Rose Quartz Character Discussion [StevenBomb Spoilers]

Rose is a big mystery. All we know about her really is that she was fascinated by humans and the Crystal Gems looked up to her and admired her. Beyond that, we don't know much else. We want to believe she's this sweet, loving person that cherishes all life. Which may be the case; probably the case. However, there may be more to her than that.

In We Need to Talk, we see that she's less human than we make her out to be. All that love and compassion is human aspects. I think perhaps she has a respect and deep fascination for humans that makes her compassionate and loving in a different way. Perhaps Greg is teaching her how to love things in a human way?

Because in We Need to Talk, she seems so different than what we know. She seems to treat Greg more as entertainment, sort of like a toy, than a lover. She doesn't seem to fully understand love and what she is doing with Greg, but she does obviously like the feeling he gives her.

Then on the flip side, I can't help but wonder who she was - was she part of the diamond authority? Did she know about the Homeworld "fusions" of her deceased Crystal Gems? Does she only want Greg to know less about her because she knows that Homeworld and the war was scary?

So many questions and thoughts.

I think that in Rose's past relationships, most of the guys didn't ask questions about her. I mean, Greg is a pretty young guy, so that's probably the type that usually went for Rose. Young and restless guys who just wanted to have some fun with a pretty lady. And Rose was happy to indulge them, and learn new things. But, a lot of times, young guys are kind of only after one thing, and once they're done with a woman (see: Marty, Greg's manager), they'll just move on. It's not about forming a relationship, it's about being young and free.

But Greg, he actually cares a lot. I think that's a new thing for Rose, to have a guy that actually wants to talk with her and get to know her. And she's totally right, she's not human. She doesn't understand human emotions or feelings. I think she kind of does see humans as toys, or rather pets. Their lives are so short compared to hers, she's just seen so many guys come and go that they've stopped being exceptionally meaningful to her.

Greg has changed her perspective about humans. Maybe, in her experience, she didn't realize that they had the capacity to care so much. I mean, if you just look at the entire Earth, as a whole, with all it's history, you just see a bunch of war and crime and people hurting each other. It's only when you take the time to get to know the good people, that you realize Earth isn't so bad. But looking at the big picture, yeah, as a species we don't seem too intelligent to a several thousand year old alien being.

That's why she chose Greg as Steven's father. He's different.

Well she's also a gem with healing capabilities - through tears I might add. Wouldn't you think then that means she has a love and compassion similar to humans?

Rose Quartz wrote:

Well she's also a gem with healing capabilities - through tears I might add. Wouldn't you think then that means she has a love and compassion similar to humans?

She understands the concept of destruction of a gem, which is the human equivalent of death. She knows what it means to have one of her friends fail to exist anymore. I don't think that necessarily means she understands all human emotions though. I think gems, being aliens, feel emotions in a different way, on a different level. They have no problem fusing with other gems on a semi-regular basis, which for them is the highest form of intimacy. There's only one way to have the ultimate closeness with someone. For humans, the highest form of intimacy can be different for different people. There are a lot of possibilities, and a lot of room for error. I think with gems, things are a lot simpler.

This is true. Mostly I like that there can even be discussion on Rose. She's been painted as like this...heroic goddess (by Pearl) and with Greg, we're seeing a more flawed side to Rose. We DO know that she finds humans entertaining (she said it herself) and maybe she's fascinated by human qualities, especially the ones she lacks. I think in a sense, she wishes she could be human or at the very least experience everything humans experience. Which I think is part of why she decided to have human.

I still see how she's kind of treating humans like, well, pets for lack of a better word, but maybe that's because she doesn't quite understand the whole human way of loving.

It just makes me love her character more and I'm happy to see she's flawed.

yeah i definitely feel like there's a lot more to rose than we're seeing portrayed. i love it when characters are multi-dimensional and i feel like steven universe does a really good job with all of the gems.

as far as rose and her ability to identify with humans and our spectrum of emotions, first and foremost she's an alien. i mean, yeah, there's proof that gems have some semblance of equivalent care for one another with the way the CGs care about each other and steven, and the way pearl felt about rose. and garnet, obviously. but i think that, like i said in the fusion thread, they have a different, well, alien sort of relationshipping.

i think we also need to remember that i think it was jasper who mentioned that rose was a tactician, and a good one at that. so. i mean, she's also a warrior and someone who understands the trials of war and has gone through a lot and well, she's probably pretty ancient too. i totally see her treatment of humans as a little cavalier. i'm also wondering then if that has anything to do with her obviously elevated status in the hierarchy...?

due to some more recent revelations (e.g., the extended intro), there has been talk that rose quartz may not have been so innocent and the good gem we all have been led to believe she was.

what do you guys think? is she potentially a villain?

To elaborate on Opal's post, we had been talkin about the possibility that Rose Quartz was behind the fusion experiments originally, based on a new theory floating around Tumblr. We were saying that if she were behind the experiments it wasn't with malicious intent - she was trying to bring her friends back the only way she figured she could (and then homeworld got the experiments and it got out of hand).

We were also talking about the idea that perhaps Rose made Amethyst.

I also question whether Rose could be evil because Rose Quartz in real life is a very loving, gentle stone, etc.