Player Name: bii E-mail: all (dot] your {dot) beliefs [at} gmail {dot] com Preferred Contact: plurk @ obiisama Timezone: PST Current Characters in Victory Road: none
Character Name: Greg Universe Series: Steven Universe Timeline: After the Movie (but before Steven Universe Future) Canon Resource Links:wiki page
Personality: Before we start, I’m going to disclose that I’m reusing part of this section from a much older Greg app that was written back when we were only two seasons in. However, I feel like my basic assessment of Greg’s personality from then still stands up. But since some of the episodes that have aired since then have elaborated on various aspect of Greg’s character, I’ll definitely be adding bits to this section where necessary to reflect that.
When we first meet Greg Universe in the second episode, we're already primed to think of him as another Bumbling TV Dad. He lives in a van instead of with his son, the Crystal Gems obviously don't think very much of him, and his very first appearance has him brandishing a waffle iron because he got woken up by Steven jumping up and down on the van's roof because nothing else was going to rouse him. He even looks like a cross between a heavy metal singer and Homer Simpson. Knowing that he's a failed rockstar only reinforces the knee-jerk perception that Greg is nothing but a useless deadbeat. Even he can't see what Rose saw in a “plain old dope like [him].”
But if you take a step back and really look at Greg Universe, what Rose saw in him is pretty plain to see. Greg, you see, is a no more and no less than a good man. Not a great one—no leader of men, no genius or trailblazer—but a good one. He's kind and generous and wants very much to help and take care of the people he cares about. And although Greg probably doesn't consider himself to be brave, he's very much willing to push beyond the things that frighten him in order to provide that help. And he respects women—not in a pseudo-chivalric way, but in a “women are people too” way.
He's a very good parent to Steven, despite not living with him. He's willing to give up living with his son in order that Steven gets the education in being a Gem that he needs. There are many men in fiction who upon losing their wife in childbirth either blame their child for her loss or lack the ability to see that child as anything of a reflection of the woman now gone. Some do both. Some do crazy and dangerous things to get their lost loves back. Greg does none of this. He sees Steven for himself and loves him for who he is. Though he will always love Rose and mourns her still, he doesn't let her loss get in the way of his relationship with his son.
Greg is not without his flaws, however. He has a hard time letting go of things, in both the literal and metaphorical sense. His storage unite is full of junk he doesn't need, because he can't bear to throw anything away. When there's something he doesn't want to talk about—especially if it involves baggage from the past—he goes out of his way to find excuses not to deal with it. He was willing to lie to Steven just to be able to stay with him in the temple after the mess with Lapis Lazuli. And, at least when he was younger, Greg was impulsive enough to abandon the future he'd been dreaming of just to stay with a woman whose name he didn't know. And when he was a young man, he was… honestly, he was fairly feckless. After babysitting Baby Sour Cream with Rose, he compares himself to a baby and he wasn’t entirely wrong. He was dependent on other people to take care of him. This realization, however, was his turning point and once he’s had it, he gets himself his job at the car wash and stops relying on busking and dumpster diving to get by.
Even though Greg abandoned his shot at stardom, he never did give up on his music. He might not tour the country, he might run a car wash as his day job, but Mr Universe is still making music. The encounter with Lapis Lazuli inspired him to work on a new album and—barring boat-related carwash accidents—he still does yearly beach concerts with Steven. His love of music is probably his oldest and most enduring love, followed by his love of space—though, of course, his love for Rose and Steven is stronger.
Despite everything that’s happened the last few seasons of Steven Universe, the essentials of who Greg Universe is really haven’t changed. Even after getting the royalty money from Marty and becoming a technical millionaire, he barely changes his lifestyle. Sure, he and Steven and Pearl have their fancy night out in Empire City where he blows thousands of dollars, but after that he settles back into his normal Beach City lifestyle of running a carwash and being a dad. Mostly, his funds get used to help Steven or the other residents of Beach City, like some kind of obscenely large rainy day fund.
He has, however, finally become friends of a sort with Pearl, something that would have seemed impossible when Steven was a child or before he was born. The conflict between Greg and Pearl was almost inevitable at the time. They were both Rose’s life partners, after all, and Pearl… wasn’t always the best about sharing her. Too, Greg didn’t particularly like being condescended to, which the Gems (and Pearl in particular) did to him almost unthinkingly. But the night in Empire City seemed to break a barrier between them and they finally sat down and talked, about Rose and how much they missed her even now.
