Pearl is a character from the

animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

Steven Universe ''Steven Universe'' is an American animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. It tells the coming-of-age story of a young boy, Steven Universe (character), Steven Universe (Zach Callison), who lives with the Crys ...

'', created by

Rebecca Sugar Rebecca Rea Sugar (born July 9, 1987) is an American animator, screenwriter, producer, director, and musician. She is best known for being the creator of the Cartoon Network series ''Steven Universe'', making her the first non-binary person to in ...

. Based on the gemstone

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

, she is a Gem, a fictional alien being that exists as a magical

gemstone A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewellery, jewelry or other adornments. Certain Rock (geology), rocks (such ...

projecting a holographic body. She is portrayed as a loving, gentle and delicate motherly figure for

Steven Stephen or Steven is an English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is widely regarded as the firs ...

, the protagonist of the series, and can be a fierce fighter. However, she also tends to be overprotective, has low self-esteem, and is deeply overwhelmed with grief caused by the loss of Steven's mother Rose Quartz, whom she loved. She is frequently praised for being a positive depiction of a

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

character, though her strong obsession with Rose has been described as "unhealthy".

Development and casting

Pearl's look was redesigned between the pilot episode of ''Steven Universe'' and the first regular episode. Originally having peach hair styled in a quiff and a much more intricate outfit, by " Gem Glow", she had the ballerina-esque design she retained before her regeneration in " Steven the Sword Fighter". Pearl's voice actress,

Deedee Magno Hall Deedee Magno Hall (born April 2, 1975) is an American actress. She is best known for her work in the pop group The Party (band), The Party, and as the voice of Pearl (Steven Universe), Pearl in the ''Steven Universe'' franchise. Early life Magn ...

, started voice acting at a young age for ''

The All-New Mickey Mouse Club ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and briefly returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first te ...

''. She moved on to do

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

performances in the 1990s and 2000s, such as ''

Miss Saigon ''Miss Saigon'' is a sung-through musical theatre, stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera ''Madama Butterfly'', and similarly tells th ...

'' and ''

Wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * ''Wicked'' (Maguire novel), a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', a 1997 novel series collaboration between Australian children's authors Paul Jennings and Morris ...

'', but was contacted by Rebecca Sugar to portray a role in ''Steven Universe'' in 2013. Pearl was her first major role in an animated series.

Character

Alongside

Garnet Garnets () are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. Garnet minerals, while sharing similar physical and crystallographic properties, exhibit a wide range of chemical compositions, de ...

Amethyst Amethyst is a Violet (color), violet variety of quartz. The name comes from the Koine Greek from - , "not" and (Ancient Greek) / (Modern Greek), "intoxicate", a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from Alcohol into ...

and protagonist

, Pearl is one of the Crystal Gems, a group of Gems that protect humanity and the Earth from danger. Pearl has been described as "intense ndwith a laser focus". In Gem culture, Pearls are said to be "made-to-order servants" who serve higher-class Gems. Due to their status as simple servants meant for "standing around and looking nice and holding your stuff", they are seen as status symbols. Pearl displays a strong

inferiority complex In psychology, an inferiority complex is a consistent feeling of inadequacy, often resulting in the belief that one is in some way deficient, or inferior, to others. According to Alfred Adler, a feeling of inferiority may be brought about by ...

and self-esteem issues stemming from the fact that she was created to be a servant; she values her independence but sometimes has trouble learning not to feel subordinate to others. Despite her struggles, Pearl learned to fight and became a formidable swordfighter. She can also summon a spear from the gemstone in her forehead. The fifth-season episode " A Single Pale Rose" reveals that Pearl was originally the servant of Pink Diamond, a Gem leader who eventually gave up her status to become Rose Quartz, the leader of the Crystal Gems. Although Rose encouraged Pearl's independence, Pearl never lost her devotion to Rose, which included romantic attraction, even after Rose "gave up her physical form" to allow Steven to be born. According to Vrai Kaiser of ''

The Mary Sue Daniel Abrams (born May 20, 1966) is an American media entrepreneur, television host, and author. He is currently the host of '' On Patrol: Live'' on Reelz, and ''The Dan Abrams Show: Where Politics Meets The Law'' on SiriusXM's P.O.T.U.S. cha ...

'', Pearl deals with severe unresolved

grief Grief is the response to the loss of something deemed important, particularly to the death of a person to whom or animal to which a Human bonding, bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, ...

, coupled with deep-seated issues with self-worth, resulting in her falling prey to "powerful, impulsive emotions" whenever Rose is mentioned. Naith Payton of ''

PinkNews ''PinkNews'' is a UK-based online newspaper marketed to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning community (LGBTQ+) in the UK and worldwide. It was founded by Benjamin Cohen in July 2005, initially released in print, b ...

'' described Pearl's devotion to Rose as "unhealthy and obsessive". Pearl works to correct these issues, and the show is written in a way that allows watchers to sympathize with her.

Reception

Ben Bertoli of ''

Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...

'' stated that Pearl is a character that a viewer may dislike at the start of the series, but that she becomes more relatable as the story continues and the viewer learns more about her. Sara Goodwin of ''The Mary Sue'' even described her as "the most human" of the Gems because of how she struggles with "bitterness, thoughts of inadequacy, and jealousy". Though she stated that Pearl can often be "insufferable", Goodwin likes the character for her humanity and hard work. In 2014, Deedee Magno won a Behind the Voice Actor Award, in the category "Best Female Lead Vocal Performance in a Television Series - Comedy/Musical", for her portrayal of Pearl. Pearl was very positively received for being a

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

character in an animated series, following a pattern of

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

themes in children's animated series such as ''

Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward and co-produced by Frederator Studios for Cartoon Network. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn the Human, Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...

'' and ''

The Legend of Korra ''The Legend of Korra'' (abbreviated as ''TLOK'' and also known as ''Avatar: The Legend of Korra'' or more rarely simply as ''Korra'') is an American animated Fantasy television, fantasy action drama television series created by Michael Dante ...

''. ''The Mary Sue'' praised the show for not falling into the "psycho lesbian" trope, which "often casts queer women as ..predators of would-be heterosexuals", even in its depiction of Pearl's jealousy when Rose shows interest in a male character in flashbacks.

Censorship

A short flashback scene in which Pearl intimately dances with Rose in order to fuse with her, from the episode "We Need to Talk", was controversially censored by

Cartoon Network UK Cartoon Network (commonly abbreviated as CN) is a British pay television channel aimed at children which airs animation, animated programming targeting children and young aged 6 to 12.

for British audiences, as they felt that "the slightly edited version is more comfortable for local kids and their parents".

References

External links

Pearl
on

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

{{Steven Universe Animated characters introduced in 2013 Extraterrestrial characters in television Extraterrestrial superheroes Female characters in animated television series Fictional characters who can change size Fictional characters who use magic Fictional characters with post-traumatic stress disorder Fictional characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability Fictional characters with superhuman strength Fictional defectors Fictional fencers Fictional gemstones and jewelry Fictional lesbians Fictional LGBTQ characters in film Fictional LGBTQ characters in television Fictional polearm and spearfighters Fictional shapeshifters Fictional slaves Fictional space pilots Fictional swordfighters in television LGBTQ characters in animated television series Steven Universe characters Television characters introduced in 2013 Fictional non-binary people