Bismuth

* Current
* Debut

**Bismuth** is one of the original members of the Crystal Gems. Before the end of the Rebellion, she and Rose had a conflict of interests, leading to them falling out. This ultimately led to Bismuth being poofed, bubbled, and left inside of Lion's Dimension. Rose then lied to the other Gems, telling them that she went missing in battle. 5,300 years later, Rose's son, Steven, accidentally freed her. After her proposal had been rejected once again, she and Steven fought and she was poofed and bubbled again by him. This time, unlike Rose, Steven revealed to the others what happened to her. Bismuth remained kept in her bubble for some time afterwards out of fear she might lash out again until Steven finally freed her again in "Made of Honor" to rejoin the team permanently.

## Appearance

Bismuth has a large, bulky body type with broad shoulders and a strong, flat chest that is wider than her lower body. Her legs are noticeably shorter compared to her arms. Her head outlines the shape of the rest of her body, with a large jaw and noticeable cheeks similar to Steven. Her hair is styled in several dreadlocks in a mixture of several bright tones, all held back by a lilac headband. She has a periwinkle complexion, and she sports a single tattoo-like marking of a star pattern on her left shoulder in a smoky dark red. Her gemstone is located in the center of her chest and is noticeably concave.

### Pre-regeneration (debut)

She wears a black apron-like outfit, resembling a blacksmith, with a single brownish attachment and a pinkish-red star-shaped belt around her waist. Her pants are a burgundy color, and she has dark brown boots.

### Post-regeneration (current)

After being unbubbled by Steven in "Made of Honor", Bismuth now has a backless and strapless black top that has a square cutout in the middle to reveal her gem. Beneath that is a long light red attachment with a light and dark red apron-like attachment under it, and both of these have a light red belt around them with a light-pink star that is tilted and cut off by the belt and black top. Her pants and boots are unchanged.

## Personality

Bismuth is friendly, boisterous, fierce, determined, empathetic, and emotive. She is not afraid to speak and act her mind. While Bismuth cares deeply for her friends, she also harbors an immense hatred for Homeworld elites, specifically the Diamond Authority.

Bismuth has an aggressive personality, even when being affectionate. When she sees her friends Pearl and Garnet, she immediately pulls them in for bone-crushing hugs. Her manner-of-speaking is blunt and to-the-point, and she acts without gaining consensus from the group surrounding her. She enjoys fighting: she reminisces fondly on the battles she and Garnet fought together against Homeworld's army, for example, and she loves to spar. When confronted, she attacks first and asks questions later. She has a playful side: she regularly creates puns out of the word "Bismuth" and habitually ribs the other Crystal Gems.

Bismuth is deeply devoted to her friends. She makes them weapons to complement their existing skill-sets; she playfully teases them while they are alive; and she grieves for them when she learns they are dead. The fact that the remaining Crystal Gems did not know of her imprisonment within Lion's Dimension troubles and wounds her.

Bismuth also relishes the freedom and possibility that results from being a Crystal Gem. She speaks with passion and wonder about Steven's ability to be himself (rather than a copy of Rose Quartz) and her own ability to differentiate herself from other Bismuths by doing what she wants rather than conforming to a prescribed role. Bismuth's passion for maintaining her own freedom and the freedom of others is what drives her to fight against Homeworld. She deeply resents the "Homeworld elites" for forcing her to do their bidding, and this resentment manifests itself in the form of unmitigated hatred.

Bismuth is vindictive and determined to win the fight against Homeworld at any cost. She has no faith in the leadership of Homeworld, whom she believes to be fundamentally evil, and sees it as her duty to free the gems that live under Homeworld's rule. Because of this conviction, she is willing to go to any length to obtain what she sees as justice. This mentality leads her to build the Breaking Point, which she sees as the only way to defeat Homeworld despite the ethical complications of using it. It also ultimately leads her to attack Steven with intent to shatter him, whom she believes to be Rose Quartz attempting to stop her again. When it comes to defeating Homeworld, Bismuth becomes ruthless and a danger to anyone standing in her way.

## Abilities

Bismuth possesses standard Gem abilities, bubbling, shapeshifting, fusion, regeneration, agelessness, and superhuman strength/durability.

