "lesser" Gems. When the Great Diamond Authority officially formed, the Diamonds developed and established laws and rules to govern and essentially shape Gem society to their own designs, an influence that lasted for untold eons all the way to the present.
The original Great Diamond Authority logo. As each new Diamond was created another corresponding colored diamond was added.
At some point, the Diamonds imposed a social hierarchy on Gem society based on an individual Gem's abilities and skills and how they would best serve the Diamonds' goals. Those deemed better and more useful received different privileges than others; this created pockets of inferiority and superiority complexes due to inequalities and the established knowledge of numerous Gems ranking lower while fewer Gems ranked higher (in many cases). In order to keep the system intact "fusions" between two or more different types of Gems was not allowed. This prevented two or more lower-class Gems from fusing and altogether becoming a different Gem, usually one considered higher up in the system. In addition, the Diamonds divided Gems into groups that appeared to partially be based on color; some belonged to White, some belonged to Yellow, etc. All Gems were usually required to wear uniforms with a Diamond insignia to signify the Diamond they belonged to.
The Diamonds also appeared to be in charge of different aspects of Homeworld and as such divided Gems accordingly into different groups for the purpose of carrying out related duties; Yellow Diamond was said to be in charge of Homeworld's military and Blue Diamond was stated to have control over Homeworld's diplomacy.
According to "Your Mother and Mine" the Diamonds wished to spread their "perfection" throughout the universe and expand the Gem race into an almighty empire. To do this the Diamonds turned the Gem species into a spacefaring race, expanding outward from Homeworld to colonize other places beyond their home galaxy. Upon colonizing a suitable planet, over an indeterminate period of time the planet's resources were used to create new Gems, installations, structures and outposts. Worlds colonized ranged from proper planets and moons to mere asteroids. Planets possessing a biosphere of any sort were not avoided and habitable planets might have been preferred as potential colonies over barren, lifeless worlds due to rich minerals commonly found. As stated time and again and first shown in "It Could've Been Great" the completion of colonization efforts on a habitable world would inevitably lead to the extinction of all life existing on said planet and render it inhospitable to non-Gem lifeforms. Based off Homeworld's overall indifference, if not ranging from slight disgust to outright contempt towards organic life, it appears there were no qualms over colonizing worlds that had native life and what the completion of said colonization would mean for them in the long run. It is unknown how many of the Diamonds' current and previous colonies once possessed a biosphere before the completion of their colonization. Once a colony was completed, it was firmly established when Gems were created on a certain Diamond's planet that belonged to them by default. For example, Gems made on a Yellow colony belonged to her.
The Diamonds had relatively strong relationships with each other and would play games with Pink. Pink also hosted parties in honor of the other Diamonds' achievements. However, Pink often upset the other Diamonds by doing things for which she would be punished, something that put strain on their closeness; she had also begged Yellow and Blue for a colony until Yellow gave in despite her doubts and placated her by giving her Earth. Around the start of Earth's colonization the Diamonds had altogether colonized 43 planetary bodies and two star systems (again according to the Moon Base).
Over 6,000 Years Ago
Pink Diamond and her Gems arrived on Earth and began the process of colonizing the planet, constructing several Gem installations and structures including the Prime Kindergarten. After several years of relative inaction Pink became bored concerning the reality of actually managing a colony. When informed by her new Pearl that the first Quartz soldiers were emerging from the Kindergarten she expressed an immediate desire to interact and socialize with them but quickly dismissed the notion due to it being unbecoming of a Diamond in the eyes of Blue and Yellow. It is at this time Pearl remarked how she could shapeshift into a Quartz, thus leading to Pink creating her "Rose Quartz" persona.
When Pink became fascinated by the organic life on Earth's surface she eventually realized the colonization process was harming the life already present on the planet itself. Over the next several years, she began a prolonged series of discussions involving her begging Yellow and Blue to allow her to spare Earth from such a fate. As a result Blue created a human zoo to satisfy Pink, but this only served to further enrage her. After countless attempts by Pink to convince Blue and Yellow to let her properly preserve life on Earth, Pink decided to use her alter ego of Rose to scare other Gems off Earth alongside Pearl by staging a Rebellion.
