100 Fun Facts About Steven Universe

Who created Steven Universe?

Rebecca Sugar. She dreamed the show up while storyboarding on another cartoon, and left that job to concentrate on her own series.

Before Steven Universe, its creator wrote and storyboarded for which show?

Steven Universe's creator wrote and storyboarded for Adventure Time from 2010, penning Marceline songs such as 'I'm Just Your Problem', before leaving to develop her own series.

The title character of Steven Universe was loosely based on which relative of its creator?

Her younger brother. He is called Steven too, and he joined the crew as one of the show's background artists.

What is the name of the seaside town where Steven Universe is set?

Beach City. In only the second episode the town is almost flattened by a giant red eye falling from the sky, until Steven and his dad dig an old light cannon out of storage.

Steven packs for his first mission with the Gems in a novelty backpack shaped like which food?

A cheeseburger. He brings it along to prove he can be useful on the mission, a trip to return a precious statue to a ruined sea temple.

Where on his body is Steven's gemstone?

Steven's gemstone sits in his navel; it was Rose Quartz's gem, and she gave up her physical form so Steven could be born with it.

What is Steven's Gem weapon, first summoned in the very first episode?

A pink shield. He first summons it in 'Gem Glow' and decides that his favourite ice-cream sandwich must be the key to his powers.

In Steven Universe's season one finale, Garnet is revealed to be a fusion of which two Gems?

Ruby and Sapphire. The secret comes out in 'Jail Break' when the two are captured and locked in separate cells, then fuse again the moment they find each other.

Which singer voices Garnet in Steven Universe, her first-ever voice-acting role?

Estelle. Cartoon Network asked the British singer to take the part, and the show's creator had drawn Garnet while listening to her music.

Pearl's gemstone is in her forehead and lets her summon what weapon?

A spear. Her gem also stores objects, and when Steven climbs inside it to fetch her lost phone he uncovers a secret she had sworn to keep.

What weapon does Amethyst summon from the gem on her chest?

A whip. She is also the Gem who shapeshifts most, and Steven catches her fighting in an underground wrestling league, then joins her as a tag partner called Tiger Millionaire.

Amethyst was the last Gem created on Earth in which Homeworld project?

The Kindergarten. Amethyst emerged from it long after the other soldiers had gone, smaller and weaker than a soldier of her kind was meant to be, a flaw that gnaws at her for years.

What does Steven's father Greg do for a living?

Runs a car wash. The former rock musician lives in his van, and midway through the series a sudden windfall makes him a multimillionaire.

What is the name of Steven's human best friend?

Connie Maheswaran is Steven's bookish human best friend, a doctor's daughter who trains in swordfighting under Pearl.

What is hidden inside the mane of Steven's magical pet, Lion?

A pocket dimension. It holds keepsakes of Steven's mother, among them her sword and a videotaped message she left for him.

Which song does Garnet sing in mid-battle in Steven Universe's season one finale?

Stronger Than You. Garnet sings it while trading blows with her jailer, and the lyrics celebrate the love between the two Gems who make her up.

Which four-armed fusion of Amethyst and Pearl first appears in the episode 'Giant Woman'?

Opal. The two rarely manage it, because their constant quarrelling spoils the harmony a fusion needs, which is why Steven has to coax them into it.

Which rapper voices Sugilite, the fusion of Garnet and Amethyst?

Nicki Minaj voices Sugilite, the hulking fusion of Garnet and Amethyst who debuts in 'Coach Steven' and refuses to unfuse once the job is done.

Sardonyx, the showy fusion of Garnet and Pearl, is voiced by which British star of London's Wicked?

Alexia Khadime. She played Elphaba in the West End, and her Sardonyx is a born entertainer whose debut turns sour once Pearl admits she tricked Garnet into fusing.

Which discontinued ice-cream sandwich does Steven mourn in the first episode?

Cookie Cat. When the Gems track down the last few boxes, Steven becomes convinced that eating one is what makes his gem light up.

Lapis Lazuli spent thousands of years trapped inside what?

Lapis Lazuli was trapped inside a mirror for thousands of years until Steven freed her in 'Mirror Gem'; she then stole the ocean in 'Ocean Gem'.

Malachite is the unstable fusion of Lapis Lazuli and whom?

