Gem Hierarchy

> This is what White Diamond expects of *all of us*...! From a thin flake of mica to the deepest, hardest stone, we all must make sacrifices for the sake of our *perfect empire*!
>
> "Change Your Mind"

Before Era 3, the Gem Homeworld maintained a strict **Caste System** with gemstones having predetermined roles, places, privileges and purposes in the social pyramid, and Gems who deviated from this were considered defective. Since penalties were severe, disgruntled Homeworld Gems kept to themselves or went into hiding. Because there were so many of each Gem-type (except Diamonds), all Gems normally distinguished themselves via serial numbers. The Caste System was divided under the rule of the Diamonds and other Homeworld elites; if Gems were to greet or refer to others in higher sections of the Caste System, they normally prefaced their Gem name with "My" to show they were their superior(s).

As of the time between "Change Your Mind" and *Steven Universe: The Movie* and around *Unleash the Light*, both it and the Gem Empire had been officially dismantled.

## Real-World Relations/Differences

The Caste System was somewhat tied to real-world gemology and mineralogy (i.e. Diamonds being the highest as real-life diamond is highest on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness). However, this was not a proper rule for the series as it took creative liberties with Gem-types and their rankings, including but not limited to:

* Ruby and sapphire are varieties of corundum in the real world while Rubies and Sapphires were different and unrelated in the series, possessing different roles in the hierarchy. The same applied to Aquamarines, Emeralds, Bixbites, Morganites and Beryls which were all beryl in the real world but separate and different in the series. Nephrite is under jade in the real world but Nephrites and Jades seem to share no technical relations, although both were voiced by Aparna Nancherla, possibly as a nod to their real-world equivalents.

## History

The Caste System had its beginnings in early Gem history as the Diamonds rose to prominence. When Homeworld's empire officially began, the newly-minted rulers of Homeworld created the system for the purpose of building up their species as the greatest in the universe at any cost. As a result of their places in the hierarchy many Gems either became self-absorbed or self-deprecating depending on where they stood in the Caste System.

There weren't many that dared to challenge this way of life, with those who did being swiftly and permanently silenced. This changed when a Rose Quartz and Pearl suddenly went rogue on a planet called Earth, kickstarting an uprising. Little did anyone else but the Pearl know, her fellow rebel was actually her master Pink Diamond, one of Homeworld's leaders who had become disillusioned upon actually viewing Earth.

After the end of the war, the Caste System continued unopposed despite Gems unknowingly following in Pink Diamond's footsteps; a group of Gems calling themselves the Off Colors caused noticeable trouble outside Homeworld. When Pink Diamond's son Steven Universe revealed himself, he convinced the Diamonds to stand down and give up their tyrannical ways, even personally dismantling the hierarchy and liberating every colony himself.