Over 5,750 Years Ago
In an attempt to assist Pink in suppressing the Rebellion and desperate to complete the colonization of Earth, Blue sent her court with her to the Cloud Arena to investigate the uprisings. Among these Gems was a Sapphire who came to Blue and told her she foresaw the rebels attacking the Arena, but that they would be cornered and captured after "poofing" two of the Rubies protecting her along with herself and some Gem bystanders, ending the rebellion. As told, Rose and Pearl attacked Blue's court and everything played out according to Sapphire's prophecy until one of Sapphire's Ruby guards saved her from Pearl causing them to accidentally fuse into a Gem named "Garnet".
Disgusted and distracted by the fusion, Blue Diamond told Ruby she would be "shattered" for fusing with a member of her court and allowing the rebels to escape regardless of whether or not she had fulfilled her duty. Despite Ruby's protests a distraught Sapphire fled with her into Earth's wilderness where they again came across Rose and Pearl, this time joining the Rebellion they had fought against as Garnet. After encountering Garnet, Rose/Pink revised her earlier desire of scaring Gems off-planet to fighting not just for life on Earth, but for other Gems' freedom.
Once again at Earth's Moon Base, Pink Diamond held an audience with the other Diamonds once more requesting the cessation of Earth's colonization, informing them it was because of the newly-formed group of Homeworld rebels calling themselves the "Crystal Gems". Even Blue became irritated by Pink's excuses and explained Rose could not hurt her and she could not be allowed to halt the progress of a single colony due to rebellious Gems. Blue explained that as a Diamond all Pink had to do was smile and wave while her Gems completed Earth's colonization and the superior forces of Homeworld made sure the Crystal Gems were to be no more.
Over 5,500 Years Ago
Under her disguise of Rose, Pink recruited enough Gems to her cause to officially wage open war against Homeworld. Over the course of the next 1,000 years countless Gems on both sides of the conflict were shattered in the ensuing battles and any plans of continuing the colonization of Earth began to crumble. Pink (as Rose) was more or less able to keep the Crystal Gems in contention with Homeworld's power due to her unique healing abilities.
Over 5,000 Years Ago
As the Rebellion continued to rage on with no end in sight Pink (as Rose) began to fear that soon there would be no one and nothing left to protect. Eventually she decided she no longer wanted to be a part of the Great Diamond Authority and came to believe the other Diamonds did not truly care for her, only doing so and showing affection for their own ambitions of establishing a more "perfect" empire as their endgame. Thus, to cut her ties from Homeworld permanently and end the Rebellion once and for all Pink devised a plan to fake her shattering at the hands of her alter-ego. At the Rebellion's climax, she set this plan into motion; using her natural abilities to turn ordinary dirt into false pink Gem Shards, she consumed them and had Pearl shapeshift into Rose. "Rose" then "shattered" her with a sword in public outside her palanquin, causing everyone (including the other Diamonds) to believe Rose assassinated Pink. The plan succeeded, allowing Pink to reform and live the rest of her life as Rose while the presumed death of Pink Diamond sent Homeworld into disarray, turning the war in the Crystal Gems' favor. Unfortunately, this singular act would turn out to be a massive and devastating error in judgment on Pink's part.
Over 4,500 Years Ago
With the "death" of Pink it became clear to Homeworld that Earth was no longer fit to be a Gem colony. Presumably under Yellow Diamond, loyal Homeworld Gems began collecting Shards of shattered Crystal Gems and experimented with them. In these horrific and painful experiments various Gem Shards were forced to fuse together creating monstrous amalgamations of limbs. After enough experimentations a gargantuan Gem geo-weapon called "the Cluster" was created and embedded into Earth's deep mantle for the purpose of one day destroying the planet upon forming and to be utilized as a planet-destroying superweapon.
The second and previous Diamond Authority logo. The three triangles represent the surviving diamonds (White, Yellow and Blue) while the dark triangle in the middle represents the 'fallen' Diamond (Pink).
As the Crystal Gems' victory in the war became more apparent the Diamonds sought their own extreme measures to end the war, enraged at the loss of Pink and Earth. At the war's end they instructed Homeworld commanders on Earth to initiate a mass evacuation of all loyalist Gems off the planet. Due to the abrupt and chaotic way it was carried out, not all of Homeworld's forces were able to leave in time before the three remaining Diamonds combined their powers and launched a bright light of powerful energy at Earth. They hoped this last-ditch attack would obliterate every rebel Gem still on the planet. Unbeknownst to them, both Homeworld Gems who had failed to evacuate as well as virtually all remaining Crystal Gems exposed to the light survived, but at the terrible cost of enduring a fate possibly worse than death: They became "corrupted" and mutated into monstrous, feral creatures with their sentience stripped.