Jasper, the brutish Homeworld Quartz, fuses with Lapis into Malachite in 'Jail Break'; Lapis then drags the fusion to the ocean floor to trap her.

Peridot first arrives on Earth as what?

A Homeworld technician. Stranded on Earth after the first-season finale, she is hunted, captured and finally talked into changing sides, starting with a stay in Steven's bathroom.

Rose Quartz is revealed in season five to have really been whom?

Pink Diamond. As Rose she led the rebellion against her own kind, then faked her own shattering to break free of her old life for good.

Which Broadway legend voices Yellow Diamond?

Patti LuPone. The Tony-winning star of Evita and Gypsy plays her as the ruler who copes with grief by forbidding it, scolding her fellow Diamond for mourning.

Which Orange Is the New Black star was the first voice of Bismuth, the Crystal Gems' weaponsmith?

Uzo Aduba. Her Bismuth is freed by accident from a long imprisonment, then sealed away again when she unveils a weapon built to destroy enemy Gems for good.

Sadie Miller works at which boardwalk shop?

The Big Donut. Sadie later finds the nerve to quit the counter and front a horror-rock band, Sadie Killer and the Suspects.

What is the name of the fusion of Steven and Amethyst?

Smoky Quartz. The two first fuse in mid-battle, at the moment Amethyst and Steven admit to each other that they both feel they never measure up.

Who is the villain of Steven Universe: The Movie?

Spinel, voiced by Sarah Stiles, is the Movie's villain, a forgotten playmate abandoned in a garden for millennia who arrives wielding a scythe that wipes the Gems' memories.

Which hip-hop star co-executive produced Steven Universe: The Movie and worked on its songs?

Chance the Rapper. He said it grew out of a meeting with the show's creator a couple of years earlier, an offer he called the opportunity of a lifetime.

What does Steven turn into in Steven Universe Future's finale?

A monster. Years of bottled-up trauma finally burst out, and he rampages until family, friends and even old enemies stop fighting him and simply offer the support he always gave them.

Which duo composed most of Steven Universe's chiptune-flavoured score?

Aivi & Surasshu. Pianist Aivi Tran was recommended by a crew member who knew her video-game music, and the pair won the job by scoring a clip of the first episode.

Which Bauhaus teacher's theory pairing colours with shapes influenced the faces of the Crystal Gems?

Wassily Kandinsky. He urged his students to pair the primary colours with the square, triangle and circle, and each Gem's design starts from one basic shape, Garnet's from the square.

Steven Universe's seaside town was loosely based on beaches in which US state?

Delaware's beach towns, especially Rehoboth Beach with its boardwalk, inspired the setting; the creator visited them as a child growing up in nearby Maryland.

Steven Universe was the first animated series to win which organisation's Outstanding Kids & Family Program prize?

GLAAD. The category was only a year old: the show had lost its first edition to Disney's live-action Andi Mack before winning in 2019.

Which Cartoon Network show shared a 2015 crossover episode with Steven Universe?

Uncle Grandpa. In 'Say Uncle' he turns up to help Steven unlock his Gem powers, and tells the audience outright that none of it counts as canon.

Steven Universe was written and storyboarded in California, then sent to studios in which country to be animated?

South Korea. Two studios there, Sunmin Image Pictures and Rough Draft Korea, drew the episodes, swapping emails and the odd video call with the crew in Burbank.

Which fusion of six Gems, introduced in 'Off Colors', represents a polyamorous relationship?

Fluorite. She hides underground with the other Off Colors because Homeworld brands Gems like her defective, and the show's creator confirmed the polyamory reading in 2017.

In Steven Universe, Gems of the Sapphire type have which power?

Seeing the future. The gift is called future vision, though one flawed Sapphire among Homeworld's outcasts can only foresee things that have just happened.

Which human teenager dies on Homeworld, is revived by Steven and ends up captain of a stolen spaceship?

Lars Barriga. The revival turns his skin pink, and the abrasive shop clerk goes on to lead a crew of runaway Gems that Homeworld had written off as defective.

Which extended episode was the finale of the original Steven Universe series?

Change Your Mind. In it Steven finally persuades the Diamonds to give up their conquests and start healing the Gems their war had corrupted.

Which actor provides the voice of Steven himself?