### Skillset

* **Skilled Craftsmanship:** As shown in her debut, Bismuth is shown to build and forge remarkably powerful weaponry and amazing structures such as arenas and spires. To add to this, she was a craftsman for Homeworld as well as the blacksmith for Rose's army.
	+ **Weapon Alteration:** Bismuth is capable of creating attachments and upgrades for current weapons such as giving Garnet's gauntlets spiked edges, turning Pearl's spear into a trident, and Amethyst's whip into a spiked flail.
* **Superhuman Strength:** Bismuth is incredibly strong, capable of rivaling Garnet in terms of power and shattering solid stone to bits with her blows. Even without using her weapon hands, she is capable of lifting a statue made of solid rock over her head and throwing it with enough force to leave a crater in a stone wall. According to Bismuth, she and Garnet could take on a battalion of Quartz soldiers with relative ease.

### Unique Abilities

* **Shapeshifting Weapons:** Bismuth is able to easily shapeshift both of her hands into several types of weapons or tools, such as hammers, screwdrivers, and even a Roman scissor. They are used as both an offensive attack or to pound materials when creating and improving weapons. These weapons also appear to be a lot harder and stronger than if the other Gems did the same thing. This is most likely due to her original purpose on Homeworld as a craftsman.
* **Thermal Resistance:** Bismuth is incredibly immune to high temperatures. She can shower in lava as if it were water and collect samples of lava with her bare hands, showing no visible injuries. She shares this power with Ruby and by extension Garnet.
* **Enhanced Breath**: Bismuth is shown to be able to instantly cool a heated sword that was dipped in lava simply by blowing on it.

## Relationships

### Pearl

Bismuth learns about the remainder of the war from Pearl. When Pearl starts to cry, Bismuth tells Pearl that she starts to cry whenever Pearl does, implying they had a close relationship previously. Pearl apologizes, but Bismuth says that it is okay, and they comfort each other. In general, they appear to be close (at least in comparison to the still extant Crystal Gems). Pearl runs immediately towards her upon reuniting, and they have bonded over their common disregard of the Gem caste system. Bismuth enjoys teasing Pearl over her original purpose as a servant-class Gem. During their sparring match, Bismuth ribs Pearl asking her who told her to bring her (Bismuth) a spear.

### Garnet

Bismuth is seen laughing with Garnet at the Temple. After learning about the war, Garnet walks over to comfort her and the two hold hands, showing their close relationship as equals with Pearl and the other original Crystal Gems. Bismuth frequently jokes about her being a fusion, calling her "power couple," "two to talk," and commenting on how "her Ruby was showing." They appear to be the roughest with each other, with Garnet socking Bismuth in the arm with her gauntlet after a tease, and Garnet being the first to charge at her during a spar. They were comrades during the Rebellion and once took down three battalions of Quartz Gems together at the same time. She also claims that Ruby and Sapphire are her favorite couple in the episode, "Made of Honor". She even teared up emotionally during their wedding whilst serving as ringbearer in "Reunited".

### Amethyst

Amethyst was initially suspicious of Bismuth, having never seen her before or learned about her from Rose. When Bismuth provided Amethyst with an upgrade for her whip, however, she quickly warmed up to the blacksmith. After Steven was forced to poof Bismuth and revealed her intentions, she joined the other Crystal Gems in mourning.

### Steven Universe

Initially confused by the prospect of Steven being a hybrid of human and Gem, Bismuth comes to accept Steven for who he is, encouraging him to always do his best and to take pride in what he can do. She is even fond of taking part in his kind of activities, such as playing cards, cooking, eating, and even enjoying TV with him. Later, however, upon Steven showing his disagreement with the Breaking Point in the same words as his mother, Bismuth believes he is actually Rose in disguise and tries to "shatter" him. After the fight, when Steven promises to tell the others what happened to her, she laughs bitterly, proclaiming that he is better than Rose before her physical form explodes. Her words before poofing indicate Bismuth saw the distinction between Steven and Rose. In the podcast, Rebecca Sugar states that meeting Bismuth is a huge turning point for Steven because what he learns from this event contrasts with the portrait of Rose he gets from his family. He feels confused, guilty, and devastated over Bismuth, feeling that he had failed her. Steven comes to better understand he needs to deal with the baggage from Rose's life, and Bismuth was the first indication that he has inherited something "wrong with the Crystal Gems."[​1]​​ In "Made of Honor", Bismuth eventually makes amends with Steven after he frees her and tells her the truth about Rose. She also acknowledges that Steven has become the glue holding the Crystal Gems together in light of learning their former leader was a sham, even suggesting that Steven--not Garnet, as he claims--is the true leader of the team now.

