History Characters / StevenUniverseYellowDiamond

* AngerBornOfWorry: While she legitimately cares for Blue and Pink, the only ways she seems to know how to show her concern is to [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask put on a professional face]] and [[ToughLove reprimand them, upgrading to anger when it persists]]. She meets with Blue at the Human Zoo in "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS4E14ThatWillBeAll That Will Be All]]" to remind her that she is shirking her responsibilities, revealing her vulnerable side only at the end of her VillainSong. [[spoiler: In the beginning of "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E24LegsFromHereToHomeworld Legs From Here to Homeworld]]", the first thing she does is demand an explanation for everything that has happened (why Steven looks and sounds nothing like Pink, why Pink faked her death, etc.), but she is noticeably less hostile, helping heal Nephrite at Steven's request and limiting herself to [[DeadpanSnarker sarcastic quips]].]]

* BruiserWithASoftCenter: She's one of the most brutal and short-tempered characters shown throughout the series, but deeply loves Blue and Pink and [[spoiler: bursts into tears upon realizing how her behavior towards her littlest fellow Diamond drove her away]].

** For a ''long'' time in the original series, she's presented as a cold, ruthless, and ill-tempered tyrant who couldn't care less about organic lifeforms. As of ''Future'', however, [[spoiler:she dismantles the Gem Empire, becomes ''[[TookALevelInKindness far]]'' more pleasant, and is now even [[GoodFeelsGood willingly]] [[TheAtoner fixing the Gems she once shattered]]. She's also shown to now have plants in her private rooms, in contrast to her former ''disdain'' for organic life.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: While Yellow's normally a {{Jerkass}}, she displays a nicer side to herself as time goes on. She is always watching over Blue, trying to gauge her reactions and shield her from anything that might upset her unnecessarily. In contrast, Blue doesn't even seem to consider that Yellow is still mourning Pink too, until the latter breaks down at the end of her song "What's the Use of Feeling Blue?" [[spoiler:She even stops her attack on the Crystal Gems for Steven when she finds out that he is Pink Diamond, and in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E24LegsFromHereToHomeworld "Legs From Here to Homeworld"]] isn't angry that he doesn't have Pink's memories. In [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E28ChangeYourMind "Change Your Mind"]], she finally learns the error of Homeworld's ways, even admitting the only reason she couldn't act on her BeingEvilSucks mentality is fear of White's wrath.]] Fittingly enough, her gemstone resembles real-life gold, with an armor-like exterior.

** Yellow Diamonds are the birthstone for [[WesternZodiac Virgo]], and Virgos are associated with [[TheSpock order, intelligence, and cold calculation]]. These are the standards she holds herself and her subjects to, although as mentioned above, [[SubvertedTrope she's ultimately willing]] [[IronicName to sacrifice all of this]] [[RevengeBeforeReason for revenge]].

* PersonalityPowers: Yellow's SignatureMove is a [[ShockAndAwe bolt of electricity]] that [[OneHitKill destabilizes a regular Gem's form instantly]] and [[AgonyBeam inflicts pain]] onto her fellow Diamonds. This reflects her cool and efficient way of managing her Gems and [[NotSoStoic her tendency to lash out]] whenever her authority is questioned or whenever someone tries getting her to open up. [[spoiler: Between her HeelFaceTurn in "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E28ChangeYourMind Change Your Mind]]" and "[[Recap/StevenUniverseFutureS1E17HomeworldBound Homeworld Bound]]", she eventually learned how to ''alter'' a Gem to their preferred state, showing that not only has she learned to look past physical appearance, but has developed a cause in undoing her inhumane experiments.]]

** In hindsight, [[spoiler:her keeping Jasper and giving her a high rank and status in her court are this, given Yellow views the ''rest'' of the Earth-born Gems with disgust and it's implied Blue Diamond's desire to preserve Pink's things is the only reason any of them are still around. Of course, there's also the fact a [[PragmaticVillainy completely perfect and incredibly powerful]] [[UltimateLifeform "Ultimate Quartz"]] stronger than a Topaz isn't exactly easy to come by.]]

--->''An army has a use, it can go and fight a war. A Sapphire has a use, she can tell you what it's for. An Agate terrifies, a Lapis terraforms...''

