White Diamond is a Homeworld Gem and the leader of the Great Diamond Authority that rules over the Gem race. She holds supreme authority over all Gems, including her fellow Diamonds, and is seen as a being beyond the rest of her kind. White Diamond hadn't left the Gem Homeworld in eons and remained secluded inside her ship until she left Homeworld to help Steven Universe heal the corrupted Gems. After she had taken control of the Crystal Gems along with Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond, Steven had to change her mind. She made her debut in "Legs From Here to Homeworld".
White Diamond is shown to be about a head taller than her fellow Diamonds. She has white skin, white spiky hair in a shape similar to a star pentagon, diamond-shaped white pupils with large and full black eyelashes and black fingernails. Her body constantly radiates a bright light which, along with her ship's brightness, probably makes her gemstone barely visible while her other features are visible because they're either black or have black outlines. A drawing by Rebecca Sugar reveals the obscured details,[1] as does the Hot Topic T-shirt along with the episode "Change Your Mind" and onward. Her gemstone is located on her forehead and is a side view of a round-cut diamond.
White Diamond wears a long translucent white dress that reaches the floor and slit up both sides to her thighs, having shoulder pads. She also wears a cape with black and gray stripes that is lined with glimmering diamond and star designs, as well as a pair of intricately detailed dress sandals with high heels. A flashback in "Your Mother and Mine" shows that she had pointy fingers but no fingernails and there was no cape attached to her arms.
Personality
“
But I'm not supposed to be like this. I'm supposed to know better. I'm supposed to BE better. I'm supposed to make EVERYTHING better.
White is described as being difficult and has a temper that can take a while to cool down: She appeared both calm and understanding during her first meeting with Steven, greeting him (as Pink Diamond) warmly despite his appearance bearing no resemblance to how Pink Diamond actually looked. However, White is curt and dismissive, interrupting Steven whenever he tries to speak to her, and then immediately sends him away to another room without warning as soon as she is done. She treats the entire affair with the Earth, the Rebellion, Pink's faked shattering and absence for the last 6,000 years with a mixture of patronization and nonchalance, remarking it all being simply one of "Pink's games" and asks Steven (as Pink) if he "had fun" and "got it out of [his] system."
According to Yellow Diamond, White never leaves her ship and never lets anyone in a few cases or incidents (such as Pink/Steven's return to Homeworld), so it may be possible that she is a bit reclusive. According to Blue Diamond, she has no sense of humor, being furious with Pink for naming a batch of Pyrite "fool's gold". Despite this, White has a certain soft spot for Pink, joining the other Diamonds in Blue's Pool Chamber to play games such as guessing what song Pink was singing underwater.
It is displayed in "Change Your Mind" that White Diamond is an arrogant perfectionist, making the other gems better by generously "removing their flaws". When she took control of the Crystal Gems, she told Steven that "there is nothing to hinder [her] white light sparkling through them" and saying that they are now "perfect". White Diamond has strict expectations on the way other Gems should behave, causing an immense pressure that Yellow Diamond says could "crack a Gem." She takes this obsession so far that she breaks down after she becomes emotional, going as far as saying emotions are a flaw. This reveals her biggest flaw/fear: atelophobia.
History
Ancient History
Nothing is known about White Diamond's exact past, but she believed she existed to "make everything better" by imposing a strict system of hierarchies and castes upon the Homeworld empire. Her order persisted unchanged for many thousands of years. White Diamond owned the most colonies at the time of Earth's colonization.
According to Blue Diamond, White was once closer to the other Diamonds, even taking part in games that Pink played with them. However, White was not open to the idea of Pink running a colony, believing she is unfit to run one, which set Pink off to the point of unleashing her destructive powers on Pink Pearl. Additionally, Pink would be locked away in a tower if she were to break one of Homeworld's rules, with White would always be furious with her. After Pink's alleged shattering on Earth, White grew distant from the other Diamonds to the point of never leaving her ship.
Around 4,500 Years Ago
When Pink Diamond was believed to have been shattered and Earth was no longer deemed to be a viable colony, White left Homeworld and she participated in the Corrupting Light attack that corrupted every Gem on Earth exposed to the attack. After that, she returned to Homeworld and stayed until the dawn of Era 3.
Steven, the Crystal Gems and the Diamonds travel to Homeworld to ask White for assistance in healing the Corrupted Gems. Before they even arrived at Homeworld, White appeared to already know that they were coming and that "Pink" was still alive because when they do reach the planet, Homeworld is cheering for the return of Pink Diamond.
White controls White Pearl to retrieve Steven, and when she does, White speaks to Steven as if he is Pink. White tells Steven that everyone is so relieved that Pink is alive and that she is relieved that her little game is finally over. White then sends Steven to Pink Diamond's room.
