 Featured Article
Gem Bubbles is the featured article of this month, which means it is considered to be one of the best articles Steven Universe Wiki has to offer!
|
Gem Bubbles are created by Gems to contain corrupted Gems, gemstones, and other objects, like Chaaaaps.
Function and Use
The Crystal Gems primarily use Gem bubbles to contain the gems of corrupted Gem Monsters and Gem shards, which are then warped back to the Burning Room in the Crystal Temple. Steven first demonstrated the ability to bubble objects (and to warp bubbled objects back to the Crystal Temple) in "Monster Buddies".
Bubbling prevents a Gem from regenerating after retreating to her gemstone, putting it into stasis. In addition, the Gem loses all sense of time that passes while bubbled, as evident by Peridot finishing her interrupted sentence in "Catch and Release" as soon as she regenerates and Bismuth going into a fighting stance almost immediately after reforming. However, bubbles typically appear to be fairly fragile, as Steven has popped them from inside and outside. In "Together Breakfast", Garnet has difficulty containing the Smoke Monster from the Evil Spirit Scroll, which quickly escapes once she is distracted. Nevertheless, they seem to be a stable and secure form of containment as long as they are not disturbed.
Bubble color usually syncs with the Gem who made it. Garnet's bubbles are magenta red, Pearl's are mint cream, Steven's/Rose's are pink, Amethyst's are purple, Peridot's are lime green, Opal's are mint, and Yellow Zircon's are olive green while in the light of the court room.
Similar abilities
- Steven can create a durable bubble shield, which seems to combine his bubbling and shield summoning abilities. This is proven in the episode "Bubble Buddies".
- When Peridot summons her escape pod in "Jail Break", she is surrounded by a green bubble and then sinks into the floor.
- Peridot's Limb Enhancers are capable of emitting a tractor beam with similar effects to a Gem Bubble, but they need conscious effort to be sustained unlike the natural ones.
Known Bubbled Objects
Gems
- Steven Universe (temporarily)
- Peridot (temporarily)
- Centipeetle Mother (temporarily)
- Gem Shards
- Worm Monster
- Pyramid Temple Gem
- Desert Glass
- Gem Cave Creature
- Big Bird
- Heaven Beetle and Earth Beetle
- Ice Monster
- Invisible Gem Monster
- Watermelon Tourmaline
- Unknown Orange/Red Gem from "Garnet's Universe"
- Unknown Gem from "Warp Tour"
- Unknown Gems from "Story for Steven"
- Lighthouse Gem Monster
- Crab Gem Monster
- Cluster Gems from "Keeping It Together"
- Other two Clusters from "Nightmare Hospital"
- Other Unknown Gems' gemstones (in the background of the Burning Room).
- The Cluster
- Orange Great North Monster from "Gem Hunt"
- Bismuth
- Jasper
- Unknown Gem & Tongue Monster from "Kindergarten Kid"
- Multiple Rose Quartz-type Gems
- Flower Monster from "Back to the Kindergarten"
Objects
- Chaaaaps (temporarily)
Humans
- Lars' head (temporarily)
Gemology
Bubbles seem to be based in a mineralogy concept named bleb.
Trivia
- Opal has demonstrated the ability to quickly bubble large numbers of defeated Gem monsters with her explosive arrows.
- It appears that active Gems can be bubbled too, as Steven is bubbled in "Monster Buddies".
- In the same episode, it is also shown that non-Gem items can be bubbled, as Steven bubbled a bag of Chaaaaps.
- Some bubbles with shades of purple can be seen on the background, indicating that either Amethyst or Sugilite has bubbled some Gems offscreen.
- However, in the episode "Steven's Lion", Pearl orders Amethyst to bubble the Desert Glass upon its defeat, to which Amethyst replies saying "my kill, my keep."
- It is confirmed in "Earthlings" that Amethyst can, in fact, bubble Gems, as she is seen bubbling Jasper.
- The only Gem monsters that are fought but have not been seen bubbled are the Water Bear, The Slinker, Watermelon Tourmaline, and Snow Monster.
- Multiple Gems can be placed in a single bubble, such as the multiple Gem shards in "Frybo (episode)", "Secret Team", and the fusion experiment Gems in "Nightmare Hospital".
- Opal's arrows bubbled each of the Big Bird's gemstones separately, despite (formerly) being one entity. However, this is most likely due to the sheer number of Gems.
- As demonstrated in "Gem Drill" by the billions of shards that make up the Cluster, it is possible for Gems to bubble even when not in their physical form.
- It is revealed in "Kindergarten Kid" that bubbles transport to wherever the Gem considers their "home".
Bubbles
Gallery
