Peridot (Steven Universe)

“	It's not a shell. There's so much life, living here. That's what I'm doing! I'm living here! I've been learning new things about myself all the time! Like how I can make metal do my bidding! The point being: Earth can set you free.	„
 	~ Peridot about Earth. 	
“	You Clod!!!!! 	„
 	~ Peridot's most famous catchphrase.	
“	STEVEN! You never gave up on me for some reason I don't understand! I'LL DO THE SAME FOR YOU!	„
 	~ Peridot to a Corrupt Steven. 	
Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG, better known as simply Peridot, is a major character in the animated series Steven Universe.
She is a Homeworld Gem who originally worked under Jasper and Yellow Diamond, monitoring the development of The Cluster on Earth. After being stranded on Earth, she decided to work with the Crystal Gems in order to stop the Cluster's development and save herself, before eventually redeeming herself joining the Crystal Gems legitimately.
She was voiced by Shelby Rabara.
== Personality ==
Initially, Peridot is shown to be extremely morose and ruthless. She is skilled with Gem technology and works for the Homeworld Gems as a technician and takes her work seriously, crushing one of her Robonoids underfoot when it was minimally damaged and useless to her in her first appearance during "Warp Tour". In "Marble Madness", she briefly interacts with Steven, questioning him about the current state of Earth before losing interest and attempting to crush him. When the Crystal Gems intervene and reveal themselves, Peridot is shocked and flustered. Peridot also seems to be a bit stubborn. This is shown when she realizes that the Crystal Gems were the ones that have been destroying her equipment, she quickly loses her temper and asks "Why do you keep destroying my things?!".
Since "Jail Break", Peridot becomes increasingly hyperactive and temperamental in her attempts to contact Homeworld and stop the Crystal Gems interfering with her mission, as she realized that the Cluster will emerge and that, when it does, it will obliterate all life on Earth. In "Keeping it Together", for example, when flying away with her helicopter fingers, she smiles down and laughs hysterically and her facial expressions are exaggerated throughout the episode. In "Cry for Help", Peridot interrupts Crying Breakfast Friends! and all other television signals with her own broadcast from the Communication Hub begging Yellow Diamond to rescue her.
In "Catch and Release", Peridot kidnaps Steven with the hope he will be able to fix the Homeworld Warp. When he cannot, Peridot becomes extremely hysterical and frantic, as she eventually breaks down with the realization she is stuck on Earth with the Cluster. Before she can elaborate, the Crystal Gems arrive and disarm, poof and bubble her. After reforming into her natural self with no armor, Peridot is rather diminutive, and she becomes very juvenile and paranoid, assuming that harmless household items are "weapons" and that hostility drives every action from the Crystal Gems. However, once comforted by Steven, she becomes much more relaxed and cooperative, although she still refuses to cooperate with the Gems and sequesters herself in Steven's bathroom.
Peridot is also very naïve and trustworthy when it comes to Earth, especially when the information is not relevant to her mission. She was unaware of the existence of rain or thunderstorms, believed that Steven was a member of a species called "Stevens" because that's what he called himself, and in "Catch and Release", she believed Steven's bathroom to be an archaic think chamber and almost everything in the bathroom to be a weapon. Curiously, she is familiar with the scent of citrus fruit despite her general ignorance of Earth. She is also socially absentminded and oblivious, as she tends to offend all of the Crystal Gems at some point due to her keeping to the Homeworld social hierarchy. Despite her overall unawareness of Earth, she has said that she finds organic life fascinating and is willing to defend the planet from the Cluster and Yellow Diamond.
Peridot has been shown to be incredibly headstrong and tenacious, as it takes several attempts from the Crystal Gems for Peridot to discuss even the Cluster. Often when working, Peridot insists things be done her way and despises compromising. When she does cooperate, it typically takes some persuasion from Steven. She also continues to keep her log, despite the task being a moot point, more or less for a sense of normalcy. She is also extremely vocal and honest about her viewpoints and will bluntly state what is on her mind regardless of the audience. Her statements have put her in harms way on several occasions, whether by the Crystal Gems or her Homeworld superiors. She does take responsibility for what she says and has learned how to keep some of her more offensive opinions to herself. Her recent behavior around the Crystal Gems has shown that she has opened herself up to new ideas and beliefs.