White Diamond is not seen in "Familiar", but she is mentioned several times. Steven relates to Pearl how he doesn't think she understands that he's not Pink Diamond and later tells Yellow Diamond about his conversation with her, to which she remarks that it's incredible to he managed to get in even a few words to her, but laments that she never allows anyone else to see her in spite of Yellow's success as a conqueror. When Steven talks to Blue Diamond, she recalls an incident where Pink named a batch of Pyrite "Fool's Gold", which apparently infuriated White.
In Pink Diamond's room, Pearl tells Steven that Pink Diamond used to throw parties for all the Diamonds and their courts to attend, including White. This prompts Steven to don Pink Diamond's outfit and throw a ball for all of the Diamonds, where he plans to persuade White to help heal the corrupted Gems.
White appears once in the episode and is mentioned several times. She appears in Steven's dream, still in her ship and smiling at him. Blue Diamond says that since White might be coming to the Era-3 Ball, everything will have to be perfect. Steven hopes that White will come to the ball, but she does not show up. Instead, White Pearl takes her Diamond's place in observing the event, though everyone is unaware that White Diamond is actually speaking and observing the ball through White Pearl. While smiling blankly for most of the event, she suddenly looks displeased when Steven and Connie fuse in front of the assembled Gems.
When Steven and Connie try to escape Homeworld with the help of Blue and Yellow, White Diamond (speaking through White Pearl) tells them that they aren't going anywhere. She then merges her ship with Pink's. However, both Blue and Yellow Diamond's ships, piloted by Bismuth, Lapis, and Peridot attack her ship and manage to knock it over. Later, Steven, Yellow, and Blue try to convince White to stop her ways and help everybody. White, however, ignores this completely, attacking both Blue and Yellow and turning them into mindless, obedient servants, like her Pearl.
White transports Blue and Yellow inside her ship (which merged with hers) and attacks the Crystal Gems. She knocks them off the platform, and Steven drops Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl's gemstones. While falling, Steven manages to fuse with Amethyst, who then throws him over to Pearl. Steven and Pearl fuse and save Ruby and Sapphire. Steven and Garnet then fuse into Sunstone, but White stomps on them with the leg ship. Sunstone lifts up the foot, however, and attacks the ships. White simply swats them away, and the gems decide they have to fuse into Obsidian. They fuse and attack White, along with Connie, Bismuth, Lapis, and Peridot. They all start destroying the ship, with Obsidian managing to slice off both of the ship's hands. The Gems unfuse after being smashed against a pillar, and they enter White's ship through its eye.
White asks what Steven is doing and asks if he wants his legs and his planet back. Steven asks what White did to the other Diamonds, but White shushes him. She says that both Yellow and Blue are imperfect due to their light, but she is perfect, due to her having every light in the spectrum. She then says that Pink is the part of her that she has to repress. She then suddenly attacks the Gems, turning Amethyst, Garnet, and Pearl into slaves like Blue and Yellow. White says that she removed their flaws and that her white light is sparkling through them. She states that they are brilliant and that the flaws Steven caused them to have are gone, and they are perfect as her. Steven tries to tell her that they are perfect the way they are, but White says that Pink likes to surround herself with inferior gems so she can be the best of the worst.
Steven says that it isn't true and that even if it was, she'd be talking about his mom and not about Steven. White laughs at this and says "your mom" in a mocking tone, but Connie arrives and White makes Pearl attack her. Steven tries to help but White makes Garnet and Amethyst grab him. Pearl disarms and grabs Connie. Steven tells her to let Connie go, but White says that it must feel good to surround himself with lower life forms, blaming everything on someone else. She says that that was why he became Rose in the first place, in order to deceive his friends. Steven disagrees, saying that he isn't Rose, but White points out that he knows things that he couldn't possibly know if he wasn't Pink. Steven says that he was just connecting with her, but White says that even though Pink took the form of Steven, her light is still shining through. She then picks Steven up, saying that it's time to come out. She then removes his gemstone, which appears to reform, but whilst it shows the shapes of both Pink Diamond and Rose Quartz, ultimately the gemstone generates a holographic, seemingly emotionless Steven. When White questions where Pink is, the Gem Steven shouts "She's gone!" with such force that White is forced backward, then walks back towards his human half, which is severely weakened. It appears that neither of the two Stevens is complete without the other one. White and the Gems under her control try to stop the reunion, but Gem Steven creates a featureless, multi-faceted shield which blocks all of White Diamonds' attacks, then "pops", creating a powerful shockwave which forces everyone back.