Zach Callison. It was his first lead role on a show, and he won it with an audition he recorded and sent in: dialogue from the pilot, plus the theme song, sung.

Which comedy podcaster voices Greg, Steven's dad?

Tom Scharpling. The show's creator knew him from The Best Show and wanted him in a cartoon before this one existed; he also supplies the mumbles of the fisherman Yellowtail.

Which two-time Tony winner, the star of Broadway's Grey Gardens, voices White Diamond in Steven Universe?

Christine Ebersole. Her White Diamond outranks even her fellow rulers, who are afraid of her and have to travel to Homeworld to ask for her help.

In 2017, which country's film classification board banned the show from broadcast?

Kenya's Film Classification Board banned the show in 2017, citing 'glorifying homosexual behavior', alongside several other animated series.

The 2019 game Steven Universe: Unleash the Light launched exclusively on which service?

Unleash the Light launched in November 2019 on Apple Arcade, Apple's subscription service, as the third RPG in the Light trilogy; it reached other platforms later.

Which prestigious broadcasting prize did Steven Universe win for Children's & Youth Programming?

Peabody. Its judges praised a hero whose strength is emotional rather than physical, in a season that put a same-sex wedding into a children's cartoon.

Steven Universe Future's opening theme reworks which song from The Movie?

Happily Ever After. In the film the Gems sing it to celebrate a hard-won peace, moments before a new enemy lands to wreck it.

Which song plays over the end credits of the original Steven Universe series?

Love Like You. The show's creator sings the closing number herself, to an arrangement she worked out with the duo who score the series.

In 2018, Steven Universe's creator made six self-esteem shorts for which brand?

Dove. Its Self-Esteem Project on body confidence enlisted the Gems for the films, and the crew followed up with a set of anti-racism shorts two years later.

Steven Universe's novelty backpack, packed for his first mission with the Crystal Gems, is shaped like what food?

A cheeseburger is the shape of the bag Steven packs to prove he can be useful when the Gems send him to place a Moon Goddess statue atop the Lunar Sea Spire.

Which fruit does Steven grow into living copies of himself that attack his hometown in Steven Universe's first season?

Watermelons shaped like Steven come to life and go on a rampage, then leave town to found a civilization of their own on remote Mask Island.

What does Lapis Lazuli take with her when she vanishes midway through Steven Universe's first season?

The ocean vanishes with her on the first day of summer, so Steven, his dad, Lion and the Gems set out to confront her and put things right.

Which song does Garnet sing mid-battle aboard a Homeworld warship in Steven Universe's first-season finale?

Stronger Than You casts the fight as partnership against lone-wolf strength, and critics have called the number a power ballad.

Where does Steven Universe's father Greg live, despite staying a constant presence in his son's life?

In his van is home for Greg, whose easy-going life is a reaction to the controlling parents he ran away from as a young man to tour as a musician.

What do the Crystal Gems teach Steven to do in Steven Universe, hoping it will unlock his power of fusion?

The Gems teach Steven to dance because that is how fusion begins, and his first one happens by accident while dancing on the beach.

Rainbow Quartz 2.0, the fusion of Steven and Pearl, was styled after the leads of which Disney musical?

Mary Poppins and her friend Bert are blended in the design, and the fusion even goes into battle carrying a parasol.

Which yellow symbol sits in the centre of the red T-shirt Steven usually wears in Steven Universe?

A star also marks the sky-blue shirt an older Steven wears in the movie, and the same shape was worked into the show's logo because it was seen as a versatile symbol.

Which weapons does Garnet summon from the two gems in the palms of her hands in Steven Universe?

Gauntlets are Garnet's Gem weapon, and when she fuses with another Gem they combine with her partner's weapon into something more powerful.

In Steven Universe, what do the Crystal Gems seal a defeated monster's gemstone inside to keep it contained?

A bubble holds each captured gem, beginning in the very first episode with the acid-spitting Centipeetle, whom Steven later frees and befriends.

Steven and Amethyst join an underground league in which sport in the Steven Universe episode 'Tiger Millionaire'?

Wrestling gives Amethyst an escape when she is tired of her teammates bringing her down, and Steven climbs into the ring beside her.

Which living vegetable, grown by Steven, behaves like a dog and becomes Peridot and Lapis Lazuli's pet?

