Nephrite

Nephrite (specifically Nephrite Facet-413 Cabochon-12), also known as the Centipeetle Mother in her corrupted state, is a Corrupted Homeworld Gem that debuted in "Gem Glow". Before her corruption, she was the captain of a squadron that served Pink Diamond and a Hessonite commander. She was sent to Earth 5,750 years ago in a ship to colonize Earth, and later was trapped on Earth during the Rebellion. She currently resides in her old ship after being reunited with her crew mates in "Monster Reunion". In "Legs From Here to Homeworld", Nephrite was uncorrupted temporarily by Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond, and Steven, with seemingly no memory of being corrupted afterwards.

## Appearance

### Corrupted

Nephrite's corrupted form is that of a giant centipede-like creature, known as a "Centipeetle". She is composed of roughly thirteen (visible) dark-green segments (excluding the head and the rear) that each bear one pair of similarly colored legs. The final segment bears no legs, but what appears to be a pair of mandibles. Each of these segments is covered on the top side with a solid crystal covering. Her head is composed primarily of a large pair of jaws/mandibles with a gem in the back of the "mouth". This gem is circular in shape and colored light green with dark green contour lines surrounding the circumference of the gem, connecting to a circular shape. Her gem seems to act as her iris, being in the middle of what would rationally be a sclera. It also features a green crystal protuberance on the base of the head that forms a broken horn-like structure. She has a flowing, light-cream colored mane immediately behind her head.

### Small

After being released from the bubble in "Monster Buddies" and regenerating, she appears in an all-around reduced form. Her body is reduced to only two segments, and her mane, head, and secondary mandibles have been reduced in size as well probably indicating that she has to grow over time. This can be seen as Nephrite grows throughout the episode. Her gem now comprises the entirety of her whole eyeball instead of just the iris, and the gem on her head is now gone.

### Semi-Corrupted

While her mind is still damaged by the Diamonds, her form takes on a more humanoid appearance thanks to Steven's healing. Her body appears more humanoid, and her head is slightly different from her fully corrupted form, her eye is no longer inside of her mouth. She also has what appears to be a sort of pincer on her rear. She wears a torn-up light gray midriff that tapers off of her right shoulder, brown gloves and boots that reach her mid-calf, and what appears to be a black bodysuit with green accents similar in style to Pearl's in "Space Race".

### Uncorrupted

With the combined efforts of Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond, and Steven, Nephrite was uncorrupted temporarily. The bodysuit she wears is almost identical to the one she wears in her semi-corrupted form, now with a Pink Diamond insignia on the center of her chest. Much like her semi-corrupted form, her face is green, and she has plump lips similar to Amethyst's. Additionally, her white hair is significantly reduced, now a flipped out bob cut – tufting both inwards and outwards. Her black-and-green bodysuit now has a light green coat tail, two white tufts of fur on her shoulders and she now wears a black skull cap over her hair. Her boots and gloves are dark brown.

## History

Centipeetle and her squadron were ordered to travel to Earth on an Ancient Gem Colony Ship with the plans of colonizing the planet. Once the Rebellion had begun, Centipeetle and her crew fought in the war, but Centipeetle eventually got split up and was on her own. Centipeetle's commander ordered all the Gems to retreat either through the ships or warp pads, but she had been left behind, unable to escape. She was then corrupted, along with nearly every other Gem that remained on Earth, by a weapon activated by the Diamonds.

### Corruption

In "Gem Glow", Centipeetle attacks the Crystal Temple along with a bunch of little Centipeetles that she summons. Once the infestation appears to be over, Centipeetle returns, and Steven, in order to prove himself worthy, and to protect his loved ones, throws his Cookie Cat refrigerator at Centipeetle, electrocuting her, and Centipeetle is poofed and bubbled.

