Coral

* Current
* Previous

Coral is a Watcher residing in The Palace on Mars. She had previously been a member of the Progressives, but deserted after Hessonite's shattering, which led to her being taken in and willingly reprogrammed by Howlite.

## Appearance

Coral is a short and stocky Gem, with a round head, a large, pointed nose, thin lips, and eyes with no visible pupils. Her hair is short with bangs. She wears a sleeveless uniform with capris, a miniskirt, and slippers. Her Gemstone is on her right palm.

Originally, Coral had a reddish pink skintone, red eyes, and dark magenta hair, and her uniform was reddish brown with Yellow Diamond's insignia. After undergoing Howlite's reprogramming, her colors have become whites and grays, and the insignia on her uniform is now white.

## Personality

Due to her reprogramming, Coral behaves much like other brainwashed Watchers. She is seldom seen without a smile on her face, and goes about her duties within the Palace without hesitation or complaint. However, she has been known to falter or even break down when being reminded of her time with the Progressives, especially of Hessonite and her untimely shattering.

## History

Coral was made specifically to maintain Yellow Diamond's outpost on Mars. After being stranded, she opted to join the Progressives to continue the work she was made for. Her life was virtually uneventful for most of her existence, until she opted to join one of Hessonite's scouting expeditions. The party was ambushed, and Coral ultimately witnessed the shattering of Hessonite. Being inexperienced, she panicked and fled, getting lost in the Martian wasteland for a time. Eventually, she was found by Watcher scouts and brought before Howlite herself. Howlite convinced Coral to allow herself to be reprogrammed, and integrated her into the Watchers. Coral has served Howlite and her faction ever since.

## Abilities

Coral has standard Gem abilities, such as shapeshifting and superhuman strength.

### Skillset

* **Maintenance:** As a Coral, Coral is inherently adept at performing basic maintenance tasks, such as cleaning or repairing portions of buildings.

### Unique Abilities

* **Invisibility:** Like all Corals, Coral has the ability to turn invisible. However, this isn't perfect, as some Gems (such as Basalt) can spot her even while she's invisible.
* **Shapeshifting Tools:** An ability typical of her Gem type, Coral can shapeshift her limbs into various tools to suit the task at hand.
	+ Coral can create a gluelike substance that can be used to repair damage to certain materials.

## Relationships

### Hessonite

Coral respected Hessonite, despite the two never interacting directly. She witnessed Hessonite's shattering and never fully recovered; even Howlite's brainwashing has been unable to stop her from breaking down over remembering the event.

### Howlite

Due in great part to her brainwashing, Coral has great admiration for Howlite.

### Tiger's Eye

While having respect for her as a Progressive, Coral now expresses nothing but contempt towards Tiger's Eye.

## Trivia

* Coral's "fading" is a reference to the real world phenomenon of coral bleaching, in which live coral becomes white due to external stressors.

## Gemology

Gemstone information

* Coral is a mineraloid consisting of hardened calcium carbonate, formed by the shells of tiny marine animals known as coral polyps.
* Most gem-quality coral comes from the species *Corallium rubrum*, which has a distinctive pink to red color. *Corallium rubrum*, or "noble coral" is considered the most desirable species of coral for jewelry.
	+ Consequently, while coral can be virtually any color in either nature or jewelry, coral is most commonly considered to be red.
* Coral, as an organic material, is not a very hard gemstone, with a hardness rating of 3-4 on the Mohs hardness scale.
* Though found all over the world, most precious coral today is harvested from the Mediterranean Sea.
* In ancient Egypt, coral was believed to contain divine blood, and for this reason was put in tombs to ward off evil spirits. Similarly, the Romans used branches of coral to protect their children from danger, and the Italians of the early 20th century used coral to protect themselves from the "evil eye" or improve their fertility.
* While Coral is not a traditional birthstone for any month, it's a zodiacal stone for Pisces, Scorpio, Capricorn, and Taurus, and is associated with the planet Mars.
* Red coral is associated with the root or base chakra; meanwhile, pink coral is more commonly associated with the heart chakra.

## Gallery

Coral's previous design and palletCoral's original design and palletCoral (previous design) repairing a crack, as seen through Basalt's Gempathy