After Steven and the Gem Steven re-fuse, White Diamond angrily pounds her fists on the floor, stating that Steven should appear as Pink Diamond, that he is not half-human, and that he is acting like a child. Steven retorts that he is a child, and asks what White's excuse is. Her and her slaves' cheeks turn pink, confusing White, and all the gems previously under her control return to normal. Bismuth, Lapis, and Peridot arrive with the intent to fight White but stop upon seeing the state that everyone is in. White asks herself what is happening, and she reaches out to Yellow and Blue. Both of them back away from her, saying that she is "off-colored" after seeing her pink cheeks. White is startled, questioning if she is actually flawed. Steven tells her to let people be who they are and tells her that she can be what she wants to be.
White says that she should know better, and that she should be better, and that she should make everything better. Steven says that she can, but she has to leave her own head. She then travels with Steven and the gems to Earth and witnesses the Off Colors arrive, meeting with the people of Beach City including Steven's father Greg Universe and Lion, and later helps cure all the Corrupted Gems. She then leaves Earth with Yellow and Blue as they go back to Homeworld.
White Diamond possesses standard Gem abilities, but since she is a Diamond, her abilities are expected to be much greater than other Gems. Since both Yellow and Blue Diamond showed fear of her, it could be concluded that she is much more powerful than the other Diamonds and gems are.
Unique Abilities
White Diamond's mind controlling beam.
Aura Projection: The Diamonds can project an aura around them that they can control, either radiating it from their entire bodies or emitting it from specific parts of their bodies such as their hands. White's aura was shown around her hand as a solid white corona-like flare around it. Not much has been shown of her aura, but she used it during the Diamonds' final attack against the Crystal Gems.
Corruption Induction: Though the attack was meant to destroy the Crystal Gems, White, Yellow and Blue's collective powers instead corrupted every single remaining Gem on Earth.
Corruption Reversal: Along with Pink/Steven, Yellow and Blue, White has the ability to reverse the effects of the Corrupting Light on Gems. The four reversed the corruption using the water of Rose's Fountain in "Change Your Mind".
Mind Control: By zapping another Gem's gemstone with a white ray of light, White Diamond removes that Gem's color, turning it into a gray that then spreads out from the gemstone, controlling the affected Gem. Controlled Gems generally mimic her movements, speech, and possibly state (her blush spread to all under her control), though White can command them to perform specific actions or say certain things. Once released, Gems are disoriented and appear to have no memory of what happened or what they did whilst they were controlled: A controlled Pearl was still able to draw her (also colorless) Gem Weapon to fight Connie, but it is unclear if this is the Gem's individual weapon or a facsimile. A weakened emotional state may disrupt White's control, as it was undone when she realized a flaw in herself that Steven exposed and blushed in "Change Your Mind". It is unclear if this was a deliberate action on White's part or an unconscious reaction. White Diamond states that controlling other Gems involves "shining her light through them" and that she doesn't want to "spread [herself] too thin", implying a possible limit to the number of Gems she can control at any given time. The ray can be blocked by Pink Steven's Shield.
Power Bestowal: When White Diamond takes control of a Gem, they can gain access to new abilities, such as transportation via a white bubble/capsule, intangibility, and the projection of her controlling light from their eyes.
In the recent "Change Your Mind" The Steven Universe Podcast, it is stated that White Diamond has a motherly role among the Diamonds and serves as a mother figure to the other ones. She didn't hesitate to control them with her powers when she considered them "flawed", but showed certain regret after the events.
Poor Yellow. Her impurities absorb all the blue in her light. She's so strong, but so weak when it comes to Blue. Ah, and Blue, her impurities soak up all of the warmth in her spectrum. She thinks she needs you, Pink.
”
—White Diamond describing Blue and Yellow. "Change Your Mind"
White having fun with Yellow and Blue.
Yellow and Blue Diamond respected and feared White Diamond, obeying her both because they believed her system was correct and in order to avoid her ire. Yellow displayed a desire for White's approval, telling Steven that White "never lets anyone in" these days and complaining how unfair it was that he got to see her despite having only one failed colony, while White never showed her any kind of recognition despite her hundreds of successful colonies. On the other hand, Blue expressed nostalgia for the fun all four Diamonds used to have together in the days when Pink was still with them, indicating that White used to be close to the other Diamonds and had grown distant since.
Over time, both Blue and Yellow have grown depressed and heavily stressed by White's expectations of perfection, describing her as difficult and temperamental to Steven. The two dreaded any kind of confrontation with her, though they were willing to stand together on "Pink Diamond's" behalf when they learned that she/Steven was still alive. Even when they decided White's order was unjust and had to be changed, it took Steven's encouragement for them to overcome that dread and speak their minds to White, expressing that they were sick of her standards and blaming them for the departure of Pink Diamond as well as the disappearance of their closeness to each other.
