Pearl

**Pearl** is a member of the Crystal Gems. One of Rose Quartz's closest followers and her sole confidant, Pearl is one of the last surviving Gems on Earth who joined the Crystal Gems in their rebellion against the Gem Homeworld. Pearl would afterward protect the Earth over the next several millennia alongside her friends, while later teaching Rose's son, Steven, the ways of Gems.

## Personality

Pearl is a perfectionist knowledgeable on a plethora of topics that 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 detail.

Despite her perfectionism and occasional bragging, Pearl suffers from low 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 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, thinking she has very little power to affect others, partly because her low self-esteem leads her to believe she lacks the relevance to be influential. Her self-deprecating tendencies stem from the Homeworld caste values, where pearls are viewed as property rather than Gems. This has led her to take drastic actions to prove herself — though, thanks to Garnet's encouragement in "Friend Ship", she has started to take initiatives instead of letting other's words define Pearl herself. It appears Pearl has taken this to her heart, as she asserted herself against Peridot when she treated Pearl in a degrading tone. Pearl even goes as far as physically punching Peridot to show that she is an individual, not a piece of property. In the past, her low self-esteem is explained in detail by Garnet that she was willing to risk her life to protect Rose to prove her worth, which goes as far as nearly making Connie into an exact low-esteem replica of her during sword training if not for Steven's intervention.

Pearl is easily flustered and overwhelmed when confronted by the unknown or when her plans fail, which can lead to her judgment 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 and the Crystal Gems more than once. At times, Pearl does not realize when she is being selfish because she thinks she is always doing everything for others. 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 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". Though, in "Political Power", she claimed to have been around during the millennium when humans lived without any light, and was aware that they used to hunt and gather. She appeared quite surprised that they did not do that anymore. In "Last One Out of Beach City", Pearl takes her turn at trying to build a normal, human social life in the hopes of impressing Steven and Amethyst, voluntarily joining them in going to a show, and drinking beverages. By the end, Pearl even approached the mysterious girl that had appeared repeatedly throughout the episode, whom Pearl seemed infatuated with.

Despite 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 is able to pay for the Cookie Cats Amethyst and Garnet steal 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 for fighting, but for following orders. However, Pearl trained to fight with Rose. Peridot also describes 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.

Aside from her pessimism and perfectionism, Pearl is usually polite and reserved to others; she keeps everything set orderly and tidy. Her obsessive attention to tidiness is explained in "Back to the Barn" when it is revealed that pearls are made-to-order servants and are created to "hold stuff" for their masters.

## Appearance

Pearl has a slender, thin build, ivory skin, sky-blue eyes, a pointed nose and thin lips. She is quite tall for a non-fusion Gem; towering over Amethyst, Ruby, Sapphire, Peridot, and Steven alike. She is nearly equal in height (with hair) to Garnet's chin. Her hair has a peach 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 close-ups. Pearl's gemstone is located in the middle of her forehead and has no facets.

### Pre-Regeneration (debut)

From "Gem Glow" to "Steven the Sword Fighter", Pearl wore a sleeveless, sky blue top that had a translucent chest and transferred into a transparent silk ballet skirt around her waist. She also wore short salmon pink-colored leggings, light-green socks, and slip-on ballet flats to match.

### Post-Regeneration (current)

As of "Steven the Sword Fighter", Pearl wears an aqua blue tunic with a small gold star on the center of her chest and a lighter satin sash ribbon around her upper waist. Her leggings are amber-colored. She also wears pink socks with pale blue slip-on ballet flats.

### Other

In "Story for Steven", "We Need to Talk", and "Greg the Babysitter", episodes that flashback to around the 1980s, Pearl wore a sleeveless aqua top with a translucent shawl, short lavender leggings, salmon pink leg warmers, and pale blue ballet flats. Her hair was also a little longer, somewhat resembling a bob.