The Diamonds and Homeworld left Earth, completely unaware of the fates they had brought upon the Gems there. Only a very small number of Gems survived the attack and avoided corruption. Pink (as Rose), Garnet and Pearl survived thanks to Pink's shield which protected them from the light's effects. Lapis Lazuli, who was imprisoned in a mirror was protected from exposure to the light; Bismuth, who was similarly imprisoned via being bubbled was inadvertently protected; Amethyst, who was still incubating was also protected from the light. With the Diamonds having abandoned the Earth the Rebellion had ended in a technical Crystal Gem victory, but at a terrible cost. No other Gem, whether they had allegiance to the Crystal Gems or Homeworld was known to have survived unscathed from the Diamonds' final attack. With the "death" of Pink the Diamonds divided her still-loyal Gems amongst themselves; some went to Yellow, some went to Blue and the others presumably went to White.
Due to putting an extensive amount of their preexisting resources into colonizing Earth and then later waging a costly war to suppress the insurrections of the Crystal Gems, a resource crisis emerged on Homeworld following the conclusion of the Rebellion. With the colonization of Earth being a failure, Homeworld received no net profit from their endeavors and thus the stock of Homeworld's supplies plummeted in the years following the Rebellion's end. As a result, the strengths of Gems produced after began to dwindle. This period of time that continues on in the present is known as "Era 2" while the time predating the Rebellion was known as "Era 1". When Era 2 began most of the Quartzes made on Earth took over Pink's zoo in her memory. Also, Era-2 Gems such as newer Peridots were physically weaker due to Kindergartens lacking resources, becoming very dependent (and ultimately over-reliant) on advanced technological enhancements.
Pink Diamond continued to live on as Rose Quartz with Pearl and Garnet, the last remaining Crystal Gems active. At some point, Amethyst emerged long past overdue in the Prime Kindergarten and was welcomed with open arms by Rose into the Crystal Gems. Over the next several millennia they continued to protect Earth and desperately tried to heal the Corrupted Gems. Rose eventually fell in love with a human named Greg Universe and gave up her physical form to have a son named Steven.
As years went on the Diamonds continued colonizing worlds and Pink's "death" affected each of them. White Diamond went into seclusion, not leaving her ship for eons. Blue went into a deep depression and would constantly mourn over Pink to the point where she began to forego her duties of ruling the Gem empire. Meanwhile, Yellow tried pushing Pink out of her memory and erasing any remnants of her legacy she could in order to keep herself a composed leader. Yellow tried having many discussions with Blue over the subsequent millennia about how they should move on from Pink, but Blue never listened.
Current Events
Season 1
Yellow wished to know how the Cluster was progressing inside Earth. She assigned one of her Peridots to check the Cluster's status. When Peridot discovered there were Gems still on Earth, Yellow assigned a veteran Jasper to protect her and a time-lost Lapis Lazuli to serve as an informant when she visited the planet.
Season 2
Steven and the Crystal Gems were able to thwart their plans but Peridot managed to receive the information for Yellow Diamond acknowledging the Cluster was emerging as scheduled to destroy Earth. Since the Crystal Gems destroyed her ship Peridot found herself stranded and tried to contact Yellow through the Communication Hub but there was never a response. Eventually she found a Diamond Communicator at the old Moon Base and contacted Yellow, allowing herself to talk to her directly.
Peridot reported the Cluster would emerge shortly which Yellow found pleasing. However, due to being swayed by the Crystal Gems, Peridot requested they terminate the Cluster because it would mean sacrificing all of Earth's resources for a single weapon. Peridot reported she had already devised a plan to use Earth's resources without disrupting the organic life but Yellow Diamond did not care to hear her out. Because of this Peridot insulted Yellow Diamond and became an ally to the Crystal Gems. After the call ended Yellow Diamond furiously attempted to terminate Peridot by remotely detonating the Communicator.
Season 4
Blue visited Earth, specifically the location where Pink was allegedly shattered believing it would be the last time she would get to visit the planet before the Cluster destroyed it. Steven tracked down her location with his father Greg when he started having dreams where he saw through her eyes and cried her tears. When they arrived Greg revealed himself to Blue's Pearl who took him to Blue. While crying Blue explained her confusion that a fragile race such as humans could thrive on Earth but on the exact same world a Diamond could've been believed destroyed. Greg offered Blue his condolences and explained he also lost someone and understood how she felt (the two never realized they were mourning over the same being). Touched by Greg's sympathy, Blue abducted him to take him to Pink's Zoo believing she was sparing him from the Cluster, obviously unaware of its then-inconceivable nullification a while before her visit.
