- Pearl is probably the biggest one; some fans find her quirks (she's a clean freak, and is extremely protective towards Steven) to be annoying, others find them funny or endearing. And while she sincerely means well, she commits several Kick the Dog moments in Season 2 which have made her very divisive.
- Pearl's feelings for Rose Quartz have divided the fanbase further. Initially regarded as sweet, as more light has been shed on the nature of their relationship, fans are debated as to whether it makes Pearl even more of The Woobie or whether it makes her an unsympathetic Jerk Ass Crazy Jealous Girl, or a mix of both. It doesn't help that she seems to be completely unable to think about anything or anyone else once she goes into "Rose mode." In "Rose's Scabbard", she's so distraught that when Steven misses his last jump and nearly falls to his death she doesn't even try to help him climb back up. Then in "Sworn to the Sword", she convinces Connie that her life is worth nothing when it comes to protecting Steven, seeming to forget that she's human and will not simply retreat into her gem if her body is injured. Over all it seems that Pearl has some very serious issues to work through, but doesn't truly mean any harm. The events of "Cry for Help" have done her even more damage. She repairs the Communication Hub, lies that Peridot did it, and uses it so that she and Garnet will continue fusing into Sardonyx. Some Pearl-haters now despise her even more, because she used a serious situation for a selfish purpose and used Garnet while doing so, and her attempts to make up for it afterwards caused even more problems. Others defend her, acknowledging that what she did was wrong, yes, but that doesn't make her a bad person. "Back to the Barn" might just smooth over a lot of her detractors given we learn that in the Gem hierarchy, Pearls are made-to-order servants and designed to be obedient, and Pearl idolized Rose as her "owner". It puts several of her conversations and actions in a different context.
- Amethyst's carefree attitude. She's always had her fair share of fans who enjoyed seeing her let loose and have fun with her powers. Others found her misuse of her powers grating and obnoxious, making her the least popular of the Crystal Gems, particularly in the first half of season 1. This largely died down after her hidden insecurities and self-worth issues were explored in "Tiger Millionaire", and especially after "On the Run". Focus episodes after the revelation of her being created in Kindergarten during the war made her much more sympathetic even to those that disliked her.
- Steven himself is also a pretty big one too. One half of the fanbase absolutely adore him thanks to being an All-Loving Hero who initially tries to bring peace rather than hate and war. The other half finds him deeply annoying and thinks his All-Loving Hero status is a tad too excessive on accounts that he usually just tries to talk his enemies down rather than fighting them, or not fighting them at all. However, as the series goes on, later episodes have shown him learning that sometimes Violence Is the Only Option, so his reluctance to fight is an important plot point towards him learning when it is or isn't right, and part of his Character Development. On the other hand, some fans think his gradual increase in willingness to use violence is making him too out of character.
- Lars. He often acts like a selfish Jerkass, and any time an episode ends with him learning humility, it completely gets forgotten by the next episode. However, he still has his fair share of fans and has been involved with some of the show's Heartwarming Moments. This clip
sums Lars up perfectly. He has his Jerkass moments, but deep down inside, he does actually care, as evidenced by when he gives Sadie his shirt at the end for her to keep warm. "Island Adventure" accentuates this, with a lot of people either hating on Lars and glorifying Sadie (for Lars coming across as even more of a jerk than usual for a lot of the episode) or vice versa (for Sadie taking matters into her own hands to "help" Lars without asking him, which may have just ended up hurting him and their relationship).
- Jasper. Depending on who you ask, she's either an unrepentant sadist for her lust for fighting, complicated and abusive treatment of Lapis, and her single-minded determination for revenge that still has Hidden Depths to her personality, or a Blood Knight that could still be persuaded to fight for the Crystal Gems as a Noble Demon that isn't really bad/should be befriended given the show's usual tendencies. There's very little neutral ground.
- As of "Crack The Whip", more people are turning their backs on Jasper, due to what she did to Amethyst. Although, "Earthlings" allowed her to regain some sympathy by showing her Hidden Depths and her Freudian Excuse.
- Ronaldo, full stop. Some people hate him because of his callous disregard for the safety of others, and his very disturbed mind makes him more of a villain than he appears. Others see him as a well-intentioned idiot, others like him because of his jerkassery, and others say he works better only in very small doses.
- Bismuth, another Crystal Gem who Rose bubbled due to her becoming He Who Fights Monsters and designing a weapon that could permanently kill any Gem. Many fans disagreed with the show presenting her in the wrong and accused it of victim-blaming after she'd been a slave on Homeworld, and pointed out Rose lying to the others about the fight as if she knew she'd been wrong (and which is clearly presented as the wrong thing to do), while others claim that Bismuth desired genocide rather than just using lethal force, and it's strongly implied she started the fight that led to her being bubbled, and instantly turns on Steven and tries to kill him when he says that nobody should use the Breaking Point.
- Andy DeMayo is either a well-rounded character with a very moving Heel Realization, or an unsympathetic bigot who needed way more of a comeuppance for his hateful statements. It really didn't help that he was introduced just one week after the 2016 US presidential election, meaning many fans were in no kind of mood to give any slack to a guy ranting about hippies and immigrants destroying society. Others still have used the election to point out that Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped, as if more people had tried to reach out and build bridges with people like Andy rather than leave them feeling alone and forgotten, the result of the election might have been different.
Base Breaking Character / Steven Universe
Good a show as it is, Steven Universe is not without its base breakers.