In "The Answer", which flashbacks to the Rebellion, Pearl wore a translucent top, with the chest being pink and the bottom being teal, with short pink leggings and orange boots. Her hair resembled what it looks like currently, except longer.

## Abilities

Pearl possesses traits and abilities that are common among all Gems.

Throughout the series, Pearl has been shown to have knowledge in multiple aspects of technology, from fixing Greg's Van, making a semi-functioning spacecraft out of leftover machine parts, creating a functional robot to battle Peridot, to fixing Peridot's Escape Pod and even reverse-engineering it to track Peridot's Warp Pad movements. In "Back to the Barn", it is implied that Pearl's engineering skills are mostly self-taught much to Peridot's astonishment. Her engineering and constructing abilities rival Peridot's considering the tie between them in the robots challenge. Despite this talent, she cannot craft or upgrade weaponry and has to rely on Bismuth for that task. Furthermore, due to Pearl's lack of update in term of current Gem technology for thousands of years, she is unfamiliar with some current Gem technology like the operating system in the Roaming Eye in which she needs Peridot to check the system for her and the Crystal Gems.

While Pearl is lithe and quite graceful, she has a surprising resilience to injury. In "Coach Steven", she took a headbutt from Sugilite and could still move, given Steven's encouragement. In "On the Run", she took an explosion from Amethyst's whip directly and recovered almost immediately after being briefly immobilized and scratched.

In "Historical Friction", she mentions that one of her talents is a dedication to fact. She has shown this skill in the past while displaying examples using her holograms. Her immortality and attention to detail have allowed her to recall historical events as they truly happened, such as the beginning of the Crystal Gems' rebellion and the founding of Beach City.

### Fusions

* When fused with Amethyst, they form Opal.
* When fused with Rose Quartz, they form Rainbow Quartz.
* When fused with Ruby and Sapphire (or Garnet), they form Sardonyx.
* When fused with Ruby, Sapphire (or Garnet), and Amethyst, they form Alexandrite.

### Skillset

* **Spear Proficiency**: Through her many years of training, Pearl can 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". As of "Bismuth", Pearl's spear has been upgraded to be able to turn into a trident.
	+ **Dual Wielding**: Pearl is capable of wielding dual spears in battle, implying she is ambidextrous.

* **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". It is implied in "Bismuth" that this ability may have been developed sometime after the title character was bubbled by Rose.

* **Swordsmanship**: Pearl possesses expert knowledge and skill with a sword. For one on one dueling, Pearl's preferred weapon is a straight-bladed saber. Pearl's parries 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. She also constructed a rocket in an attempt to leave Earth, proving herself able to compete with an "expert" mechanic such as Peridot.
* **Gem-tech Interfacing**: While not to the extent of Peridot, she is first shown in "Jail Break" and later shown in "Friend Ship", to be 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.
	+ **Piloting**: Pearl has been shown to be able to fly Homeworld ships just like Peridot, Doc, and Navy. For example, Pearl piloted a Gem Warship in "Jail Break" and a Roaming Eye in "Bubbled".
* **Driving**: Pearl is the only known Gem to be able to drive a car, as she has driven Greg's Van before. In "Last One Out of Beach City", she is shown to be an extremely skilled racer.
* **Water-Walking**: Pearl can walk on water, an ability she shares with Opal, Lion, and Lapis Lazuli.
* **Photokinesis**: Pearl can use her gemstone to light up dark places. Garnet, Eyeball, Doc, Peridot, and the Rutile Twins share the same ability.
* **Levitation**: Pearl temporarily levitates to battle Sugilite in "Coach Steven". She shares this ability with the other Crystal Gems including Steven.
* **Item Summon**: Pearl can materialize different items out of her gemstone. The three items summoned so far were police tape in "Lars and the Cool Kids", the Mirror in "Mirror Gem" and bandages in "Sworn to the Sword".
* **Mentoring**: according to the *Steven Universe: Too Cool for School* comic, Pearl homeschools Steven effective enough to make him score a perfect mark in human conventional school. This is also shown in how effectively she has trained both Steven and Connie to fight.