At the Zoo, Blue entered Pink's old room and began crying again. Yellow came in and was visibly annoyed, telling Blue she should still shatter all of Pink's Rose Quartz Gems because she was supposedly shattered by one of them, but Blue wished to preserve all of Pink's gems and her legacy as a whole. Yellow Diamond, her Pearl and Blue Pearl sang in an attempt to make Blue feel better. They tell Blue that for the good of the Gem race's empire she has to move on and become a strong leader instead of moping around all the time. When the Crystal Gems came to infiltrate the Zoo in order to save Greg, they told the Gems working there they were dropping off Steven for the Zoo as a special delivery for Blue. The Zoo's administrator Holly Blue Agate brought Sapphire to Blue Diamond and told her she foresaw her wanting more humans for the Zoo. Blue believed Sapphire (though surprisingly not recognizing her or the accompanying Ruby from long ago), saying the window to preserve the Earth's inhabitants was closing due to the Cluster. Yellow realized that was what Blue wanted and when she discovered the Cluster hadn't emerged yet, she told Blue there was still time to collect humans.
When Peridot first discovered Gems still on Earth, Steven listed off some of his human friends which Peridot reported to Yellow. Using this list Yellow and Blue sent two elite Gems, an Aquamarine and her Topaz assistant to Earth to retrieve them. In order to save his friends Steven reluctantly turned himself in as Rose, the Gem believed to have shattered Pink.
Season 5
Topaz and Aquamarine took Steven and his friend Lars Barriga, the latter of whom was caught when he failed to escape from Aquamarine's personal ship to Homeworld where he was put on trial in front of Yellow and Blue Diamond for the murder of Pink. Yellow wished to just get the trial over with so Steven could be shattered, but Blue wanted to hear him out. After the Diamonds' defense finished stating the case Steven tried explaining what happened even though he had no idea, which only made Blue upset when he got all the facts wrong. Steven's lawyer explained witnesses said Pink stepped out of her palanquin when Rose attacked her from the front, but that did not make any sense because Rose wouldn't be able to get past all of Pink's Gems. She stated that only someone of supreme authority could meet with Pink personally, and blames Pink's murder on one of the Diamonds. Furious, Yellow poofs both of the Zircons. Blue yelled at Yellow, asking her to restrain herself. While they were distracted, Steven and Lars escaped on Blue's palanquin and Yellow warned him he was on their world now.
Blue and Yellow then made a trip to Earth to awaken the Cluster, which Yellow did by slamming her ship into the ground. This popped its bubble and allowed the Cluster to form a hand which ended up wrestling with Yellow Diamond's ship. Meanwhile, Blue noticed the Crystal Gems and stepped out of her ship to battle them. Suddenly, Lapis returned to Earth to join the Crystal Gems. The Cluster is able to wrestle Yellow's ship onto Blue's which crushes both ships and Blue Diamond. Both Diamonds emerged from the wreckage to further battle the Crystal Gems together. The Diamonds were able to get the upper hand, Yellow poofing Peridot, and Lapis and knocking Steven unconscious. Steven then awakened in a ghost-like state and telepathically told the Diamonds he had Pink's gemstone. This caused the Diamonds to cease fighting. Steven then awakens to find the Crystal Gems and the Diamonds watching him, with Blue Diamond exclaiming: "It's you... Pink!"
After the revelation that Steven had Pink's gemstone, Blue and Yellow are incredibly relieved that she was never shattered after all and were willing to be civil with Steven and the rest of the Crystal Gems. They reveal that they were completely unaware of the corruption that befell the Gems who remained on Earth, as the attack was actually intended to entirely destroy them. After they are able to only temporarily succeed in uncorrupting Nephrite, Blue and Yellow Diamond wonder if White Diamond may be able to help but quickly attempt to dismiss the idea, owing to White's supposed temper. However, after Steven insists, they decide to return to Homeworld using Pink Diamond's ship in order to try to enlist her help. Upon arrival to Homeworld, which appears to be in a highly damaged state, White Diamond's Pearl appears and summons Steven (referring to him as Pink Diamond as well) to appear before White Diamond. When he appears in her palace, White Diamond puts on a calm and motherly demeanor in welcoming him back but also acts quite dismissive and condescending, repeatedly cutting him off and referring to the Rebellion and the overall events that have transpired on Earth as a "little game" before sending him off without warning.