In "Monster Buddies", Steven accidentally pops Centipeetle's bubble and she transforms into a smaller, less menacing version of herself. When the other Gems come to protect Steven from the apparent threat, Steven defends Centipeetle, and the Gems let him try to train her. Steven eats Chaaaaps, which attracts the Centipeetle, and Centipeetle displays enjoyment for Chaaaaps. When a seagull comes to try and take the chips away, Centipeetle comes to Steven's rescue and attacks it. Later, Garnet explains that Centipeetle could be used on a mission to retrieve the Shooting Star. Traveling through the ice caves, Centipeetle easily uses her corrosive liquid to erode the cave walls and get to the Shooting Star. When the cave is about to collapse, Centipeetle pushes Steven out of the way of a falling icicle and sacrifices herself. She is bubbled once more.

In "Monster Reunion", Steven's healing spit is back and he convinces the Gems to let him try and heal Centipeetle with his power. He does so, but Centipeetle transforms into a semi-corrupt form, gaining humanoid arms and legs but the inability to speak properly. Steven convinces the Gems to let Centipeetle stay, and later, Centipeetle and Steven communicate through art. Centipeetle tells Steven her backstory, and then begins to revert into her corrupted form. Steven tries to heal her again, but to no avail. Centipeetle tries to use the warp pad but cannot, so she reveals to Steven that she wants to go to her ship. Steven takes her there, and on the way, Centipeetle reverts back to her corrupted form completely. Inside the ship are other Centipeetle that look exactly like herself, and it is revealed through Centipeetle's writing (which is in the Gem language) that it was her crew members that were waiting for her to return home. Centipeetle is currently living inside of the ship with her crew.

## Abilities

The Centipeetle Mother is capable of eating with her mouth despite her eye being located in her jaw and blocking her throat, thus making it so that there is no visible means of having the ingested food reach any sort of stomach.

### Skillset

* **Piloting**: It was revealed in Monster Reunion that she was a space captain. She shares the ability to pilot Homeworld ships with Peridot, Pearl and Ruby (Doc).

## Relationships

### Steven Universe

The Centipeetle Mother's only known relationship is being a friend with Steven Universe. As being for the enemy/target of the Crystal Gems, she has been provoked by their attacks. As for Steven, she is fond of him, such as when he gives her Chaaaaps and having fun with him, which has no sort of danger inflicted. When she first reforms as her corrupted, giant form, she frightens Steven. However, seeing this, she changes to her smaller form. Other than that, she seems to be benevolent as a true friend, being that she will protect him by sacrificing herself or spitting acid on threats, like the Seagulls. Though the only real damage and fight was when she forgot about the fun Steven had with her, being that she sprayed acid on him and causing fear and anger that was done on her, in the situation with the lair of the Shooting Star, where her hair was pulled by him, causing this sort of defensive mechanism.

After being healed by Steven, the Centipeetle Mother, at first, does not appear to remember him. However, after Steven opens a bag of Chaaaaps, her memories begin to return and she starts remembering him, and her memories of before she was corrupted. The Centipeetle Mother appears to have been very friendly towards Steven, even after reverting to her fully corrupted form.

* Nephrite can be found in a translucent white to very light yellow form which is known in China as *mutton fat jade*.
* Nephrite Jade is one of the oldest and most important gemstones, with a history dating over 7,000 years.
* The term 'jade' was derived from 'Piedra de Ijada', a Spanish phrase meaning 'stone for the pain in the side' because Spanish explorers saw natives of Central America holding pieces of jade to their sides, believing that it could cure ills.
* The name 'nephrite' was derived from the Greek word for 'kidney', which refers to its supposed ability to cure kidney disease.
* Nephrite is one of two distinct mineral forms classified as jade (the other is jadeite) and up until 1863, nephrite was believed to be one and the same as jadeite.
* One of the most important sources for fine nephrite jade is New Zealand where it is commonly found in serpentine rocks, and as rounded pebbles along riverbanks and seashores
* Nephrite jade is mostly found in a variety of green colors, but it can also occur white to gray, yellowish to brownish, near-black and other colors. Most stones will have some yellowish tint. Stones are often multicolored and may exhibit some mottling. Unicolored stones are quite rare. Nephrite jade with deep and solid green color is considered to be the most valuable.