### 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, can 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.

* **Self-Duplication**: Aside from Holo-Pearls, which is projected through her gemstone, 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. Like her water-walking, it seems to be related thematically to her gemstone.

* **Nephelokinesis**: In "Sworn to the Sword", Pearl can channel clouds in the direction of her choice, being able to gather clouds surrounding the arena around her to create a fine mist, reducing visibility and able to dissipate quickly. However, it is not known if she can do this in other locations. Additionally, in "Mr. Greg", Pearl forms overhead clouds into depictions of herself, Rose, and Greg during the song "It's Over Isn't It". It is possible that both this power and her psammokinesis are just manifestations of weak telekinetic abilities. This is not confirmed but may have been a representation of how Pearl felt and not her actually manipulating the clouds.

### Additional Tools

* **Swords**: Pearl possesses a vast collection of swords consisting of cutlasses, Persian Talwars, and sabers which she stores within the central fountain in her room.
	+ Pearl's preferred sword when teaching sword fighting lessons is a standard adult training saber, as seen when training Connie and Steven.
* **Battleaxe (mentioned only)**: In "Onion Trade", Pearl demands Amethyst to reveal the location of her battleaxe.
* **Replicator Wand** (formerly): Pearl has a wand capable of creating identical copies of any physical object. However, Garnet destroys it in "Onion Trade" because she did not want to individually destroy the thousands of cars, "Dave Guy"s, and other objects that Onion replicated.

## TMNT X Pokemon

Pearl often scolds the others if they don't execute their roles perfectly. As for separate teams, she's with Mako Mankanshoku, Nonon Jakuzure, Levy McGarden, and Katara.

## Trivia

In the transition from the pilot to the series, Pearl underwent the most drastic change of the three Gems, to the point where she is almost unrecognizable to seasoned viewers seeing the pilot for the first time. Among these changes are:

* Removal of gold ring around her gemstone.
* Removal of earrings (and visible ears altogether).
* Skin color changed (from blue to white).
* Pointier nose.
* Rounder face.
* Slimmer, more cartoonish build.
* Drastically different outfit.
* Different hairstyle, covering ears and pointing backwards instead of forwards.
* Rose-pink hair color to light peach.
* Eye color changed (black to a light blue).
* Removal of hearts on slippers and slipper color changed (dark blue to light blue).
* Higher-pitched voice.
* Different personality (in the pilot, she enjoyed and readily joined Amethyst in heckling Steven).

* Her pilot design bears a striking resemblance to the singer Eleanor Jackson from the English synthpop act *La Roux*.
* In "Back to the Barn", it is confirmed that there are multiple pearls on Homeworld. It is also confirmed that the pearl gemstones on Homeworld are considered inferior and as Peridot put it, "Made-to-order servants."
* In "Together Breakfast", it is revealed that Pearl owns a wide collection of swords.
* The Gems' fighting styles are based on dancing styles. Pearl's fighting/dancing style is ballet.[3]
* In "Fusion Cuisine", Pearl states that she hates eating. She has stated that the digestive process is what disgusts her the most.
	+ Pearl agrees to consume human food, expresses interest in eating, or admits to a preference for certain foods in "Together Breakfast", "Bubble Buddies", "Serious Steven", and "So Many Birthdays". These episodes all take place before "Steven the Sword Fighter". This could mean that Pearl used to like human food.
	+ In a Twitter response to a fan, Matt Burnett explained that Pearl likes the *process* of pie, aka baking, rather than the consumption of it.[4]
	+ However, she is shown to enjoy tea, as shown when she brings a teapot to Funland in "Serious Steven", and when she talks about finding out Connie's favorite tea in "Bubble Buddies".
	+ In "Last One Out of Beach City", Pearl is disgusted by drinking apple juice, a similar occurrence to when she unfused from Alexandrite in "Fusion Cuisine" (though this is at least partly due to her surprise at seeing the Mystery Girl as well).