He still misses Rose. He still loves Rose. Learning about her past as Pink Diamond doesn’t change that. Sure, she didn’t tell him about it, but he didn’t tell her about being plain old Gregory DeMayo--and she offered to tell him too. But Greg wanted to give himself a clean slate and he wanted to give Rose one too. Everyone does stupid things when they’re young and they don’t know any better. If she was far older than he ever was when she did her stupid things and they caused more harm than his did, well, that’s just because she’s so much older and more powerful than him in general. The same principles still apply.
Maybe being able to look at an eight-foot alien space goddess and decide that despite all that, she’s no more and no less of a person that you yourself are--and no more or less guilty or culpable--isn’t what a normal person does, but it’s what Mr. Greg Universe does. And if he hadn’t, well, we wouldn’t have had a show.
Pokémon Information Affiliation: Trainer in name only tbh, I doubt he’ll battle much Starter: Minior, which he’ll eventually name ‘Haley’ Password: Atomic Fireball
Greg's not sure who the woman who was there when he woke up is. She called herself 'Mom' but she's definitely not Mrs DeMayo. Boy, that was awkward. He'd gotten himself out of the house as soon as he could and hit the road immediately, even if it was a lot colder out here than he's really dressed for.
He's not entirely sure of the name of his new floating rock friend, either, given that she's... pretty quiet compared to most of the Gems he's met. He's not entirely sure that she is a Gem, actually--but she's not any kind of ordinary rock either. She floats and she almost has a face and she seems to like him? There was a time when Greg would have said that was probably proof that she wasn't a Gem--well, maybe not said it, because that would have hurt Steven's feelings, but he might have thought it--but these days, he and the Gems got along pretty well as these things went. They were family.
(Not that there wasn't sometimes difficulties from time to time anyway, but that was family too. Just look at him and Andy.)
"Do you have a name, buddy?" he asks his new rock friend. She bobs a bit in the air, but otherwise doesn't say anything back, the way she's been the last couple times he's tried to talk to her. Greg shrugs and walks on.
Eventually, he finds himself humming along to the music that's... really just always there. Like he's playing a video game or something. Not that he's done that much in recent years, admittedly. Whenever he gets his hands on a system, it goes straight to Steven and they play together in Steven's room when he visits. Still, it's catchy.
"Sour Cream would love this," he tells his rock friend. "It's exactly the kind of thing he plays when he DJs. I'll have to tell him and the other Suspects when we get home."
Because they were going to get home eventually... right?
Greg Universe | Steven Universe | Reserved?
Name: bii
E-mail: all (dot] your {dot) beliefs [at} gmail {dot] com
Preferred Contact: plurk @
Timezone: PST
Current Characters in Victory Road: none
Character
Name: Greg Universe
Series: Steven Universe
Timeline: After the Movie (but before Steven Universe Future)
Canon Resource Links: wiki page
Personality: Before we start, I’m going to disclose that I’m reusing part of this section from a much older Greg app that was written back when we were only two seasons in. However, I feel like my basic assessment of Greg’s personality from then still stands up. But since some of the episodes that have aired since then have elaborated on various aspect of Greg’s character, I’ll definitely be adding bits to this section where necessary to reflect that.
When we first meet Greg Universe in the second episode, we're already primed to think of him as another Bumbling TV Dad. He lives in a van instead of with his son, the Crystal Gems obviously don't think very much of him, and his very first appearance has him brandishing a waffle iron because he got woken up by Steven jumping up and down on the van's roof because nothing else was going to rouse him. He even looks like a cross between a heavy metal singer and Homer Simpson. Knowing that he's a failed rockstar only reinforces the knee-jerk perception that Greg is nothing but a useless deadbeat. Even he can't see what Rose saw in a “plain old dope like [him].”
But if you take a step back and really look at Greg Universe, what Rose saw in him is pretty plain to see. Greg, you see, is a no more and no less than a good man. Not a great one—no leader of men, no genius or trailblazer—but a good one. He's kind and generous and wants very much to help and take care of the people he cares about. And although Greg probably doesn't consider himself to be brave, he's very much willing to push beyond the things that frighten him in order to provide that help. And he respects women—not in a pseudo-chivalric way, but in a “women are people too” way.
He's a very good parent to Steven, despite not living with him. He's willing to give up living with his son in order that Steven gets the education in being a Gem that he needs. There are many men in fiction who upon losing their wife in childbirth either blame their child for her loss or lack the ability to see that child as anything of a reflection of the woman now gone. Some do both. Some do crazy and dangerous things to get their lost loves back. Greg does none of this. He sees Steven for himself and loves him for who he is. Though he will always love Rose and mourns her still, he doesn't let her loss get in the way of his relationship with his son.