When White Diamond realized her own imperfection, Yellow and Blue were initially horrified by her loss of composure. Afterward, as they healed the Corrupted Gems together, the two of them still appeared wary of her but willing to make up.
Upon seeing Steven, White Diamond appears to believe he is Pink and calls to him endearingly with the nickname, "Starlight." He is frustrated by her unwillingness to listen, but Yellow tells him that this is normal behavior for White, so he tried to reach out to her again after making his way into her hand ship, but his efforts didn't pay off at first. When they meet face-to-face again though, White reveals herself to be the only Homeworld gem who sees Steven as distinct from his mother. She speaks to him as if he were merely a vessel and mouthpiece for Pink Diamond and not a true being at all, willing to forcibly remove his gemstone from his person in order to prove this. To her chagrin, White is wrong and tries to keep him and Pink's gem from reuniting with Steven. He later made her realize that she herself was flawed. She soon lets go of her obsession with perfection and accompanies Steven to Earth to heal all of the corrupted Gems.
As for me, I’m certain I don't need you. After all, I'm every color of the light. But you're a part of me. The part I always have to repress.
”
—"Change Your Mind"
White Diamond has had a relationship with Pink Diamond like that of a mother, giving her the endearing nickname "Starlight". She frequently played games with her, Blue, and Yellow, and attending the "massive" balls she held. However, she doesn't take Pink seriously and treats her like a child, including her actions on Earth as one of her "games". In 'Change Your Mind', White claims that she sees Pink the one who brings out the worst in other Gems, whereas she sees herself as the one who makes them better, but still wants Pink to "be herself". Despite this, White does express anguish at the revelation that releasing Steven's gem would never return Pink to her.
Pink, White is very unhappy with you. If this keeps up, she's going to take away your Pearl.
”
—Blue Diamond, "Change Your Mind"
It was revealed that White Diamond took away Pink Diamond's Pearl because of Pink's behavior, controlling her in the process. White Diamond now owns her as her personal Pearl. The latter acts as her messenger, escorting Steven to her and then immediately left White's presence when she finishes her task. "White Pearl" attends the Era 3 Ball in "Together Alone" in place of her Diamond, suggesting that White Diamond may use her pearl as her eyes and ears, later confirmed in "Change Your Mind". In "Volleyball", it is revealed that Pink Pearl no longer belongs to White.
Well, what have we here? It's another one of your pets.
”
—"Change Your Mind"
Similarly with Steven, White Diamond is unwilling to let Connie leave Homeworld. When Connie enters White's ship, White remarks that Connie is another one of Steven's "pets" and mind controls Pearl to fight her. After Steven calls out White for being childish, Connie laughs at her. Once White has released her control on the Gems she had mind-controlled, Connie remarks to Amethyst that she thinks Steven got through to White.
White has one of the most expressive faces in Steven Universe, due to her realistic mouth and highly pronounced eyebrows. Whereas most Gems lack eyebrows unless needed for an expression, White always has them, setting her apart from the other Gems.
White Diamond is drawn in the style of the show's background art. However, on a Hot Topic T-shirt and in "Change Your Mind", she is drawn the same way as any other character in the series.
White and Pink Diamonds' gemstones are similar in appearance, though the tips point in opposite directions.
According to Rebecca Sugar in Argentina Comic-Con, her personality is similar to her Pearl and has different problems than Yellow and Blue.
White Diamond's powers and personality may be symbolical of mental abuse or manipulative behavior; abusers of this kind make their victims question their mindset, using deceit and manipulative words or actions to make said victims believe that they are in the wrong, or generally making them too confused about their attacker's behavior and outward performance to try to leave in fear of hurting them for being innocent or being unable to recognize the fact that they are being abused. This is reflected in a lot of White's dialogue in "Change Your Mind", as well as her ability to control the actions of others through mind control.
Prior to being mentioned in the show, White Diamond's name was first seen alongside the names of the other three Diamonds along with their specific themes.[2]
The teaser released by the Steven Universe Booth
During San Diego Comic-Con 2018, Cartoon Network held a "3-D photo booth" for Steven Universe. When fans received their "3-D" image, a clip was attached at the end teasing White Diamond with a brief animation of her eyes blinking.[3]
Prior to White Diamond's debut, a fan had met Patti LuPone after a performance of War Paint, a musical she starred in that was running on Broadway at the time. After complimenting her on her voice work as Yellow Diamond, Patti told the fan that Christine Ebersole, her co-star in the musical, was the voice actress for White Diamond. While never confirmed, it eventually proved to be true.[4]
Rebecca Sugar took inspiration from the illustrations of Nell Brinkley when designing White Diamond.
White Diamond's gemstone is located on her forehead. It is in the shape of an upright five-sided diamond similar in appearance to the side view of a Round Brilliant Diamond Cut.
