Garnet

**"Garnet"** is the fusion of Ruby and Sapphire and the current leader of the Crystal Gems. Garnet is one of the last surviving Gems on Earth who joined the Crystal Gems in the rebellion against Gem Homeworld, and afterwards assisted her friends in protecting the Earth over the next millennia. After Rose Quartz gave up her physical form to give birth to her son, Steven Universe, Garnet took over as the leader of the group

Role in the series

Garnet is the leader of the Crystal Gems. She first met Sonja in Sonja meets Steven Universe and joined with Sonja and the others to help her stop Vixion and her Shadowling Kingdom.

## Personality

Though she is often the most pragmatic and straightforward of the Crystal Gems, Garnet tends to act on intuition rather than seriously analyzing a situation, as often seen throughout the series. As the leader, Garnet is often the peacemaker of the Crystal Gems, especially when Pearl and Amethyst start arguing. She demands utmost respect from the other Crystal Gems and is not hesitant to berate team members should they refuse to follow an order.

Equable and mellow, Garnet is capable of remaining composed in most situations- this part taken from Sapphire. This is displayed in the episode, "The Return", where Amethyst and Pearl were at a loss for words when they tried to explain to Steven why he was forbidden from fighting alongside them at the Gem Warship'slanding. Garnet was the only Crystal Gem who was able to effectively get their point across and convince Steven to join Beach City's evacuation. She was able to remain strong and act practically despite the dangerous and uncertain situation.

Garnet demonstrates a fierce competitive spirit. This is best seen while she's playing volleyball in "Beach Party", "Steven Tag" in "Keep Beach City Weird" and arcade games in "Arcade Mania". Garnet also has a tendency to act in extremes, either maintaining her normally reserved nature or lashing out with extreme emotion, both of these personalities belonging to her two constituent Gems, the passionate Ruby and conservative Sapphire. Despite this, it should also be noted that Garnet can be seen with emotions neutral to these, but it is a rare occurrence.

While mostly level-headed, Garnet can still lose her cool. When Steven began rapidly aging in "So Many Birthdays", Garnet started violently shaking him, thinking, in her desperation, that violence might be the answer. Another example of this can be seen in "Fusion Cuisine" as she panics under pressure when talking toConnie's mother over the phone, leading her to claim that Steven and Connie had died while playing with swords.

The de-fusion and eventual re-fusion of Ruby and Sapphire in "The Return" and "Jail Break" appears to have had an impact on Garnet's personality; in consequent episodes she appears much more outspoken, lively and engaging. In "Jail Break", she shows great enthusiasm when reunited with Steven and in her fight with Jasper, as opposed to her reserved façade pre-regeneration. When looking at the events of "Joy Ride", she speaks the most out of the three, again contrasting with pre-regeneration Garnet. In "When It Rains", before the gems leave on a mission Garnet forms a heart with her hands and tells Steven she loves him. "Log Date 7 15 2" is the greatest example of Garnet's change as she talks to Peridot with openness, compassion and warmth, even offering to fuse with her to help them understand each other.

Garnet is also the most encouraging of the Crystal Gems, and is usually the first to give Steven the chance to try out his ideas (particularly in "Marble Madness"). She prefers to emphasize when her show of trust causes a breakthrough, such as when Greg Universe helped in "The Message". However, when Garnet feels betrayed, such as in "Mirror Gem" or "Cry for Help", she can lash out with a temper that is rarely seen. This was an additional source of tension in "Cry for Help" onwards. "Future Vision" turned things on its head, as Garnet found she had betrayed Steven's trust in her, and subsequently felt self-remorse.

Garnet clearly believes fusion to be sacred and personal, something that can be traced back to Ruby rather than Sapphire. Garnet tells Stevonnie in "Alone Together" that a fusion is considered neither one person nor two people, but rather an experience. She was open enough to answer Steven's personal questions regarding Ruby and Sapphire in "Keeping it Together". As such, any form of misuse of fusion greatly upsets Garnet and is one of the few things that breaks her otherwise calm and controlled demeanor; seeing Homeworld's experiments disturbed and frightened her so immensely that she nearly separated from the shock.

Garnet has demonstrated that she takes her position as leader seriously and has a strong moral compass. In "Cry for Help", Garnet is deeply disturbed by Pearl lying to her about Peridot rebuilding the Communication Tower so they can form Sardonyx, and for wasting time in finding Peridot. Although she has a sense of morality and takes the team's ethic seriously, Garnet's silent and stoic nature does sometimes interfere with expressing her thoughts and feelings to her teammates. This has happened multiple times, as seen with Amethyst in "Reformed" with Amethyst racing to satisfy Garnet's demands and with Pearl in "Friend Ship" while Pearl was trying to make amends with Garnet by finding Peridot. Garnet's anger rendered her inarticulate enough that she was unable to tell Pearl that being tricked into repeated fusion without a real purpose left her feeling extremely violated. Garnet tends to be very independent, and she will often go on missions by herself even if others want to join her. She can be oblivious and stubborn, as seen with Pearl's warning in "Coach Steven" and to Steven's explanation of his dream in "Chille Tid".

## Relationships

### Sonja Farrington

Garnet is a mother figure to Sonja. She helps Sonja control her powers and summon a weapon (Sonja's Sword).

### Cleo

Garnet has a good relationship with Sonja's older sister which she tries to calm her down because Cleo is infuriated with Alister because he thought she was a Shadowling and one of Vixion's henchmen. Sometimes Garnet has to stop Cleo from getting angry at Alister.