Rose Quartz
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Rose Quartz |
| Occupation: | Resistance leader |
| Relationships: | Pearl (former servant, comrade, love interest), Greg Universe (romantic partner, unofficial husband), Steven Universe (son) |
| Fandom: | Steven Universe |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
This article or section needs expansion. |
Rose Quartz is a character from the animated series Steven Universe. She is the mother of the titular character. Though she is deceased by the time the show starts, her actions and legacy are the catalyst for the entire series.
Canon
Rose Quartz was born on her Homeworld as Pink Diamond, and held a position in Gem society akin to royalty. Her relationship with the other Diamonds was at times strained. Upon visiting her first colony, Earth, she fell in love with the planet and vowed to spare its lifeforms from the extinction that Gem colonization would entail. Taking on a new identity, Pink (now Rose) and her servant Pearl recruited downtrodden Gems and started a war against Homeworld. After Pearl helped Rose fake the shattering of Pink Diamond, Homeworld retreated; however, the war and one last scorched-earth attack left all but a handful of rebel Gems either shattered or corrupted into monstrous forms. Rose led the survivors, the Crystal Gems, in an effort to contain these monsters for millennia. Upon meeting and falling in love with the human Greg Universe, Rose decided to have a half-human child, even though doing so would essentially kill her. By the time the series starts, Rose no longer exists, her Gem having been passed on to her son, Steven.
Many of the actions that Rose did as Pink Diamond and as a rebel leader had negative consequences; for example, she accidentally psychologically damaged her original Pearl, abandoned her friend Spinel, trapped her comrade Bismuth in a form of unconscious imprisonment, and hid her identity as a Diamond from all but one of her fellow Crystal Gems. These actions lay the groundwork for all of the major storylines of Steven Universe.
Fandom
Since the series' beginning, Rose Quartz has been one of the most intensely discussed characters within the fandom. After season 1 aired, the fan theory that Rose was secretly Pink Diamond (at that time a character whose very existence was speculative) picked up traction; it had largely died down by May 2018, when the season 5 episode A Single Pale Rose aired and confirmed the theory as true.
Controversies
Rose's actions have been the subject of intense fandom discourse, with Rose often being villianized and treated as the series' main antagonist. Much wank has been made over whether Rose's acts of good (e.g. saving all life on Earth) make up for her misdeeds.
A notable instance of wank surrounding this character centers on the artist Zamii070. Art that Zamii drew in 2013 in which Rose was depicted as thinner than in canon sparked outrage, and she faced harassment over this and other drawings for years. This harassment is believed to be a contributing factor towards a reported suicide attempt by the artist in 2015, and the fallout of those reports continue to haunt fandom and fandom-adjacent social justice communities to this day.
Pairings
Rose is most commonly shipped with her two canon love interests; her servant-turned-confidant Pearl, and the human Greg Universe.
Gallery
Girl with a Rose Quartz Earring by RoStars (2017) – Based on Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer.
Example Fanworks
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Art
- her by rivernull
- her laughter; as beautiful as the rest of her by amaryllidae
- Rose 🌹🌹🌹 by 0eight0nine
Fic
Meta
Vids
- DIAMONDS_, an animatic by Kawaii ComicUvU