My Favourite Characters - Peridot

I feel like eventually I'm going to do every character from Steven Universe because goddamn it's just so good. Well, the first one up is Peridot, the once threatening and intellectual villain of the series, stripped of her equipment and rank and trapped on Earth with the Crystal Gems only to eventually become their ally, friend and eventually one of them.

Peridot has probably one of the most satisfying and well paced 'villain to hero' story arcs I've ever seen. When she first came to Earth she was raised on Homeworld's ethics and thoughts. She was born with a limited amount of knowledge and personality to help her do the job she was made to do, she didn't have her own personal goals or beliefs, just what she was programmed to do. Once she was stranded on Earth and she lost everything that made her a threat, she still treated the Crystal Gems like enemies and feared them, it wasn't until Steven showed her multiple acts of kindness and being forced to spend more time with the Crystal Gems to learn about why they do what they do that she started to open up to them. Amethyst taught her to relax, Garnet taught her to experiment, Pearl taught her to be inventive, Steven taught her to be kind.

Being on Earth allowed her to experiment in new ways and learn to be her own person, developing her own relationships and interests that she was eventually able to share with Lapis, another gem trapped on Earth with no allies or places to go, and now the two are best friends (And possibly something more, wink wink). This all came to a head in the episode 'Earthlings' where her former Homeworld ally berated her for her traitorous and baffling actions to protect what Homeworld only sees as a shell of a planet. And what did Peridot respond with? 'It's not a shell. There's so much life, living here! That's what I'm doing, I'm living here! I've been learning new things about myself all the time! Earth can set you free.'

When you look at why The Crystal Gems protect Earth, they're mostly for selfish reasons. Garnet feels safe and free to live her own lifestyle, Pearl does it at out loyalty to Rose's cause rather than her own, Amethyst because she was born there. Peridot was an external figure that came to Earth with the intent to destroy it, but after seeing how curious, new and interesting it was, she connected with it and sees how not only fascinating and freeing it is to be there, but how it can do the same for other Gems as well. Help others find who they really are, experiment with something new and learn things about themselves and others they never would have before.

Also there's the fact that she's so damn funny, at times even feeling like a Looney Tunes character with her exaggerated and cartoonish expressions. Which apparently the people behind the show thought the exact same thing seeing as they recently did a Looney Tunes tribute episode where Peridot and a corrupted gem reenact classic Road Runner shorts. It makes me wish Peridot was an actual Looney Tune considering how well she would have blending with them, like a mixture between Marvin the Martian and Daffy Duck.

To wrap up, Peridot has had an amazing arc this past season, every episode she's in is instantly a classic, her relationships with every Crystal Gem is interesting to watch, she's a very funny person and is one of my all time favourite characters.