A pumpkin, named simply Pumpkin, comes to life in the episode 'Gem Harvest' and is adopted by the two Gems while they share a barn.

Pearl's slender build, costume and graceful movement in Steven Universe resemble those of which kind of performer?

A ballerina is what Pearl resembles, though her temperament is that of a precise strategist, and she is the most protective of Steven among the Gems.

Steven Universe's creator wrote many of the show's songs while travelling, accompanying herself on which instrument?

A ukulele went with her on her travels, and songs turn up only occasionally in the series because she wanted to avoid forced creativity.

Which song, described by a critic as 'gutting', plays over the end credits of Steven Universe?

Love Like You closes the episodes, and reviewers have praised it as an accurate picture of the meaning of love.

Where does Steven find his mother's sword and a videotaped message she left him in Steven Universe?

In Lion's mane lies a pocket dimension where Rose Quartz stored her keepsakes, which Steven discovers because his pet keeps lying on his face at night.

In Steven Universe, the Crystal Gems challenge a squad of gullible Homeworld soldiers to which sport to protect Peridot?

Baseball is the Gems' ploy to protect Peridot and get rid of the squad, who arrived from Homeworld searching for a missing mission leader.

According to Steven Universe's writers, Garnet's great self-confidence shows in the fact that she never does what?

Garnet never asks questions, a writers' rule that makes one flashback stand out: newly formed and unsure of herself, she peppers Rose Quartz with them.

Susan Egan, the voice of Rose Quartz in Steven Universe, also voiced which Disney heroine of the 1990s?

Megara, the heroine of Hercules, is Egan's best-known screen role; on Broadway she was also the original Belle in Beauty and the Beast.

Where was Steven Universe's creator waiting when she composed the show's extended theme song?

She was standing in line at airport security in Los Angeles when the extended theme came together, and its lyrics went through multiple drafts.

Michaela Dietz, the voice of Amethyst in Steven Universe, previously voiced Riff on which PBS children's series?

Barney & Friends cast Dietz as the voice of Riff from 2006 to 2010, and Amethyst was the first animated character she voiced.

Which hip-hop artist was a co-executive producer of Steven Universe: The Movie and collaborated on its songs?

Chance the Rapper, a leading figure in Chicago hip-hop, is credited on the musical film both as a co-executive producer and as a song collaborator.

In Steven Universe: The Movie, the villain was tricked into standing alone for 6,000 years in what kind of place?

A garden in space is where she was told to stand frozen as part of a 'game', left behind when the Diamond she entertained went off to colonise Earth.

Steven Universe: The Movie was Cartoon Network's first original film since the 2015 movie of which animated series?

Regular Show took Mordecai and Rigby to feature length, and the network made no other original film until Steven's musical premiered on television.

In Steven Universe Future, what is the name of the school where Steven helps Gems find a new purpose on Earth?

Little Homeschool goes hand in hand with Little Homeworld, the community the Crystal Gems built so that people and Gems could live in harmony.

Steven Universe and Garnet were playable fighters alongside Batman and Bugs Bunny in which crossover game?

MultiVersus is a platform fighter built from its publisher's franchises, which also put Scooby-Doo, Looney Tunes and Game of Thrones characters in the same arena.

What name did Cartoon Network use to market weeks when a new Steven Universe episode aired every day?

Stevenbombs meant long gaps between bursts of episodes, and one review site wrote of the 'agonized cries' of a fanbase left waiting for the next one.

Which destructive Steven Universe youngster never speaks, making only mumbling noises voiced by Steven's own actor?

Onion shares a mother with the teenage DJ Sour Cream, and his fisherman father Yellowtail does not speak intelligibly either.

In Steven Universe's score, each main character has a signature sound; which instrument accompanies Pearl?

A piano often follows Pearl, while the team's stoic leader gets a synth bass and Steven himself gets chiptune tones.

Steven Universe's Garnet teamed up with Ben Tennyson and Raven in a crossover episode of which other series?

OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes hosted the team-up in an episode called 'Crossover Nexus', and its creator had earlier been a supervising director on Steven's own series.

Kate Micucci, the voice of Sadie in Steven Universe, is one half of which musical comedy duo?

Garfunkel and Oates pairs Micucci, who performs as 'Oates', with Riki Lindhome as 'Garfunkel'.