-->"You. Are out. Of line."\\

* OverarchingVillain: Even though Yellow fuctions as an enforcer to White Diamond, Yellow has generally acted as the public face of the Diamond Authority in Era 2, and seems to have taken over the bulk of her fellow Diamonds' duties since Pink was allegedly "shattered", Blue's resulting depression caused her to neglect her duties, and White Diamond withdrew into solitude long ago. She's also the most antagonistic Diamond towards Earth in the first three seasons, as she specifically oversees Jasper and Peridot, as well as the Cluster project.

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/PattiLuPone (English), Creator/GaraTakashima (Japanese)

* TryingNotToCry: Whenever she's affected by Blue's EmotionBomb, she does her best to resist it.

* NotSoDifferent:
** She and Amethyst both try to cope with the death of their loved ones through denial. But unlike Amethyst, who relies on humor, Yellow destroys everything related to Pink Diamond so she won't have to go through the pain of grief.
** Her toxic but well-meaning parenting style with Pink Diamond can be compared to Dr. Maheswaran's own parenting style to Connie. This is best portrayed in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E12JungleMoon "Jungle Moon"]], where she is being portrayed by Priyanka and Pink is Stevonnie. As a result, she (along with Blue) is LockedOutOfTheLoop from Pink's [[spoiler:secret life as Rose Quartz]] for thousands of years because she was afraid to tell her the truth, just like how Priyanka (and her husband) were locked out from her daughter's secret adventures with Steven. [[spoiler: By "[[Recap/StevenUniverseFutureS1E17HomeworldBound Homeworld Bound]]", she has taken up the cause of repairing the Gems shattered for her cluster experiments using her new ability to alter a Gem's default form, having basically become the gem-equivalent of a doctor.]]
** To Pearl. Both are the upright, {{Workaholic}} members of their respective teams. They both try to bury their feelings over the loss of Rose/Pink for the good of the team and wind-up developing emotional and psychological problems in the process, Pearl projecting her dynamics and insecurities onto other people, while Yellow becomes trapped in the Anger and Denial stages of the FiveStagesOfGrief.
** Surprisingly, to Steven. Both characters have a massive guilt complex over events that happened in the past and just can't seem to forgive themselves. Yellow and Steven also tend to hide their emotions in favor of trying to be there for everyone else; they can't really talk to other Gems about it because of their rather unique hierarchy. Both characters are rather protective to an extent; Steven is more obvious with this as his weapon is a literal shield, but with Yellow, she has command over Homeworld's military, meaning her job is to protect the Gem race. And when dealing with White Diamond, she decides to be the one to speak with White and take whatever wrath she was going to dish out. Both Steven and Yellow have this interesting struggle with duty and destiny. It makes more sense for Yellow, since she is a Homeworld Gem and thus is expected to conform to a certain role because that is what she was made for. [[spoiler:She's not all that happy with her job; in fact, she's utterly miserable.]] And despite Steven being a Crystal Gem being raised with the mentality that he could be whatever he wanted to be, he could never shake the feeling that he has some kind of magical destiny.

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* HeroKiller: She poofs the [[CrusadingLawyer Defense Zircon]] in a fit of rage, [[spoiler: and poofs both Lapis and Peridot during her attack on the Crystal Gems in "Reunited"]].

* TranquilFury: When [[spoiler:accused of potentially killing Pink Diamond,]] rather than shouting or growing visibly furious as she typically does, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness she remains entirely silent before slowly rising to her feet]] [[spoiler:and poofing the Zircon who suggested it]].[[spoiler: When the truth behind Rose's death is revealed, it becomes clear that Yellow was so offended by the accusation that her immediate response was to violently imprison everyone in the courtroom.]]

* TranquilFury: When [[spoiler:accused of potentially killing Pink Diamond,]] rather than shouting or growing visibly furious as she typically does, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness she remains entirely silent before slowly rising to her feet]] [[spoiler:and poofing the Zircon who suggested it]].

[[Characters/StevenUniverseCrystalGems Crystal Gems]] ([[Characters/StevenUniverseStevenQuartzUniverse Steven Quartz Universe]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGarnet Garnet]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseAmethyst Amethyst]] | [[Characters/StevenUniversePearl Pearl]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseRoseQuartz Rose Quartz]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseConnieMaheswaran Connie Maheswaran]] | [[Characters/StevenUniversePeridot Peridot]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseLapisLazuli Lapis Lazuli]]) | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGemFusions Gem Fusions]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseHomeworldGems Homeworld Gems]] |
Diamond Authority]] ('''Yellow Diamond''' | [[Characters/StevenUniverseBlueDiamond Blue Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniversePinkDiamond Pink Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseWhiteDiamond White Diamond]]) | [[Characters/StevenUniverseYellowDiamondsCourt Yellow Diamond's Court]] ([[Characters/StevenUniverseJasper Jasper]]) | [[Characters/StevenUniverseBlueDiamondsCourt Blue Diamond's Court]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseSpinel Spinel]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseOffColors Off Colors]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGemMonsters Gem Monsters]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseLittleHomeworld Little Homeworld]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseHumans Humans]] ([[Characters/StevenUniverseGregUniverse Greg Universe]]) | [[Characters/StevenUniverseOther Other]]-]]]]]

