Lapis Lazuli

**Lapis Lazuli** is a member of the Crystal Gems that made her debut in "Mirror Gem". She was imprisoned within a magical mirror for thousands of years until she eventually convinced Steven to free her. As of "Same Old World", she has chosen to reside on Earth and is currently living at the barn with Peridot. At one point, Lapis admits to Steven she enjoyed being Malachite, as it allowed her to take her anger out on someone. However, when Jasper returns soon afterwards, Lapis refuses her offer to become Malachite once again and chooses Steven and healing herself over giving into anger.

Lapis formed a strong bond with Peridot during their time living together, until the threat of another war between Earth and Homeworld scared Lapis into fleeing to the Moon, taking the barn with her, but leaving Peridot behind. Steven later found her at the Moon Base and attempted to convince Lapis to return, but she refused out of fear. Lapis returned in "Reuinted" and assisted the Crystal Gems in the fight against Blue Diamond, becoming a member of the team in the process.

Years later, she now lives with Bismuth and Peridot in Little Homeworld. She is shown to be more cheerful throughout the movie, though still retains a dark sense of humor, joking about her past as an antagonist and how she's still "on the fence" about hurting Steven. Despite her large amount of progress made in bettering herself, Lapis still doubts if she's made any progress at all, evident by her angry outburst at two other Lapis Lazulis, who mocked her relentlessly for trying to show them a new peaceful way of life and the subsequent shame Lapis showed for giving into her anger.

Role in the series

## Personality

Before Lapis's incarceration in the mirror, she had no qualms over terraforming planets, holding little value for organic life and seeing them as inferior, much like other Gems. However, the suffering of being trapped for over nearly 6,000 years has changed her deeply. It was a recurring theme for her to be used by others and these experiences have cemented in her a general mistrust of others. Furious and unable to easily let things go, she initially harbored hatred and mistrust for the Crystal Gems since they knew she was in the mirror but never helped. She had a strong dislike towards Peridot because she had dragged her back to Earth, being unforgiving and grumpy when she didn't accept her apologies and rudely destroying her gifts. In "Room for Ruby" it is shown Lapis doesn't trust strangers when she meets them, being skeptical of "Navy"'s appreciative behavior when she lived in the barn due to her being unappreciative and worried when she first arrived. ​​​​​​On the other hand, Lapis opened up to Steven for showing kindness towards her, being the one to free her and healing her cracked gem. After talking with him she eventually warms up and defends Peridot and Steven from the Rubies showing that she is starting to forgive and be friendlier with others. In "The New Crystal Gems" it is shown that Lapis is neutral and somewhat indifferent, barely recognizing Connie until she came to respect Connie in how she could deal with Steven's life.

In "Alone at Sea" Lapis reveals a cynicism about herself which borders on self-hatred, harboring a deep regret for her actions as Malachite and those in "Ocean Gem", particularly her belligerence against Steven and Jasper. She briefly doubts whether she is different from Jasper but gathers the resolve to avoid reigniting their abusive relationship with Steven's encouragement. Having been captured several times, Lapis was constantly grappling for control as Malachite not only for Steven but for her reasons. Still, though, she shows a profound fear of responsibility, immediately rebuffing Greg's offer for her to be captain of the boat before Steven reassures her by insisting that they all be first mates and share responsibility. Furthermore, Lapis felt insecure about taking a long time to understand how things work on Earth while "Navy" was able to do it on the first try, being glad to find out that "Navy" was still loyal to Homeworld and everything she did was a charade to get back the Roaming Eye.

When confronted with an enemy stronger than herself, Lapis usually displays a defeatist and pessimistic approach, believing that putting up a struggle can only make the situation worse. She delivers a frantic message to Steven about the approaching invasion and begged him to submit to Homeworld should they cross paths in "The Message", giving similar advice when Steven stumbled across her in "Jail Break" by mentioning that Homeworld might go easy on them if they follow orders. In "Raising the Barn", she packs up the Barn and flees Earth to avoid another war at the hands of the Diamonds, still not being comfortable enough defending the planet from a Homeworld attack. She wanted Steven and Peridot to flee Earth with her, but she decided to leave on her own and took the Barn (her comfort zone) when they refused. However, in "Reunited" Lapis makes a surprisingly brave appearance and officially proclaims herself to be a Crystal Gem, joining the fight against Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond showing she would rather be with her new friends than alone anymore.​​​​​​