Peridot is incredibly dedicated and somewhat possessive, occasionally to the point of obsession. She becomes visibly upset when she discovers that others have damaged her things and is emotionally attached to her mechanical foot, as it is her only remaining part of her limb enhancers. Peridot is also truly demonstrative and loyal towards people that she respects, as she was driven to complete her mission and return to Homeworld despite no contact from Yellow Diamond and has been shown to cling to Steven when she is scared. However, after realizing that now she is stuck on the Earth without any form of escape, she decides to betray Homeworld and destroy the Cluster with the help of Steven and the Crystal Gems. In "Message Received", after managing to contact Yellow Diamond and pleading for the Earth to be spared, she realized her perspective of her leader has changed, and she saw her as the cruel, callous, and oppressive tyrant she is. Peridot then rebels against Yellow Diamond's wishes, cementing her loyalty to the Crystal Gems.
Peridot still clings to the Homeworld's social dogma. In "Back to the Barn", Peridot acts very condescending and arrogant towards Pearl due to her position in Homeworld's caste system as a made-to-order servant. She refuses to acknowledge Pearl's skill as a technician for this reason. However, after a competition between self-built robots who ended on Pearl's defeat, Peridot concedes that she may have been wrong. In "Too Far", Peridot shows a strong aversion to fusion, similar to Jasper, referring to Garnet as a "permafusion", and in "Catch and Release" she refers to Garnet as a "filthy war machine" due to the Homeworld belief that fusion should only be used for combat. Peridot has also stated that Garnet makes her "incredibly uncomfortable". Peridot does try to appeal to Amethyst's favor, as she sees Amethyst as the closest thing to a "normal" Gem, by getting her to laugh despite Peridot being incredibly socially unaware and unfamiliar with the concept of humor. Peridot does feel bad when she unknowingly hurts Amethyst's feelings but is confused until Steven explains it. Peridot has a difficult time apologizing for her behavior but is willing to. It is shown in "It Could've Been Great" that while she likes to follow the rules she gets slightly excited when she breaks them (e.g. sitting in an elite Gem's seat.) During her time with Steven and the Crystal Gems, she begins to realize that Homeworld's philosophy is very flawed, and she defects as a member of the Crystal Gems.
Peridot is also extremely egotistical, self-absorbed and manipulative, which leads her to continually underestimate the Gems. Even after defecting to aid the Crystal Gems, she thinks mainly of her needs. Many of her childlike behaviors, particularly her temper and arrogance, stem from her over-inflated ego. This is not to say Peridot is incapable of putting others above herself; she is just not used to having others who are willing to do the same for her. The same behavior extends to her admitting something personal. As she spends more time on Earth, Peridot has started developing a more compassionate attitude.
Peridot prioritizes logic, reason and objectivity above emotions, while also displaying natural curiosity and a great desire to learn and understand. She is also extremely stupendous and great at problem-solving as she uses her observations and experiments to make a conclusion, though her experiments are sometimes ill-conceived. Peridot feels that a practical and systematic approach is the correct way to do things while thinking the Crystal Gems are insane for relying on their emotions, particularly when they chose to relax despite imminent danger. Her logical mind tends to put Peridot at odds with the rest of the Gems and has caused her difficulty with communicating. Peridot's reasoning led her to contact Yellow Diamond in an attempt to persuade her to protect the Earth but ultimately decided to betray Homeworld. When a cause is important to her, Peridot can be just as emotionally charged as the rest of the Crystal Gems.
== Appearance ==
Peridot has lime green skin, and pale yellowish-green hair styled into a tetrahedron shape. Her eye color without her visor is dark green. Her mouth and tongue are blue. Her gemstone is located on her forehead and is shaped like an inverted triangle with flattened corners.
In all of her appearances to date, she wears a sleeveless green V-neck uniform. Her suit is mostly medium green, with a dark green diamond outline around the cut-out of her neck area, meeting to form the Yellow Diamond insignia at her solar plexus, with a dark-green portion between her chest and leggings. Her leggings feature yellow diamond-shaped kneepads. She is never seen without her visor, which covers the top half of her face and tints her eyes yellow-green.
From her first appearance in "Warp Tour", Peridot wore limb enhancers, which have been disposed of as of "Catch and Release". These artificial extensions are bright green and flare out toward the wrists and ankles, which are colored a very dark green. The arm enhancers also feature artificial fingers which are not directly attached but instead levitate around where the palms would be. The leg enhancers serve to enhance her height; without them, she is only about as tall as Ruby and Sapphire and slightly taller than Steven.