[[WMG:[[center: [- ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' '''[[Characters/StevenUniverse Main Character Index]]'''\\
[[Characters/StevenUniverseCrystalGems Crystal Gems]] ([[Characters/StevenUniverseStevenQuartzUniverse Steven Quartz Universe]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGarnet Garnet]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseAmethyst Amethyst]] | [[Characters/StevenUniversePearl Pearl]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseRoseQuartz Rose Quartz]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseConnieMaheswaran Connie Maheswaran]] | [[Characters/StevenUniversePeridot Peridot]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseLapisLazuli Lapis Lazuli]]) | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGemFusions Gem Fusions]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseHomeworldGems Homeworld Gems]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseDiamondAuthority Diamond Authority]] ('''Yellow Diamond''' | [[Characters/StevenUniverseBlueDiamond Blue Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniversePinkDiamond Pink Diamond]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseWhiteDiamond White Diamond]]) | [[Characters/StevenUniverseYellowDiamondsCourt Yellow Diamond's Court]] ([[Characters/StevenUniverseJasper Jasper]]) | [[Characters/StevenUniverseBlueDiamondsCourt Blue Diamond's Court]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseSpinel Spinel]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseOffColors Off Colors]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseGemMonsters Gem Monsters]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseLittleHomeworld Little Homeworld]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseHumans Humans]] ([[Characters/StevenUniverseGregUniverse Greg Universe]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseLarsBarriga Lars Barriga]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseSadieMiller Sadie Miller]]) | [[Characters/StevenUniverseOther Other]] | [[Characters/StevenUniverseS1E33GarnetsUniverse Garnet's Universe]]]]]]-]

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/PattiLuPone

** Like her fellow Diamond Blue, she is disdainful of cross-fusions, to the point that [[spoiler:she locked up Stevonnie for fusing at the Era 3 ball by accident]]. In ''Future'', she [[spoiler:works with Garnet to help calm down Steven without a moment'sn hesitation]].

* AloofBigSister: [[spoiler:To Pink, as revealed in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E12JungleMoon "Jungle Moon"]]. The flashback from Pink's point-of-view showed Yellow being cold and distant towards her, treating her like a nuisance while she was planning an invasion, and implying she doesn't view Pink as an equal, throwing an ActingYourIntellectualAge question at her younger CheerfulChild sibling. This is part of why Rose/Pink underestimated how she and the other Diamonds actually cared about her when she ultimately decided to [[FakingTheDead fake her own death]]. However, [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E25Familiar "Familiar"]] reveals that Pink always managed to make her laugh, implying that Yellow wasn't ''all'' cold towards her.]]

* ControlFreak: She wouldn't allow the enthusiastic Pink to assist her in any way while colonizing a planet, not even allowing her sibling to contact the fleet commander on her behalf, getting irate when Pink merely touches her control panel and bats at the keys, though this is understandable considering Pink's attitude at the time.

* TheResenter: Yellow Diamond has some mild, one-sided sibling rivalry with [[spoiler:Steven/Pink Diamond]]. In [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E25Familiar "Familiar"]], she's resentful that White Diamond met with [[spoiler:Steven/"Pink"]] but hasn't given her an audience in ages, despite the many planets she's conquered.

* FatalFlaw: Wrath. She is so intent on destroying Earth that she commissions the creation of a Cluster (violating countless shattered Gems in the process) and seeks to destroy Earth in spite of the many resources it could offer to Homeworld. While she loves her fellow Diamonds and does try to hold back her temper, she has snapped at them as well. [[spoiler:It gets even worse with TheReveal that Rose Quartz was Pink Diamond, which means that Yellow has unknowingly tried to kill her fellow Diamond and nephew multiple times while mourning her.]]