Some of Lapis' notable characteristics are her strong willpower and her lack of hesitation to anyone who stands against her: Even with a cracked gemstone, she managed to control the Earth's entire ocean through sheer determination to return to Homeworld which she considers "home" though she can be rather inconsiderate and indifferent in her ways as this act could damage the human race or the planet. Once her gemstone was healed she flew a vast distance through space to eventually reach Homeworld. Her strength of mind is so great that she suppressed the equally resolved Jasper for months on end. Detrimentally though she can be stubborn and hesitant in cooperation or accepting any kind of help from others unless she has no other choice, refusing to be set free by Steven in "Jail Break" or doesn't want to tell the Crystal Gems her location for them to find her and aid in the situation in "Chille Tid". However, most of these situations stem from returning a favor to help Steven without involving him in more dangerous situations or simply mistrust towards others from previous encounters.

Having gone through several traumatizing events, Lapis gradually showed a more dour and deadpan side to her, especially after facing Peridot again. She is upset when she discovers that Peridot has been keeping information that she had deemed too substantial, suggesting that she considers herself emotionally stable enough to overcome most of her past traumas. She was able to resist Blue Diamond's pathogenesis thanks to how much trauma she has been through, barely shedding a tear upon being hit by the aura. However, Lapis ranges from being deadpan to emotional throughout the show as seen in "Alone in the Sea" where she appears to be more lively and cheerful out of curiosity towards Earth but seems less enthusiastic in "Beta" possibly due to her encounter with Jasper as implied by Peridot's reluctance to mention her name around her.

After overcoming the majority of her traumas Lapis' true personality seems to be extremely laid back, almost blasé and even somewhat lazy. She seems to be barely fazed towards events like the Rubies' return and Andy DeMayo yelling at her, being typically seen sitting or lounging around while watching Camp Pining Hearts or reading. Similar to Amethyst she has a habit of sleeping despite not having to, resting on an amp like a pillow while everyone is gathered on the beach at the end of "Change Your Mind" with Peridot noting that she snores. "Beta" shows that Lapis has acclimated to living in the barn. Although she is still dour to an extent, she has helped renovate the barn and become comfortable living with Peridot, creating pieces of art they call "meep-morps" and helping to do a farm through her hydrokinesis.

In The Steven Universe Podcast, Rebecca Sugar described Lapis as a vulnerable character who is taken advantage of constantly but interested in opening up to people who offer her kindness, like Steven. In the same podcast, she says that Lapis is constantly grappling for some kind of control, but once she has it she is scared that she will do something bad with it. It was when she was Malachite that she exercised control to take out her hate on Jasper, and then when they separated, she started to harbor regrets for that desire. She is unable to find direction because she can't see a big part of herself even when it is exposed to everyone else. During her time with Peridot, Lapis was still living in fear as she doesn't see the difference between leaving Earth and hiding like a refugee on the planet. She has more fear because she has experienced the horror Homeworld can dish out, unlike Peridot who hasn't had such conflict that she lost to.[1] Being a realist, Lapis acknowledges that Homeworld is targeting Earth so her first instinct is to flee the planet to not be caught in the conflict or have any interaction with the Diamonds again. Peridot and Steven support the idea of fighting back, but she tries to solve problems for herself instead due to having trouble asking and using this assistance, leading to her fleeing the planet with the barn.

The decision to face her fears and choosing to face the Diamonds with her friends instead of fleeing signals a change in Lapis; this is indicated after reforming and joining the Crystal Gems with her being much more relaxed and braver than she used to be. This is especially true during the events of Steven Universe: The Movie as while living in a time of peace she is shown to be downright chipper and exuberant while assisting Bismuth and Peridot in the construction of Little Homeworld. "Why So Blue?" shows her happy, confident, and joyful while visiting another planet with Steven though she is aggressive and abrasive when dealing with other Lapis Lazulis willing to put them through "a little torture" to get them to stop. She also shows regret for the destruction she wrought when still terraforming worlds and the other Lapis Lazulis made her angry by reminding her of this. According to herself, she was once like most of her former Homeworld peers in that she was openly dismissive of and callous towards non-Gem life before meeting Steven; before having her gemstone healed she stated she "never believed in" Earth as a planet.

## Relationships

**Sonja Farrington**

Lapis acts as a sister-figure to Sonja.