The third and current Great Diamond Authority logo. As Steven Universe, son of Pink Diamond, had arrived on Homeworld with the diamonds believing him to be Pink, the original Diamond logo was restored to its former glory.
After that, he has his first time in his mother's palace and first meets the Pebbles and Yellow in the Extraction Chamber and Blue in the Pool Chamber. He has a perfect fit in his size of his mother's clothes made. The Pebbles make furniture all night and prepare for the Era 3 Ball.
Later, Steven gets Yellow and Blue to agree on a ball in order to get a chance to talk to White about the corrupted gems; but this fails, with White not coming and Steven accidentally fusing with Connie, resulting in Yellow throwing them into a prison tower.
After an unknown length of time, Blue visits and confronts Steven in the tower over the commotion Stevonnie caused at the ball, demanding an apology. Steven refuses as he feels he'd done nothing wrong, and confronts Blue in turn for how often she and Yellow made Pink miserable for not meeting their expectations. Forced to recognize how much happier Pink had been on Earth than Homeworld because of them, Blue has a change of heart and releases the prisoners, beginning to address Steven by his own person.
Blue attempts to help Steven and Connie retrieve the bubbled Crystal Gems but is momentarily stopped by Yellow, resulting in a fight between the two Diamonds. Yellow refuses to let Steven and the Gems escape, nearly poofing Blue in the process until Steven makes her see that their constant striving to make the Gem empire perfect merely drove away everything they loved. Now in agreement over Steven and the Crystal Gems, Yellow and Blue escort Steven and Connie to Pink's ship but are prevented from escaping when White docks her own ship on top of it.
After Yellow, Blue and Steven's attempts to reason with White fail and White places the former two under her control, Steven manages to infiltrate the interior of White's ship with the Crystal Gems' help to face her directly. White insists that Steven is merely Pink having managed to deceive herself into thinking she was someone else, and tries to bring her back by pulling her gemstone out of him. But when the gemstone merely reforms into a pink version of Steven and White throws a tantrum over the loss of Pink, Steven's rebuttal causes White to realize she was just as flawed as everyone else and finally makes her vulnerable enough to be reasoned with.
Upon returning to Earth and arriving at the same time as Lars and the Off Colors, the Diamond Authority--together with new member Steven--are able to cure the Corrupted Gems by bathing in Rose's Fountain and amplifying its healing properties. Steven remains on Earth while the other Diamonds return to Homeworld. Taking Steven's lessons to heart they begin easing their old system's strict rules, including the ban on cross-gem fusion.
Members
White Diamond
White is the head of the Great Diamond Authority and paramount ruler of all Gems and their intergalactic empire. She had governed Gem society as she saw fit in her own fundamental ideology of perfection, though after she realized that she herself was imperfect she began to reconsider Homeworld's way of life. During Era 2 she had remained secluded inside her ship with her Pearl acting as her eyes and ears.
In "Legs From Here to Homeworld" it was explicitly stated she wasn't like other Gems or even the other Diamonds. Blue and Yellow affirmed this statement, with Blue further commenting that White hadn't left Homeworld in eons.
Former Subordinates
- Former subordinates of Pink Diamond
- Pink Pearl (White Pearl)
Known Colonies
- 28 planetary bodies (by the time of Earth's colonization)
Yellow Diamond
Yellow is one of the Diamond matriarchs. She was the former superior of Peridot as well as the current superior to other Gems made for her. As the commander of Homeworld's military Yellow's role is to colonize other worlds in conquest and expansion of the Gem empire. She commenced the Cluster as a project to acquire a "geo-weapon" after Earth was deemed unfit to be a colony following the Crystal Gems' rebellion.
Almost all of her subordinates (except her Pearl, "Doc" and "Navy") have a small yellow diamond insignia on their chests in two symmetrically connecting diagonal black lines.
Known Subordinates
- Yellow Pearl
- Topazes
- Topaz
- Other Topazes
- Jasper
- Prosecuting Zircon
- Emerald
- Nephrite-XJ Cut-763
- Nephrite-XJ Cut-763's crew
- Unknown Agates
- Rubies
- Citrines
- Jades
- Hessonite (Save the Light)
- "Squaridot" (Save the Light)
Former Subordinates
Known Colonies
Yellow Diamond's colonies by the time of the Earth's colonization.