Which Jingle All the Way actor voiced amusement-park manager Harold Smiley in Steven Universe's first season?

Sinbad voiced the overworked boss of the Funland park and arcade for the first season only, after which Colton Dunn took over the part.

Ronaldo Fryman's conspiracy blog in Steven Universe was written in character by the show's writers on which website?

Tumblr hosted a real version of the blog, where the writers posted as the conspiracy theorist who investigates the paranormal events the Gems cause.

What is the name of the giant artificial fusion of broken Gem shards buried inside Earth in Steven Universe?

The Cluster is made of millions of shards desperate to feel whole, and Steven saves the planet by helping its pieces find connections among themselves.

In Steven Universe's fourth season, the Gems sneak onto a space station to rescue Greg from what kind of facility?

A human zoo is where Steven finds his dad, among captives who are guided through a strictly scheduled and regimented life.

After Steven revives Lars with his healing powers in Steven Universe, which part of Lars becomes a magical portal?

His hair becomes a doorway Steven can teleport through, and the newly confident Lars goes on to captain a stolen spaceship crewed by fugitive Gems.

Where do Greg, Steven and Pearl take a lavish vacation in the Steven Universe musical episode 'Mr. Greg'?

Empire City is where the trio check into Le Hotel, paid for with the $10 million Greg earned when one of his old songs became a hit jingle.

Which Steven Universe episode, in which Garnet recounts her own origin, became a best-selling children's book?

The Answer was compared to a fairy tale on screen, and its art drew on Lotte Reiniger, the maker of the oldest surviving animated feature film.

Blue and Yellow Diamond arrive on Earth in giant spaceships shaped like which body part in Steven Universe?

Each ship is shaped like an arm, and when the Diamonds wake a buried geo-weapon it too rises as a giant limb and fights one of the ships.

Which Irish singer, who began her career in Damien Rice's band, voices Blue Diamond in Steven Universe?

Lisa Hannigan, known for solo albums such as Sea Sew, drew fresh attention in North America as the depressive, sentimental Diamond.

Which singer-songwriter, called 'a huge influence' by Steven Universe's creator, voices the fusion Opal?

Aimee Mann, Oscar-nominated for the song 'Save Me' from the film Magnolia, also returned as Opal for the musical movie.

Which creator of Mystery Science Theater 3000 voices the approval-seeking mayor Bill Dewey in Steven Universe?

Joel Hodgson was both creator and on-screen lead of that series, and here he plays the father of Steven's teenage friend Buck.

Which voice actor, also Appa and Momo in Avatar: The Last Airbender, provides Lion's noises in Steven Universe?

Dee Bradley Baker has built much of his career on the vocalizations of animals and monsters, and also supplies the acid-spitting Centipeetle in the same series.

Nanefua Pizza in Steven Universe is based on a crew member's grandmother, who designed which country's national flag?

Ghana's flag was designed in 1957 by Theodosia Okoh, whose grandson, a director on the series, based the whole pizza-shop family on his relatives.

Which anime about sword duels at a boarding school did Steven Universe's creator cite as an influence?

Revolutionary Girl Utena was named alongside The Simpsons and Future Boy Conan, and one critic counted it among the strongest visual and structural influences on the series.

When Steven stands trial on Homeworld in Steven Universe, which type of Gem serves as his defence attorney?

A Zircon defends him by analysing the evidence and arguing that the public account of a Diamond's death makes no sense, which points to a cover-up.

The villain of Steven Universe: The Movie is drawn in which 1930s cartoon style to show she is 'frozen in time'?

Rubber hose limbs mark her as someone who never got the chance to develop, still the playmate she was on the day she was left behind.

Deedee Magno Hall, the voice of Pearl in Steven Universe, sang in which pop group of the early 1990s?

The Party came before her musical-theatre career, in which she played Kim in the Broadway production of Miss Saigon.

Which actor from the FX drama Pose voices Shep, Sadie's partner, in Steven Universe Future?

Indya Moore voices Shep in the episode 'Little Graduation', where Shep arrives as the first fully human non-binary character in the series.

In Steven Universe: The Movie, what do the Crystal Gems lose when the villain strikes them with a scythe-like weapon?

Their memories are wiped by the weapon, a Rejuvenator built to reset rebellious Gems to their default state, so Pearl wakes up believing she is Greg's servant.