Greg is not without his flaws, however. He has a hard time letting go of things, in both the literal and metaphorical sense. His storage unite is full of junk he doesn't need, because he can't bear to throw anything away. When there's something he doesn't want to talk about—especially if it involves baggage from the past—he goes out of his way to find excuses not to deal with it. He was willing to lie to Steven just to be able to stay with him in the temple after the mess with Lapis Lazuli. And, at least when he was younger, Greg was impulsive enough to abandon the future he'd been dreaming of just to stay with a woman whose name he didn't know. And when he was a young man, he was… honestly, he was fairly feckless. After babysitting Baby Sour Cream with Rose, he compares himself to a baby and he wasn’t entirely wrong. He was dependent on other people to take care of him. This realization, however, was his turning point and once he’s had it, he gets himself his job at the car wash and stops relying on busking and dumpster diving to get by.
Even though Greg abandoned his shot at stardom, he never did give up on his music. He might not tour the country, he might run a car wash as his day job, but Mr Universe is still making music. The encounter with Lapis Lazuli inspired him to work on a new album and—barring boat-related carwash accidents—he still does yearly beach concerts with Steven. His love of music is probably his oldest and most enduring love, followed by his love of space—though, of course, his love for Rose and Steven is stronger.
Despite everything that’s happened the last few seasons of Steven Universe, the essentials of who Greg Universe is really haven’t changed. Even after getting the royalty money from Marty and becoming a technical millionaire, he barely changes his lifestyle. Sure, he and Steven and Pearl have their fancy night out in Empire City where he blows thousands of dollars, but after that he settles back into his normal Beach City lifestyle of running a carwash and being a dad. Mostly, his funds get used to help Steven or the other residents of Beach City, like some kind of obscenely large rainy day fund.
He has, however, finally become friends of a sort with Pearl, something that would have seemed impossible when Steven was a child or before he was born. The conflict between Greg and Pearl was almost inevitable at the time. They were both Rose’s life partners, after all, and Pearl… wasn’t always the best about sharing her. Too, Greg didn’t particularly like being condescended to, which the Gems (and Pearl in particular) did to him almost unthinkingly. But the night in Empire City seemed to break a barrier between them and they finally sat down and talked, about Rose and how much they missed her even now.
He still misses Rose. He still loves Rose. Learning about her past as Pink Diamond doesn’t change that. Sure, she didn’t tell him about it, but he didn’t tell her about being plain old Gregory DeMayo--and she offered to tell him too. But Greg wanted to give himself a clean slate and he wanted to give Rose one too. Everyone does stupid things when they’re young and they don’t know any better. If she was far older than he ever was when she did her stupid things and they caused more harm than his did, well, that’s just because she’s so much older and more powerful than him in general. The same principles still apply.
Maybe being able to look at an eight-foot alien space goddess and decide that despite all that, she’s no more and no less of a person that you yourself are--and no more or less guilty or culpable--isn’t what a normal person does, but it’s what Mr. Greg Universe does. And if he hadn’t, well, we wouldn’t have had a show.
Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Trainer
in name only tbh, I doubt he’ll battle muchStarter: Minior, which he’ll eventually name ‘Haley’
Password: Atomic Fireball
Samples
RP Sample: With Rose
Victory Road Sample:
Greg's not sure who the woman who was there when he woke up is. She called herself 'Mom' but she's definitely not Mrs DeMayo. Boy, that was awkward. He'd gotten himself out of the house as soon as he could and hit the road immediately, even if it was a lot colder out here than he's really dressed for.
He's not entirely sure of the name of his new floating rock friend, either, given that she's... pretty quiet compared to most of the Gems he's met. He's not entirely sure that she is a Gem, actually--but she's not any kind of ordinary rock either. She floats and she almost has a face and she seems to like him? There was a time when Greg would have said that was probably proof that she wasn't a Gem--well, maybe not said it, because that would have hurt Steven's feelings, but he might have thought it--but these days, he and the Gems got along pretty well as these things went. They were family.
(Not that there wasn't sometimes difficulties from time to time anyway, but that was family too. Just look at him and Andy.)
"Do you have a name, buddy?" he asks his new rock friend. She bobs a bit in the air, but otherwise doesn't say anything back, the way she's been the last couple times he's tried to talk to her. Greg shrugs and walks on.
Eventually, he finds himself humming along to the music that's... really just always there. Like he's playing a video game or something. Not that he's done that much in recent years, admittedly. Whenever he gets his hands on a system, it goes straight to Steven and they play together in Steven's room when he visits. Still, it's catchy.
"Sour Cream would love this," he tells his rock friend. "It's exactly the kind of thing he plays when he DJs. I'll have to tell him and the other Suspects when we get home."
Because they were going to get home eventually... right?