Rose Quartz

**Rose Quartz** was the founder and former leader of the Crystal Gems. Enthralled by the beauty of Earth, Rose led her friends and allies in a Rebellion against the Gem Homeworld around 5,500 years before the events of the series, successfully driving the invading Homeworld Gems off the planet and saving the life forms inhabiting it. Rose eventually developed a romantic relationship with a human, Greg Universe, before giving up her physical form to give birth to their son, Steven, who inherited her gemstone.

## Appearance

Rose Quartz had very long, and curly pink hair styled in thick, tube-like ringlets. She also had defined lips with a pale pink color, bright-peach skin, and a taller and heavier build than the other Crystal Gems, due to being a quartz. In "Story for Steven", she was shown to be similar in height to Garnet and stood at eight feet. In "Lion 3: Straight to Video", she was shown to have had black eyes. Rose wore a strapless, floor-length, lilac and snow trimmed, tiered white and in some appearances a white and pink dress that had multiple layers which resembled the petals of a rose and had a star-shaped cutout in the navel area showing her gem. She was also barefoot.

## Personality

natural leader, Rose Quartz is indicated to have had a caring and loving personality. According to Bismuth, Rose was an atypical kind of Gem; rather than living in accordance to her Gem caste's values, Rose chose to be different and encouraged other Gems to be, too. Her doctrine was that Gems can take control of their own identities and that her race's limited display of individuality is a conviction forced upon them. In the same manner, Rose had shown displeasure towards the Gems' traditions and natures; in "Greg the Babysitter", she got somber when reflecting on Gems' static existences, and in "Story for Steven" she admitted that she never missed her home. This discontent sparked her interest in humans, who are always changing and redefining themselves.

In "An Indirect Kiss", she is described as feeling great sorrow when her loved ones were hurt. Her capacity for empathy led her to establish the Rebellion and the Crystal Gems, and extended even to her enemies; as documented in "Bismuth", Rose values her enemies' lives just as much as her allies'. She is also said to see beauty in everything "no matter how gross", showing that she treats everyone as equals. In "The Return", it is revealed by Jasper that Rose Quartz was a masterful tactician, a crucial skill that earned her renown. Despite her role, in "Story for Steven", she was seen to have (at least to the knowledge of the Crystal Gems and Greg) a personality greatly resembling that of her son. Rose showed some ambivalence toward her role in the war; when Greg says he knew little about her, she described this as "a good thing." She is described by Pearl and Greg as someone who "always did what she wanted".

Rose did not fully comprehend the depths of human love in the early stages of her relationship with Greg, seeing that she was very confused when Greg tried to explain the concept of genuine affection. This led Pearl to believe initially that there was not much between Greg and Rose, confronting him with the idea that their "love" was only a phase, and that Greg's novelty would soon wear off. Seeing Rainbow Quartz gave Greg the idea to fuse with Rose, which he'd hoped would help them understand each other. When Greg's fusion attempt failed, Rose started laughing at the thought in a way that he considered to be emotionally distant. When asked to talk like a real person, Rose was quick to admit that her sense of love was a façade, and she had no idea how human love worked. Greg and Rose began to talk, deepening their relationship. After their talk, it can be assumed that she had learned from Greg how to be more 'human', in a sense.

As revealed in "Greg the Babysitter" Rose had not just a misunderstanding of human love, but a misunderstanding of humans in general, going so far to think babies and adults were separate species altogether. Upon learning this, she became fascinated with the fact that humans grow, change, and chose what they become, where Gems are pre-destined to be whom they are. It could also be seen that she treats babies and adults the same motherly way, ironic given that she originally believed them to be separate species.

There is another unexplored side of Rose's personality - the legends surrounding her paint her as a ruthlessly efficient warrior and leader of the Crystal Gems who not only commands her fellow Gems in the rebellion but also participates in the fighting and who shattered Pink Diamond. This side of her personality seems at odds with the all-loving, motherly side of her; reflecting perhaps how the beauty of Earth and its lifeforms greatly affected the stern Gem warrior. It is worth noting that it is her compassion that leads her to rebel to protect others, so this behavior is not entirely out of the realm of possibility. In "The Answer", Rose is shown fighting alongside Pearl. She cracks a cocky smile before destroying a Ruby fusion. This would suggest an aggressive side to Rose's personality, which makes sense in light of her Gem type, a quartz. As implied in "Bismuth" however, Rose's nature as a warrior during the war was tempered by a strong sense of righteousness, as she refuses to go to the extent of needlessly killing Gems to win the war against the Gem Homeworld, proving her love for life was stronger than her warrior instincts.

"Bismuth" highlights both her compassionate nature and her capacity for deception in the form of Bismuth. Rose poofed and bubbled Bismuth and did not tell Pearl and Garnet the truth about what happened to her but did it due to Bismuth's development of the Breaking Point and her intentions to use the weapon mercilessly against their enemies during the war.