- The Jungle Moon's orbital planet (formerly)
- Multiple asteroid mines
- 2 star systems and 7 unknown planetary bodies (by the time of Earth's colonization)
- Hundreds of crystal system colonies
Blue Diamond
Blue is one of the Diamond matriarchs. She was the superior of Ruby and Sapphire, and many other Gems made for her. According to herself, she is responsible for enforcing the laws and rules of the Gem Empire promulgated by White. Her subordinates have a large blue diamond on their bodies or similar design to Yellow's subordinates with a small light Blue Diamond insignia on their chests in two symmetrically connecting diagonal dark lines.
According to Rebecca Sugar, blue-colored Gems are oriented towards diplomatic roles.[1]
Known Subordinates
- Blue Pearl
- Holly Blue Agate
- Aquamarine
- Unknown court members
- Two Rubies
- Unknown Amethysts
- Two Topazes
- Former subordinates of Pink Diamond
- Defending Zircon
- Comby
- Jades
Former Subordinates
Known Colonies
Blue Diamond's colonies by the time of the Earth's colonization.
- 9 unknown planetary bodies (by Earth's colonization)
Steven Universe
Steven is the newest and youngest out of all the Diamond matriarchs, having only been considered part of the Authority following the initiation of Era 3. He stood in place of his mother Pink, temporarily bearing her name as a persona.
Known Subordinates
Known Colonies
Former Members
Pink Diamond
Pink was a former member of the Great Diamond Authority. A significantly younger Gem than her fellow Diamonds, she begged them for a colony until she was finally given one, Earth. Her subordinates had outfits similar to the current outfits of all currently seen Diamond subordinates with a small Pink diamond insignia on their chests in two symmetrically connecting diagonal black lines. Once the colonization of Earth began, Pink became so fascinated by the organic life that lived on the planet that she later decided she did not want to go through with completing the colony. Pink came up with multiple excuses to the other Diamonds as to why they should not continue colonizing Earth, but they would not listen. Eventually, Pink created an alter-ego named Rose Quartz via shapeshifting, and Pink and her Pearl rallied up enough Gems who felt similarly about the Earth, and started the Rebellion. Upon meeting Garnet, she decided to turn the Earth into a haven for other outcast Gems.
For most of the Rebellion she led a double life, leading her fellow rebels as Rose and shapeshifting back to continue serving as a Diamond. Pink used the Crystal Gems as another excuse to why they couldn't colonize Earth but the other Diamonds would still not listen. She eventually decided she wanted to leave her life as a Diamond behind and live as Rose Quartz forever on Earth with the Crystal Gems and humans. Pink Diamond crushed some dirt and turned it into pink Shards which she ate; she then had Pearl shapeshift into Rose and poof her in public leaving the shards behind. Everyone who witnessed the event believed Rose shattered Pink and only Pink herself and her Pearl knew the truth. Pink reformed as Rose and led the Crystal Gems to a rather Pyrrhic victory. The other Diamonds took her "demise" harder than anticipated, unleashing a blinding light that corrupted most Gems unfortunate enough to remain on Earth.
Pink's "death" affected the existing past, present and future Gems in many different ways. Some Gems like the Diamonds and those who served her continued mourning her and showing animosity towards Rose, not knowing they were one and the same. Others like the defending Blue Zircon tried to make sense of what really happened to Pink. The Zircon even questioned how a Rose Quartz - a Gem identified as a threat - was able to slip past Pink's guards and entourage in the first place. Her role in the Diamond Authority has been taken over by her son Steven.
Former Subordinates
- Jades
- Pearl
- Pebbles
- Pink Pearl
- Nephrites
- Nephrite Facet-413 Cabochon-12 (Centipeetle)
- Nephrite's Crew
- Quartzes
- Agates
- Amethysts
- Carnelian
- Jaspers
- Rose Quartzes
- Unknown Quartzes
- Sapphires
Former Colonies
Many Era-2 Gems appear to be largely unaware of the Rebellion as evidenced by Peridot's ignorance of the Crystal Gems in "Marble Madness". This suggested that events leading up to Pink Diamond's "death" were not frequently discussed which may be indicative of the devotion and respect Gems have for the Diamonds; this extended to the point where the Rebellion was blatantly covered up altogether.