After her regeneration from "Catch and Release" to "Reunited", Peridot's design shows no change, except her limb enhancers. However, her hair is slightly more frayed at the corners, depending on how she stands.
After her second regeneration in "Change Your Mind", Peridot's design has completely changed for the first time. She now wears an emerald-green top with a yellow star on the front, dark green on the crotch and bright-green leggings with dark green stars on each leg (similar to Amethyst's) along with yellow boots. Her visor is now a transparent yellowish-green and butterfly-shaped exposing her gemstone. Her hairstyle and visor form a star shape.
== Quotes ==
“	A GEM?! 	„
 	~ Peridot after seeing Garnet.	
“	Wait a minute... you're the ones that have been destroying my Plug Robonoids! Are you the reason the Homeworld Warp is down again!? Is this is your bizarre icon!? Arrggh! Why do you keep destroying my things?!	„
 	~ Peridot to The Crystal Gems. 	
“	Now do you believe I needed an escort?	„
 	~ Peridot to Jasper. 	
“	You Crystal Clods! Go ahead, wreck this place! See if I care! I've already gotten what I needed!	„
 	~ Peridot to the Crystal Gems. 	
“	This is Peridot, transmitting from all frequencies from abandoned Crystal System on colony Planet Earth. To Yellow Diamond, my mission has been compromised. My escort and informant are gone, and I am now stranded. PLEASE SEND HELP!	„
 	~ Peridot's distress message to Yellow Diamond. 	
“	You idiot! 	„
 	~ Peridot to Pearl.	
“	Well, I'd love to stick around and watch one of your pathetic attempts to capture me, but I guess I'm just too smart for the likes of you lumpy, clumpy clods!	„
 	~ Peridot taunting the Crystal Gems. 	
“	DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! 	„
 	~ Peridot attacking the Crystal Gems.	
“	You smashed me into a limbless cloud! You trapped me in your bubble dungeon! And you called me cute!	„
 	~ Peridot attacking Steven after being released. 	
“	Freedom is mine! 	„
 	~ Peridot tries to escape in the Crystal Temple.	
“	As if I'd negotiate with you, filthy war machine!	„
 	~ Peridot to Garnet. 	
“	Is that a weapon? 	„
 	~ Peridot mistaking a comb for a weapon.	
“	THAT'S YOUR BUTT! 	„
 	~ Peridot to an Amethyst infuriating her on limbs' names.	
“	Apparently more than YOU! You... CLOD! 	„
 	~ Peridot calling Yellow Diamond a clod.	
“	Log date: 7 15 2... I can't believe I just did that! I disobeyed my orders and went against Yellow Diamond's wishes! I'm a traitorous clod! I never want to think about what I've done again! *rewinds tape recorder* "I'm a traitorous clod!" Yehahaha! *laughing* And I called Yellow Diamond a clod right to her face! *kneels down* *devastated* I called Yellow Diamond a clod... right to her face!	„
 	~ Peridot's breakdown after her betrayal. 	
== Trivia ==
* Peridot is the second new Gem introduced in the series, following Lapis Lazuli.
* Peridot is the birthstone of August, along with Sardonyx.
* In "Marble Madness", her final words before her screen faded out where "I'm reporting this!", implying that she has a manager. This wouldn't be discovered until "Message Received" when Yellow Diamond tells Peridot she will inform her manager about her incompetence.
** In the same episode, it is revealed that she sent the Red Eye on a reconnaissance mission to Earth, to see if there were other gems.
* In the episode, "Jail Break", Peridot fled off the prison ship in an escape pod that crash landed on Earth in a unknown location not so far from Beach City, while some fans thought she landed to the vicinity of the Canadian side of the Great Lakes.
* She bears a resemblance to Pearl, especially in regards in personality; both are neurotic, easily flustered gems with a knack for a plan.
* Peridots are hinted to be a low class type of gem on Homeworld.
* In "Catch and Release", it is revealed that her prosthetic limbs are known as "Limb Enhancers".
* Peridot seems to gradually be depicted as shorter throughout the series, reaching the smallest height in "Room for Ruby". However, this may be an animation error since she's shown go back and forth in height in later episodes.
* Peridot is the first villain in the series to be redeemed, followed by the Cluster, Lapis Lazuli, Bismuth, and eventually the Diamonds and Spinel.