* Pearl's ability to store things in her gemstone may be unique for pearls since Peridot did say in "Back to the Barn" that pearls hold "stuff" for the leader assigned to them, more likely for easier accessibility.
	+ However, Garnet is able to summon the Pyramid Temple Key in "Serious Steven", which may indicate that, though Pearls were made to hold items, most if not all Gems are capable of doing so.
* In "Steven and the Stevens", she is seen playing the violin.
* It is seen in "Monster Buddies" that Steven keeps a framed picture of Pearl on the side of their fridge. It is later destroyed by the Centipeetle Mother. In "When It Rains", it is revealed that it has been replaced by a new picture of her in her post-regeneration outfit.
* Pearl appears to have her face on several coin-types.[5]
* Pearl is the first Gem shown to be able to harness energy within their weapon for an attack in "Watermelon Steven".

* In "Lion 3: Straight to Video", Pearl admits that she often watches Steven sleep.
	+ Though stating during the same episode that Steven no longer wishes her to watch him sleep, she is observed intently watching him sleep when he wakes up from his first dream during "Chille Tid".
* It is confirmed by Steven in "Steven the Sword Fighter" that organizing messes is one of Pearl's favorite hobbies.
* It is revealed in "Reformed" that Pearl was always bothered by Amethyst's crooked shoulder strap.
* Pearl is ambidextrous, shown in "Ocean Gem" where she is able to wield two spears at the same time.
* Rebecca Sugar stated in an interview that the Crystal Gem Steven knows the least about at this point is Pearl.[6]
* In "Sworn to the Sword", Pearl says she was only a few thousand years old when she began fighting alongside Rose Quartz.
	+ It was Earth where Pearl learned of sword fighting.
	+ In a flashback, it appears that Pearl engaged a Gem (similar to Jasper) multiple times for Rose Quartz.
* All of Pearl's fusions have been dubbed "Giant Woman" or something similar by Steven with the exception of Rainbow Quartz.