Transportation
- Main article: Diamond Ships
- Main article: Diamond Palanquins
Episode Appearances
| Season 1 | ||||||||||||
| Season 1A | ||||||||||||
| 1. "Gem Glow": | Absent | 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": | Pictured | 21. "Joking Victim": | Absent | |||||||||
| 9. "Tiger Millionaire": | Absent | 22. "Steven and the Stevens": | Absent | |||||||||
| 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": | Absent | |||||||||
| 13. "So Many Birthdays": | Absent | 26. "Ocean Gem": | Absent | |||||||||
| 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": | Mentioned | 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": | Mentioned | |||||||||
| 39. "Future Vision": | Absent | 52. "Jail Break": | Pictured | |||||||||
| Season 2 | ||||||||||||
| 1. "Full Disclosure": | Absent | 14. "Historical Friction": | Absent | |||||||||
| 2. "Joy Ride": | Absent | 15. "Friend Ship": | Pictured | |||||||||
| 3. "Say Uncle": | Absent | 16. "Nightmare Hospital": | Absent | |||||||||
| 4. "Love Letters": | Absent | 17. "Sadie's Song": | Absent | |||||||||
| 5. "Reformed": | Absent | 18. "Catch and Release": | Mentioned | |||||||||
| 6. "Sworn to the Sword": | Pictured | 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": | Flashback | |||||||||
| 10. "Chille Tid": | Absent | 23. "Steven's Birthday": | Absent | |||||||||
| 11. "Cry for Help": | Mentioned | 24. "It Could've Been Great": | Pictured & Mentioned | |||||||||
| 12. "Keystone Motel": | Absent | 25. "Message Received": | Appears | |||||||||
| 13. "Onion Friend": | Absent | 26. "Log Date 7 15 2": | Mentioned | |||||||||
| Season 3 | |||||
| 1. "Super Watermelon Island": | Absent | 13. "Kiki's Pizza Delivery Service": | Absent | ||
| 2. "Gem Drill": | Absent | 14. "Monster Reunion": | Mentioned | ||
| 3. "Same Old World": | Absent | 15. "Alone at Sea": | Absent | ||
| 4. "Barn Mates": | Mentioned | 16. "Greg the Babysitter": | Absent | ||
| 5. "Hit the Diamond": | Mentioned | 17. "Gem Hunt": | Absent | ||
| 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": | Mentioned | ||
| 9. "Too Short to Ride": | Absent | 22. "Beta": | Absent | ||
| 10. "The New Lars": | Absent | 23. "Earthlings": | Mentioned | ||
| 11. "Beach City Drift": | Absent | 24. "Back to the Moon": | Pictured & Mentioned | ||
| 12. "Restaurant Wars": | Absent | 25. "Bubbled": | Mentioned | ||
| Season 4 | |||||
| 1. "Kindergarten Kid": | Absent | 14. "The Zoo": | Absent | ||
| 2. "Know Your Fusion": | Absent | 15. "That Will Be All": | Appears | ||
| 3. "Buddy's Book": | Absent | 16. "The New Crystal Gems": | Absent | ||
| 4. "Mindful Education": | Absent | 17. "Storm in the Room": | Mentioned | ||
| 5. "Future Boy Zoltron": | Absent | 18. "Rocknaldo": | Absent | ||
| 6. "Last One Out of Beach City": | Absent | 19. "Tiger Philanthropist": | Absent | ||
| 7. "Onion Gang": | Absent | 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": | Mentioned | ||
| 11. "Steven's Dream": | Appears | 23. "The Good Lars": | Absent | ||
| 12. "Adventures in Light Distortion": | Mentioned | 24. "Are You My Dad?": | Mentioned | ||
| 13. "Gem Heist": | Mentioned | 25. "I Am My Mom": | Mentioned | ||
| Season 5 | |||||
| 1. "Stuck Together": | Mentioned | 15. "Pool Hopping": | Absent | ||
| 2. "The Trial": | Appears | 16. "Letters to Lars": | Absent | ||
| 3. "Off Colors": | Mentioned | 17. "Can't Go Back": | Flashback | ||
| 4. "Lars' Head": | Absent | 18. "A Single Pale Rose": | Flashback | ||
| 5. "Dewey Wins": | Mentioned | 19. "Now We're Only Falling Apart": | Flashback | ||
| 6. "Gemcation": | Mentioned | 20. "What's Your Problem?": | Mentioned | ||
| 7. "Raising the Barn": | Mentioned | 21. "The Question": | Absent | ||
| 8. "Back to the Kindergarten": | Absent | 22. "Made of Honor": | Mentioned | ||
| 9. "Sadie Killer": | Absent | 23/24. "Reunited": | Appears | ||
| 10. "Kevin Party": | Absent | 25. "Legs From Here to Homeworld": | Appears | ||
| 11. "Lars of the Stars": | Absent | 26. "Familiar": | Appears | ||
| 12. "Jungle Moon": | Flashback | 27. "Together Alone": | Appears | ||
| 13. "Your Mother and Mine": | Flashback | 28. "Escapism": | Appears | ||
| 14. "The Big Show": | Absent | 29-32. "Change Your Mind": | Appears | ||
Trivia
- All of the Diamonds have diamond-shaped (rather than circular) pupils.