### Rose Quartz

Bismuth initially loved and respected Rose for encouraging her to be more than what she is supposed to be, and was a fanatical follower of her doctrine. When Rose opposed her idea of creating a weapon that would permanently destroy their enemies, gemstone and all, Bismuth lost all faith in her and the two fought, which resulted in Bismuth being poofed and stored away in Lion's Mane. Bismuth's distrust of Rose runs deep to the point where she briefly believes that "Steven" is just another one of her "lies", a false identity Rose created for herself to deceive her. Despite her disdain for Rose, Bismuth fondly recalls how she helped her foster her own identity and helps impart that wisdom onto Steven in the hope that he may turn out better than his mother. In the podcast, Rebecca says that Bismuth would have done anything for Rose, and when she came up with a weapon that she thought served Rose's agenda, Rose rejected it and rejected Bismuth for reasons she never understood and was totally "screwed over" by her.[​1]​​

Bismuth is as shocked as everyone else when she learns from Steven that Rose had secretly been Pink Diamond, screaming into lava to conceal herself. But apart from that, she seems to take it relatively well and admits it casts better lighting on the cause of their disagreement over the Breaking Point. When she sees the Crystal Gems still holding together despite learning their former leader was a lie, Bismuth concludes that it is Rose's son Steven who is keeping the team together and regards him as their new leader.

In Save the Light, considered to be Level 2 Canon, there is a secret room of The Forge where a giant statue of Rose Quartz lies. It is discovered that before their fight, Bismuth made it in honor of her actions, as a surprise gift to her.

### The Great Diamond Authority

After joining the Crystal Gems, Bismuth grew to despise the Diamonds with a passion, viewing them as nothing more than tyrants to be defeated and going as far as building a weapon capable of destroying them. Even after learning the truth about Pink Diamond, Bismuth still holds a great deal of animosity towards the other Diamonds and is more than willing to fight them. During the battle of Beach City, she, alongside the other Crystal Gems, faces off against Blue and Yellow Diamond.

### Biggs Jasper

Bismuth was friends with Biggs Jasper, a member of the Crystal Gems before being corrupted. Once first freed from her bubble (5,000 years after being poofed and having missed the rest of the War), Bismuth asks about the whereabouts of some of her closest Crystal Gem friends, including "Biggs". Later, in "Made of Honor", Bismuth spots Biggs' bubbled gem, and says that "Biggs was beloved by everyone!" Bismuth frees Biggs from her bubble, only to find that Biggs has become corrupted. Biggs Jasper, now monstrous and hostile, attacks Steven and Bismuth. The latter attacks and poofs her former friend.

### Peridot

Similar to Amethyst, Peridot initially had no idea who Bismuth was upon meeting her. During the subsequent battle of Beach City, however, they become fast friends due to Peridot's high levels of energy, eager willingness to fight, and their mutual dislike of the Diamonds. ​
​

### Ronaldo Fryman

Bismuth and Ronaldo first meet during Garnet's wedding reception. Though their relationship is unknown, she appears to be genuinely uninterested in his conspiracy theories.

## Gemology

Gemstone Information

* Bismuth is formed in hydrothermal vents and pegmatite dikes most often.
* Bismuth is not, in fact, a gem. Instead, it is a post-transition metal, a type of metal which is soft and brittle and has a lower melting point than other metals.
	+ And like many other metals, has a crystal structure.
* Crystals, which are uncommon, are usually flat hexagons occurring in parallel groupings. Bismuth also occurs as massive and as waterworn nuggets in stream beds.
* Pseudo-cubic, hopper-like crystal groupings are almost never found in nature but are mostly laboratory-produced.
* The bismuth crystal owes its array of colors from iridescent oxides that tarnish the crystal as it grows. Otherwise, bismuth will only appear as gray and metallic.
* It is an element with the symbol as Bi and an atomic number of 83.