** This trope is ZigZagged between her and Blue in the present day during Steven's trial. While Blue does act like a depressed {{NEET}}, at the very least she's insistent on continuing the trial properly. Yellow, on the other hand, while determined to keep her forces in line, treats the trial like a KangarooCourt.

** Also, to Dr. Maheswaran, according to [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E12JungleMoon "Jungle Moon"]], where the former is being portrayed by the latter as a symbolically similar treatment toward their sister/daughter, Pink Diamond/Connie. However, unlike Priyanka, who managed to see the error of her ways and reconcile with Connie before she damaged their relationship even further, Yellow refused to allow Pink to give up her colony and took away her control of Earth just because she won't complete it, and lives to regret how she treated Pink by [[spoiler:seemingly]] allowing her to be destroyed along with their relationship.

** A brief time afterwards in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E28ChangeYourMind "Change Your Mind"]], [[spoiler:she actually ends up attacking Blue Diamond for trying to take Steven's side, even if it's visible in her face that she's regretting it the entire time. When she tries to justify it as upholding the Gem empire's "perfection", Steven points out any order which forces her to assault her own sister ''cannot'' be perfect, which puts an end to both her rampage and her support for White's form of order.]]

** [[spoiler:She looks worried as Steven regains consciousness, after she and Blue have realized he was telling the truth about being Pink Diamond. She nearly lost her sister a second time, and ''would'' have turned out to be Pink's shatterer like Defense Zircon theorized.]]

* MyGreatestFailure: [[spoiler:In [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E23Reunited "Reunited"]], it's revealed that she didn't believe that Pink was ready for a colony, but she gave it to her anyway so she'd stop whining. Pink seemingly gets ''shattered'' because of this, and Yellow's been carrying the guilt of being responsible for the circumstances of her sister's apparent death for 5,000 years since]].

* RedHerring: When Blue Zircon concludes that only a Diamond could have enabled Pink Diamond's assassination, Yellow begins [[DestroyTheEvidence destroying all witnesses and demands "Rose's" swift execution]]. Coupled with her get-on-with-it demeanor during the trial, she's suddenly looking very suspicious. [[spoiler:However, Pink Diamond was really "[[FakingTheDead assassinated]]" by ''herself''. Yellow was completely innocent, was rushing the trial because (as was stated before) she wanted to move on with their lives, and simply enraged at being accused of murdering her own sister.]]

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Her purpose is to colonize worlds to propagate her Empire, leaving them empty shells unable to support life by the time she's done with them. She does this [[WellDoneSonGuy mainly in a vein attempt to win White's approval]]. When her "baby sister" Pink was supposedly killed on Earth, she responds by creating the Cluster to destroy it from the inside out.

** Like her sister Blue, she is disdainful of cross-fusions, to the point that [[spoiler:she locked up Stevonnie for fusing at the Era 3 ball by accident]]. In ''Future'', she [[spoiler:works with Garnet to help calm down Steven without a moment'sn hesitation]].

* DisappointingOlderSibling: Eventually, Pink Diamond went from worshiping her big sister to [[spoiler:secretly rebelling against her by posing as Rose Quartz]]. Pink was hurt and disappointed that she wasn't given the choice [[spoiler:to spare the Earth]], and believed that far from being a CoolBigSis, Yellow was nothing but distant and cold.

* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: At first she accepts the explanation that [[spoiler:Pink rebelled, Steven is a "new form" of Pink without the latter's memories, and only expresses hope that the memories will return. When they all return to Homeworld, however, she and Blue immediately fall back into treating "Pink" as their silly little sister who exists to make them laugh. Steven understandably gets frustrated when he tries to have a serious conversation, and by the end of a rather disastrous ball she tells off Steven for fusing and locks Stevonnie up.]]

* FatalFlaw: Wrath. She is so intent on destroying Earth that she commissions the creation of a Cluster (violating countless shattered Gems in the process) and seeks to destroy Earth in spite of the many resources it could offer to Homeworld. While she loves her fellow Diamonds and does try to hold back her temper, she has snapped at them as well. [[spoiler:It gets even worse with TheReveal that Rose Quartz was Pink Diamond, which means that Yellow has unknowingly tried to kill her sister and nephew multiple times while mourning her.]]

