Connie Maheswaran

**Connie Maheswaran** is a character in *Steven Universe*. She is Steven's best friend. She debuted in the episode "Bubble Buddies".

Role in the series

## Personality

Connie is introverted, curious and intelligent. Due to her parents' lifestyle, specifically her father's job, Connie rarely stays in one place for long and has been unable to form lasting friendships, which left her frequently feeling lonely. Her parents are very strict and don't allow her to participate in common childhood activities (such as eating donuts or anything with trans fats, although she ate one in Crack the Whip). This has led her to flat-out lie about Steven's non-nuclear family, due to paranoia at how her parents may react. Despite her obedience to them, Connie is not above exploiting loopholes, such as not buying snacks at a theater and instead bringing them from Steven's home.

Connie has grown used to the strange dynamic of her friendship with Steven despite her initial uncertainty of it. For example, in "Marble Madness" when the Gems destroy one of Peridot's robonoids in front of her, she reacts passively awed and only comments that she loves hanging out at Steven's place. She can be a bit deadpan at times, such as when she jokes about cutting off Steven's hand in "Lion 2: The Movie" and in that same instance quickly understands that by poking/tickling Steven she could provoke a reaction from Rose's Secret Armory. Her hobbies appear to include tennis and reading, and she also plays the violin, as seen in "Fusion Cuisine", "Sworn to the Sword", and "Nightmare Hospital".

"Sworn to the Sword" shows a more confident and aggressive side to her personality when she learns sword fighting. Due to Pearl's negative reinforcement, she also began to display a reckless side, but this was quickly put out by Steven. The episode also highlights her strong feelings for Steven, through her dedication to becoming his knight. This boosted confidence is also shown in "Nightmare Hospital" when Connie stands up to her mother about her strict upbringing and rules, and also even revealed her involvement in magical affairs.

"Beach City Drift" emphasizes her level-headedness when she tells Steven she is "thinking mad" about Kevin, and when they de-fuse she is the one who convinces Steven that they have been obsessed with Kevin and to let go of their grudge.

"Gem Hunt" highlights Connie's confidence in how she, while respecting and obeying Pearl, pushes her to split up to hunt the gem monsters, and is the one to lead when she and Steven hunt the second monsterthrough the forest. She is also revealed to have prepared for surviving in the wilderness by reading a book on wilderness survival. However, despite all her training and preparedness, Connie freezes during an encounter with one of the Gem monsters they were hunting. In the end, she chooses to call Pearl via Steven's walkie-talkie, which Pearl commended her for after their subsequent encounter with Jasperwho they found had been hunting the Gem monsters.

"Crack the Whip" shows she is not afraid to barge into the Beach House while shouting surprise, showing how comfortable she has gotten around Steven and the other Gems, telling Garnet and Pearl to stay safe. The episode also shows a lighter side to her when she, Steven and Amethyst have fun around Beach City. Connie even eats a donut despite it going against what she told Steven in "Bubble Buddies", demonstrating her growing independence. She also confides in Steven and Amethyst about freezing during her first mission, causing Amethyst to tell her she should stop overthinking things and follow her instincts in battle. She takes Amethyst's words to heart as she fares far better when the two of them along with Steven and Lion encounter Jasper, and the two Gem Monsters from "Gem Hunt" that Jasper had tamed to take on the Crystal Gems. Together with Steven, Connie bravely confronts Jasper to prevent her from shattering Amethyst, fusing in mid-battle which allows Stevonnie to save Amethyst and force Jasper and her remaining Gem Monster to retreat. After Amethyst regenerates, Connie tells her she was right about how she should follow her instincts.

"Buddy's Book" shows both Connie's studiousness and independence in that she originally goes to the library with Steven to study and prepare for the upcoming school year, only to instantly halt her studies when Steven shows her Buddy's journal.

"Mindful Education" further highlights Connie's growth as well as the transition into higher confidence in her behavior and thoughts. A softer side to Connie's internal struggles with her emotions are shown, as the guilt from the result of her actions at school left a noticeable change in her behavior. After learning that her guilt was natural, she decides to confront her emotions by later apologizing to Jeff and make amends. After this, she is able to clear her mind and is more confident in understanding not to let her emotions negate or cloud her thoughts by keeping them in. On Connie's phone, it shows that she had taken a picture of them happy together, which is something she would have never done if not for the lesson with Garnet. She is also able to pass this knowledge onto Steven, assuring him he had to be honest about how bad his feelings were so he could move on, like she herself did.