- The confirmed instrument of the Diamonds is a synthetic sound combining harmonette and strings, processed by a synth, this can also be heard in "Same Old World" and "Monster Reunion" when the Corrupting Light flashes. It was revealed in the Steven Universe: Art & Origins book that each Diamond also has a unique chord.[2]
- The past/Era 2 symbol might be a reference to the Triforce symbol from The Legend of Zelda, as they both are three connecting triangles that form a symbol. It also bears a resemblance to the Mitsu uroko emblem of the Hōjō clan.
- The current symbol resembles the NFPA 704 diamond symbol with slightly different colors (one of the diamonds is red instead of pink) and the colors' positions switched.
- The current symbol's order of colors seems to represent the location of the gem in the body of its owner: both Blue and Yellow Diamond have their gem in their chests, so they are equal in position in the middle row, whereas White Diamond has her gem in her forehead and Pink Diamond has it in the lowest position in her navel, hence in the symbol White Diamond is on the top and Pink Diamond is on the bottom.
- It also reflects the size of the Diamonds, as White Diamond is the largest, Pink Diamond is the smallest, and both Yellow and Blue Diamond are equal in size.
- The Great Diamond Authority was yet another of Ronaldo Fryman's paranormal theories proven to be true.
- He developed his theory in the first season episode "Keep Beach City Weird", warning of the Great Diamond Authority. Peridot confirmed the matriarchs' collective name in the episode "It Could've Been Great".
- It was revealed in "Monster Reunion" that the Diamonds were the ones responsible for the corruption of almost all remaining Gems on Earth.
- Nephrite drew the original Great Diamond Authority symbol without the lowermost diamond symbol when asked who or what caused the damage to her and the other Corrupted Gems, implying Pink was not involved with the attack. This was confirmed in "Your Mother and Mine".
- The circles placed behind the heads of the Diamonds in their murals resembled halos, a common motif in the sacred arts of Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity. Combined with the remarks Gems used for the Diamonds it appeared light was extremely relevant in their iconography; this was not ironic considering all Gems were basically living rocks that projected hard-light forms which took on a feminine appearance.
- Although Gems usually served under a specific Diamond, Blue and Yellow seemed to have the same amount of authority over each other's subordinates. For example, Yellow told Holly Blue to "Get to the point" in "That Will Be All" and poofed Blue's defending Zircon in "The Trial". Additionally, Emerald's uniform shows both Yellow and Blue insignias in "Lars of the Stars".
- Each of the Diamonds' personalities falls under one of the four fundamental personality types as established by the Ancient Greek Four Temperament Theory.
- White Diamond was phlegmatic as those under this personality type tend to conceal their feelings and even appear almost apathetic.
- Blue Diamond was melancholic as those under this personality type are highly emotional.
- Yellow Diamond was choleric as those under this personality type are independent, goal-oriented, decisive and act on facts rather than emotions.
- Pink Diamond was sanguine as those under this personality type are extroverted, outgoing and tend to engage in risk-seeking behavior.
- In the recent "Battle Of Heart And Mind" part of The Steven Universe Podcast it was stated White had a motherly role among the Diamonds and served as an appropriate figure to the others.
- It was also said in the podcast that the Diamonds metaphorically represent a "body", White being the superego, Yellow and Blue being the ego and Pink being the id.
Gallery
.png "Pink Diamond Mural(Light Up).png (356 KB)")
.png "ASinglePaleRose (591).png (1.69 MB)")
References
- ↑ "8 Fun Facts About "Steven Universe" That You Haven't Seen In The Show" – Buzzfeed
- ↑ "We're aivi & surasshu, the music composers of Steven Universe. Ask us anything ♫" – r/stevenuniverse on Reddit
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