** To her "sister", Pink Diamond. Pink was a spoiled little brat demanding for her own colony, whereas Yellow was a serious matriarch who colonized multiple planets. [[spoiler:Pink was unaware of the damage she was doing to her colony, whereas Yellow ''wanted'' organic life to be destroyed. It's reflected best in the ideals Pink expressed as Rose Quartz.]] Rose sincerely valued all life and sought to protect it, while Yellow Diamond utterly ''hates'' all organic life, not just humans, and wishes it to be permanently annihilated. Rose loved and cared for each Gem under her command, while Yellow Diamond sees them as mere drones who are rather replaceable. Even their names are similar and both are voiced by Broadway actresses. [[spoiler:However, Pink constantly fails to take her fellow Diamonds' feelings into consideration, whereas Yellow is ''always'' looking out for them.]]
** Also, to her other "sister", Blue Diamond. Aside from their masculine/feminine personalities, Yellow Diamond copes with the death of Pink Diamond by completely repressing her own emotions, destroying everything that reminds her of her grief, and sees grief itself as useless feelings.

* BigSisterInstinct: She holds Blue Diamond protectively when they are confronted with "Rose Quartz" in [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E2TheTrial "The Trial"]], which is understandable considering Rose [[spoiler:allegedly]] shattered her other "sister", Pink Diamond.

* BruiserWithASoftCenter: She's one of the most brutal and short-tempered characters shown throughout the series, but deeply loves Blue and Pink and [[spoiler: bursts into tears upon realizing how her behavior towards her little sister drove her away]].
* TheBrute: Easily the most physically violent of her sisters, and the one who is the best fighter. However, she's far from stupid, and despite her giant size is wickedly fast.

** Like her sister Blue, she is disdainful of cross fusions, to the point that [[spoiler:she locked up Stevonnie for fusing at the Era 3 ball by accident]]. In ''Future'', she [[spoiler:works with Garnet to help calm down Steven without a moment'sn hesitation]].

* CharacterDevelopment: For a ''long'' time in the original series, she's presented as a cold, rutless, and ill-tempered tyrant who couldn't care less about organic lifeforms. As of ''Future'', however, [[spoiler:she dismantles the Gem Empire, becomes ''[[TookALevelInKindness far]]'' more pleasant, and is now even [[GoodFeelsGood willingly]] [[TheAtoner fixing the Gems she once shattered]]. She's also shown to now have plants in her private rooms, in contrast to her former ''disdain'' for organic life.]]

* {{Adorkable}}: In [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E28ChangeYourMind "Change Your Mind"]], she, like Blue, swears that [[NotMeThisTime it wasn't her]] when her and Blue's ships punch White's, [[spoiler:expresses nervousness when Steven encourages her to talk to White, attempts to smile when Steven introduces her to the Off-Colors, and directs a [[VSign peace sign]] towards Steven as she leaves for Homeworld.]]

* BigBadDuumvirate: Often serves in this role with Blue Diamond. [[spoiler:They even invade the Earth together. It's also shown that Blue, Yellow, Pink, and White are part of this as a DysfunctionalFamily archetype.]]]]

* YourSizeMayVary: Her first appearance depicted her Pearl as only just coming up to her knee, while her second depicted her as being able to comfortably carry ''two'' Pearls in the palm of her hand. The latter scale has been a bit more consistent.

* BruiserWithASoftCenter: She's one of the most brutal and short-tempered characters shown throughout the series, but deeply loves Blue and Pink and bursts into tears upon realizing how her behavior towards her little sister drove her away.

* TheAtoner: In "Homeworld Bound", it's revealed that [[spoiler:she now seeks to make up for her "awful" Gem experiments by [[BackFromTheDead fixing]] the Gems she once shattered. She even tells Steven her intention to fix the shattered gems made to create the Cluster!]]

* CharacterDevelopment: For a ''long'' time in the original series, she's presented as a cold, rutless, and ill-tempered tyrant who couldn't care less about her subjects. As of ''Future'', however, [[spoiler:she dismantles the Gem Empire, becomes ''[[TookALevelInKindness far]]'' more pleasant, and is now even [[GoodFeelsGood willingly]] [[TheAtoner fixing the Gems she once shattered]]. She's also shown to now have plants in her private rooms, in contrast to her former ''disdain'' for organic life.]]

* WellDoneDaughterGirl: Seems to have this dynamic with White Diamond, as [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E25Familiar "Familiar"]] implies that at least part of the reason for her obsessively conquering new worlds is a bid to get White's attention. She is mildly jealous that "Pink"[[spoiler:/Steven]] was able to get an audience with White despite being a complete failure as a Diamond.
** In [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E28ChangeYourMind "Change Your Mind"]], she all but states that her villainy is just an attempt to please White.