* All of Pearl's fusions except Rainbow Quartz share Pearl's large, sharp nose.
* Pearl's reason for protecting Earth is to carry on Rose's fight.
	+ Her lines from the extended opening are "*I will fight in the name of Rose Quartz! And everything that she believed in!*"
* Pearl finds life jackets very lame, puny, and unnecessary, as shown in "Chille Tid" as they are used to prevent drowning which opposes to pearls being formed underwater.
* Her dancing is similar to how Princess Tutu dances from *Princess Tutu*.
* Rebecca Sugar has stated Pearl represents the group-dependency stage in the human emotional development spectrum.[7]
* When asked what songs would be on the Crystal Gems' playlists, Rebecca Sugar listed Sunmi's "24 Hours" and William Bolcom's "Graceful Ghost Rag".[8]
* In "Back to the Barn", it is stated that pearls are used as servants on Homeworld who can be "owned".
* In "Too Far", Peridot has stated that Pearl is prone to spontaneously singing and crying.
	+ This is a tongue in cheek reference to how many characters cry and sing on *Steven Universe*.
	+ Aside from Steven, Pearl is the most prone to crying and singing.
* During the early days of the Rebellion, Garnet considered Pearl "terrifying".
* In "Message Received", when Pearl is asked by Steven who Yellow Diamond's Pearl is, she is offended and states that not all pearls know each other.
* Pearl replaces her usual star symbol with a pink diamond on her space suit, as seen in "Space Race" and "Back to the Barn".
* Unlike other pearls, Pearl's gem is oval shaped,[9] big and on the forehead, while Yellow and Blue Pearl'sgems are smaller, round and on the chest. Jasper also refers to pearl as "lost and defective". However, 'defective' might be in reference to her defection to the rebellion, rather than a physical defect.
	+ However, since Gems of the same type can have different gem placements, Pearl's gem being on her head is likely irrelevant to her being "defective".
* According to Aivi Tran and Surasshu, "Pearl's piano is often written in minor, with blocked chords and gentle jazz influences," as well as an expanded palette of "harp and some pads."[10]
* It should be noted that, to date, all fusions involving Pearl are in some way multi-colored, thus named after multi-colored gemstones.
	+ Opal - Color play via diffraction.
	+ Rainbow Quartz - Metal coating.
	+ Sardonyx - Multi-colored bands of various colors.
	+ Alexandrite - Color change due to exposure to different forms of light.
* In "Know Your Fusion", an illustration of Pearl is seen on a "test your strength" device. On this device, Pearl is the weakest one shown, being weaker than Stevonnie, Garnet, Opal, and Sugilite.
* In "Last One Out of Beach City", Pearl admits that she does not have a license or legal citizenship in the country, fully aware of the absurdity of registering for either, having lived before such systems were installed and being unable to confess she is from space.
* Pearl's clothes in "Last One Out of Beach City" resemble Lauren Zuke's Bad Pearl drawing.
* It has been hinted at in several episodes that Pearl may have been a subordinate of Pink Diamond, including:
	+ In "Space Race", her space suit bore what appears to be the insignia of Pink Diamond.
	+ In "Bubbled", Garnet mentioned one of the reasons for Rose Quartz shattering Pink Diamond was so Pearl could be free.
		- However, she also listed herself being "together" as a reason despite the fact that her components served Blue Diamond.
* Deedee Magno Hall thinks Pearl would shapeshift into a graceful bird (like a ladybird, a dove, or a swan) if she was interested in changing form; McKenzie Atwood thinks it would be a flamingo.[11]
* In the podcast, Pearl reveals that she was the one who pulled Excálibur out of the stone and since then she has it in her collection.
* Both Ian Jones-Quartey and Rebecca Sugar made Pearl an anti-hero as a way to make her relatable - Pearl displays some of the vices characteristic of an anti-hero, such as selfishness, that viewers can easily relate to and understand.

## Gemology

* A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of a clam, a pearl is composed of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers.
	+ Pearls being considered lesser gems could be based off the fact that pearls are not "real" gemstones, but are instead organic, being formed by mollusks.
	+ As organic gemstones, pearls belong to the same group as ammolite, coral, ivory, jet and amber. These are all formed as a result of biological processes.
* Pearl is one of three birthstones for the month of June as adopted by the American National Association of Jewelers in 1912. It is also the birthstone for the Sun Signs of Gemini and Cancer. Pearls are also given on the third and thirteenth anniversaries.
	+ Pearl is the national gemstone of the Philippines.
* The name "pearl" is said to have originated from the Middle English word "perle", which in turn came from the Latin word "perna", meaning "leg", thought to be due to the ham-leg shape of the bivalve mollusc.
* Pearls vary in color from white to those with a hint of color, often pink, to brown or black. Each coloration will depend on the type of mollusk and the water where the mollusk lived.
	+ Pearls come in white, off-white, cream, golden, peach, pink, black, silver, lavender, and blue.
	+ Some pearls exhibit iridescence, which is known as orient. Orient can be predominantly one color such as green or pink, or consist of a rainbow of colors in weak, moderate, or strong appearances.
	+ The colors of pearls also have sometimes been associated with certain qualities: black or gold with wealth, blue with love, pink with success.
* Pearls have been harvested and cultivated primarily for use in jewelry, but in the past were also used to adorn clothing. They have also been crushed and used in cosmetics, medicines and paint formulations.
* Pearls are thought to give wisdom through experience, to quicken the laws of karma and to cement engagements and love relationships. They are thought to keep children safe.
* Pearls are quite "soft" and range between 2.5 and 4.5 on the Mohs scale of hardness. Because the nacre is organic, pearls are very sensitive to extreme heat, acids, dryness, and humidity.
	+ Although pearls are relatively soft, they are extremely compact, which makes them durable and resistant to being crushed.