Pearl

**Pearl** is a Crystal Gem, and an original Gem who appears in *Steven Universe*

## *Appearence*

Pearl has a slender, thin build, pale cream-colored skin, sky-blue eyes, a pointed nose and thin lips. She is quite tall for a non-fusion Gem; towering over Amethyst, Ruby, Sapphire, and Peridot alike. She is a near equal height (with hair) to Garnet's chin. Her hair has a peach-pink color and resembles a pixie-cut in the front, while in the back, her hair leads to a point. Pearl is usually drawn without eyelashes or pupils, although they have been seen in some (or a select few) close-ups. Pearl's gem is located on the middle of her forehead and has no facets.

## Personality

Pearl is a perfectionist with a sizable amount of knowledge on a plethora of topics and values organization. Pearl has a penchant for symmetry (going so far as to impale M.C. Bear Bear to maintain the symmetry of a pile of appliances and school supplies) and a high attention to details.

Despite her perfectionism and occasional bragging, Pearl suffers from low self-confidence and self-esteem. In "Friend Ship", she admits she is very dependent on others to validate her, which loops into a strong inferiority complex. According to Amethyst in "Reformed", she needs everyone's constant approval to feel secure. Without anyone to tell her what to do or to depend on her, Pearl feels lost and without meaning or value. Pearl admits she often feels extremely weak and/or useless when compared to others who appear better than her, going so far as to describe herself as ineffective on her own; always in need of a leader she can follow. Her self-destructive behavior stems from the Homeworld caste values, where pearls are viewed as property rather than Gems. This has led her to take drastic actions in order to prove herself — though, thanks to Garnet's encouragement in "Friend Ship", she has started to take initiative instead of letting others' words define Pearl herself. It appears Pearl has taken this to heart, as she asserted herself against Peridot when she treated Pearl in a degrading tone. Pearl even went as far as physically punching Peridot to show that she was an individual, not a piece of property.

Pearl is easily flustered and overwhelmed when confronted by the unknown or when her plans fail, which can lead to her judgement being clouded or cause her to act on impulse instead of rational thinking. Her inner turmoil over her love for Rose (and her subsequent absence) has made Pearl lash out at Steven more than once. Her fierce desire to feel "strong" and have more victories as a Crystal Gem even caused her to betray Garnet's trust and basic principles so they could keep forming Sardonyx. When realizing how much she hurt others, Pearl will apologize and try as hard as she can to set things right, working hard in order to counteract the damage she may have inflicted.

Out of all the Crystal Gems, Pearl is the most poorly adjusted to life on Earth, being unaware of human social conventions and culture, such as jokes, games, arcades, food, and birthday parties. Pearl has expressed a great desire to leave Earth in "Space Race", going so far as to risk her and Steven's lives. Pearl also has a pessimistic view of humanity, as evidenced by her statement in "Keep Beach City Weird".

In spite of her pessimistic perspective of humans, Pearl is extremely dedicated to her cause in protecting humanity more or less out of her love, loyalty, and admiration for Rose Quartz. She does, however, find certain aspects of Earth rather amazing. Regardless of her poor understanding of human society, she was able to pay for the Cookie Cats Amethyst and Garnet stole in "Gem Glow", drive Greg's van in "Ocean Gem", and repair it in "House Guest". She also watches the New Year's Eve fireworks show in "Maximum Capacity".

In "Back to the Barn", it is revealed that Pearls are not created to fight, but respond to orders. However, Pearl trained to fight with Rose. Peridot also describes her kind, Pearls, as accessories that are meant to be put on display as status symbols and to perform menial tasks, although Pearl's appearance fits this standard.

## **Abilities**

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

### Skillset

* **Spear Proficiency**: Through her many years of training, Pearl is able to summon her weapon, a pearlescent spear. Pearl is very skilled in the art of spear-wielding and goes in tandem with her pattern of fighting that involves formal (ballet) dancing. She moves gracefully and swiftly, attacking with grace and poise. She stays calm and collected during melee battles, duels, and skirmishes. Pearl also has great skill in throwing her spear. This was proven in Giant Woman, and Beach Party.
	+ **Energy Projection**: Pearl can fire arrow-like blasts of energy from the tip of her spear. This can be done as rapid-fire, or charged to unleash a more powerful blast. In Attack the Light, this ability is named "Fireball".
	+ **Dual Wielding:**Pearl is capable of wielding dual spears in battle, implying she is ambidextrous.
* **Swordsmanship:**Pearl possesses expert knowledge and skill with a sword. For one on one dueling Pearl's preferred weapon is a standard Training Sword. Pearl's parry's are tight and minimalist, her offense is a pattern that is specific to the environment. This pattern consists of lunges, thrusts, and horizontal slashes.
* **Engineering**: On multiple occasions, Pearl has demonstrated a high level of skill in mechanical engineering, ranging from reverse-engineering Flask Robonoids to constructing a combat-ready robot on short notice, and constructing a rocket in an attempt to leave Earth, proving herself able to compete with an "expert" mechanic such as Peridot

### Unique Abilities

* **Holographic Projection**: Pearl can project holographic images from her gemstone, which she uses mainly as a visual aid when lecturing Steven. While most of the holograms seem to be intangible, some, like Holo-Pearl, are able to interact with solid matter. Furthermore, the holograms can function without Pearl's presence up to two weeks, implying that her holograms can live independently. In "Chille Tid", it is shown Pearl's dreams are projected as holograms as she sleeps. In the show she has only been shown to be capable of creating independent (i.e not being continuously projected by her Gemstone) holograms of herself, Holo-Pearls. In the official flash game "Sword Dancers" she is shown to be capable of creating independent holo-clones of Connie as well (see Holo-Connie). However, the games (much like the comics) are of questionable canon so it is unknown if she is capable of this outside of the game.
* **Self-Duplication**: Aside from Holo-Pearls, which are projected through her gem, Pearl can also replicate herself several times into hologram-esque clones of herself, as seen in "Beach Party".
* **Psammokinesis**: Pearl is shown manipulating a small amount of sand to create figurines in "Giant Woman". It is currently unknown how much sand she can control at one time. This ability has only been shown once so far.
* **Levitation**: Pearl temporarily levitates to battle Sugilite in "Coach Steven". She shares this ability with the other two remaining Crystal Gems.
* **Nephelokinesis**: In "Sworn to the Sword", Pearl is able to channel clouds in the direction of her choice, able to gather clouds surrounding the arena around her to create a fine mist, reducing visibility and able to quickly dissipate.
* **Gem-tech Interfacing**: While not to the extent of Peridot, she was first shown in "Jail Break" and later shown in "Friend Ship", able to interface and control Gem technology such as the Gem Warship and, to a greater extent, Peridot's escape pod. When she interfaces with Gem-tech, her eyes become overlapped with what looks like programming code.
* **Photokinesis**: Pearl has the ability to control and manipulate light. This might be a power that every gem is able to use.