Character Profile: Pearl

Role

Pearl is the first of the Crystal Gems to be recruited by Rose Quartz. Out of all the Crystal Gems, she was the only one who knew that Rose Quartz was one of the malicious rulers of Homeworld from the start. Since Pearls are created to obey and serve their masters, Pearl was forced to keep Rose Quartz's secret from the others. After Rose Quartz died so that Steven may draw life from her gem, Pearl becomes a maternal figure to Steven. Every once in a while, her roots in servitude resurface as she is shown cleaning Steven's house and grieving over Rose.

Character: Pearl of the Crystal Gems
Gem: white stone placed on her forehead
Summoned weapon: Spear

Powers and Abilities

Abilities that all gems share:
-Summon a weapon
-Shape-shift
-Reform (regenerating after their physical bodies have been destroyed)
-Fuse (merging with another gem to become a new being)
-Extra-human strength and agility

Fusions:
Fusions involving Pearl tend to have a thinner appearance with a pointed nose, poised, and have precise attacks.
-Opal (Fussion of Pearl and Amethyst)
-Sardonyx (Fusion of Pearl and Garnet)
-Rainbow Quartz (Fusion of Pearl and Rose/Steven)
-Alexandrite (Fusion of Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst)
-Obsidian (Fusion of Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst, and Steven)

Unique Abilities:
Since Pearls are designed to be servants, they can store vast amounts of physical items inside their gemstone. Pearl can also create holograms of herself that can deal damage to opponents, record past events in detail, and can project images of her thoughts/memories out of her gem. Since Pearl has perfect memory, she is able to teach herself many skills such as swordsmanship, dance, and engineering. Pearl has a gem placed on her forehead where she can summon a spear that is capable of shooting laser blasts at opponents.

First fusion: Rainbow Quartz (Pearl + Rose Quartz)
Gem: multicolored stone placed on chest and navel
Summoned weapon: Umbrella (Pearl's spear + Rose Quartz's shield)

Character Development

Pearl is by far the most tragic character in the Crystal Gems. She had fallen deeply in love with her former master, Rose Quartz, yet those feelings were never returned. She had to watch as Rose waged wars, fell in love with a human, and died to bring a gem-human hybrid into the world. To top it all off, she was tasked to keep Rose's dark past a secret from everyone and raise Steven as her own. The video below does an excellent job in depicting Pearl's pain. Pearl's development is the longest, and she still has not fully healed from Rose's emotional abuse, but Steven was able to help her deal with these feelings by planning a trip with Pearl and his father. This trip forced Pearl to reevaluate her grief and stop blaming Steven's father for taking Rose away. In the end, she was able to become her own person. She had truly become her own master.