White Diamond

"Please stop "helping" them! You'll only make things worse. That's what you do. I make things better! Here..."Oh thank you, White Diamond! I feel excellent now! Oh thank you, how generous of you!" "Thank you, White Diamond! We feel so much better now!" "I feel excellent!" There we are! I've removed their flaws! Now there is nothing to hinder my white light from sparkling through them! I'd rather not spread my uninhibited self so thin, you know, but you've made it absolutely necessary. Now the impurities you've encouraged in them are gone. Now they are brilliant. Now they are perfect. Now they are... ME!"

- White Diamond after taking control of the Crystal Gems.

White Diamond is (formerly) one of the main antagonists of the Cartoon Network TV series Steven Universe, serving as the main antagonist of Season 5.

She is a Homeworld Gem who is the superior and leader to all gems including the other Diamonds and along with Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond and formerly Pink Diamond, formed the Great Diamond Authority.

Her mural was first introduced in the second season in the episode "It Could've Been Great", and reappeared in "Back to the Moon". Her first official appearance was in the Season 5 episode "Legs From Here to Homeworld".

She is voiced by Christine Ebersole.

Appearance
White Diamond is massive in size, towering even above the other diamonds and the largest gem fusions. She has spiky hair, shoulder pads similar to Yellow Diamond's, and is seen holding an orb in her hands. She wears a white dress and has shining sandals for footwear. Her pupils are diamond shaped, and she has black lips and eyelashes. Her head is shaped like a large crown.

Personality
"Steven. White Diamond isn't like us. She isn’t even like them. You have no idea what she's capable of!"

- Pearl telling Steven that White Diamond is different from the Crystal Gems and even the Diamonds. According to Blue and Yellow Diamond, White Diamond is very difficult to deal with. She has an apoplectic and temperamental demeanor, and apparently does not like to be embarrassed, as expressed by Yellow Diamond. Upon reuniting with "Pink Diamond", she is rather indifferent, smiling at Steven as if it were a regular meeting. When talking with Steven, she cut him off several times and did not allow him to speak, demonstrating her rude side and also implying that she was hiding a deep-seeded anger. White Diamond considers all of Pink Diamond's actions as part of a fun game, and believes it was all something in her system that needed to be vented out.

It is probable that White Diamond is rather violent, particularly with her pearl. This is evidenced with the huge crack on her pearl's head when she is first seen; it is very likely that the wound was recently dealt by White Diamond, since gems can alter their shapes and heal from any damage done to their projections, and her pearl would most likely not show herself in public with such hideous disfigurement. Her Pearl also has a notably robotic personality at odds with most Gems - this implies that White may forcibly alter the way gems act, making them akin to machines,

Indeed White's presence is much more mechanical and oppressive, giving the impression of a being who takes immense pride in "perfection" but who is also somewhat distant from the rest of the world - this means it will be extremely difficult for Steven or the other Diamonds to reason with White as she is currently shown, since she seems to dismiss all others and runs by a completely different morality than any other Gem so far. Pearl even warned Steven "White is not like us, she's not even like them" (referring to the other Diamonds).

In "Change Your Mind" White is an obsessive diamond, who wants everything to be under her command and who wants to be perfect which means emotionless. White told Steven that she should know better, she should be better and Steven told her to leave her own head.

Abilities and Powers
White Diamond has the standard abilities of a Gem, those including: Enhanced condition, the ability to not age, and potentially, shapeshifting and fusion. However, she has a greater amount of power within, alongside Yellow and Blue Diamond, due to her status as a Diamond and member of the Great Diamond Authority.
 * Aura Projection: The Diamonds can project an aura around them that they can control, they can either radiate it from their entire bodies or emit it from specific parts of their bodies, usually their hands. Not much has been shown of White nor her aura, but during the Diamonds' final attack against the Crystal Gems, White's aura was shown around her hand as a solid white corona-like flare around it.
 * Corruption Induction: Though the attack was meant to obliterate the Crystal Gems on Earth after Pink's supposed shattering; Yellow, Blue, and White Diamond's collective powers instead corrupted the remaining Gems on Earth.
 * Corruption Reversal: Along with Pink/Steven, Yellow and Blue, White has the ability to reverse the effects of the Corrupting Light on Gems. The four reversed the corruption using the water of Rose's Fountain in "Change Your Mind".
 * Mind Control: By zapping another Gem's gemstone with a white ray of light, White Diamond removes that Gem's color, turning it into a gray that then spreads out from the gemstone, controlling the affected Gem. Controlled Gems generally mimic her movements, speech, and possibly state (her blush spread to all under her control), though White can command them to perform specific actions or say certain things. Once released, Gems are disoriented and appear to have no memory of what happened or what they did whilst they were controlled: A controlled Pearl was still able to draw her (also colorless) Gem Weapon to fight Connie, but it is unclear if this is the Gem's individual weapon or a facsimile. A weakened emotional state may disrupt White's control, as it was undone when she realised a flaw on herself that Steven exposed and blushed in "Change Your Mind". It is unclear if this was a deliberate action on White's part, or an unconscious reaction. White Diamond states that controlling other Gems involves "shining her light through them" and that she doesn't want to "spread [herself] too thin", implying a possible limit to the number of Gems she can control at any given time.   ​​​​​​ The ray can be blocked by Pink Steven's Shield.
 * Power Bestowal: When White Diamond takes control of a Gem, they can gain access to new abilities, such as transportation via a white bubble, intangibility, and can project her controlling light from their eyes.

History
Nothing is known about White Diamond's past in Homeworld other than the fact that she is a member of the Diamond Authority.

White Diamond's mural can be first seen in "It Could've Been Great" at the Moon Base and again in "Back To The Moon."

Season 5
In "The Trial," on Homeworld, a massive statue that resembles White Diamond's head and shoulders towers in the skyline.

In "Your Mother and Mine", White Diamond is briefly seen in the beginning of Garnet's flashback, along with other silhouettes of the diamonds. Later, her silhouette was shown again, along with Yellow and Blue Diamond's silhouettes, after the three have become aware of Pink Diamond's death caused by Rose Quartz. Her hand was revealed as she, Yellow Diamond, and Blue Diamond launched the Corrupting Light on Earth to end the Rebellion in retaliation.

She made her official debut in "Legs From Here To Homeworld". On Earth, Blue and Yellow Diamond explain to the Crystal Gems that White Diamond hasn't left Homeworld in eons (presumably the last time she did leave was when she participated in the Final Diamond Attack), and she would be unlikely to go to Earth. Despite this, Steven is determined to convince her to heal the corrupted gems and they head to Homeworld. On the way there, Blue Diamond states that White Diamond can be difficult to deal with, and Yellow Diamond says that she would do the talking, unless they wanted to be bubbled for the next few millennia.

Upon their arrival to Homeworld, White Diamond's pearl takes Steven to see White Diamond alone. When Steven is alone with White Diamond, she smiles at him and tells him how relieved everyone is of his safety. Steven attempts to say hello, but White cuts him off, saying how she hopes all of her actions on Earth were hopefully out of his system. She then welcomes "Pink Diamond" home, before putting Steven in a bubble and transporting him into a room that looks like Pink Diamond's Palanquin, with pink bubbles floating in the air.

White Diamond briefly appears in the episode "Together Alone". She is only seen standing in Steven's dream non-speaking, looking at him for a short time before he started to cough up Rose Quartz's hair. Later on, her Pearl reveals during the ball that White has other business to attend, and instead she herself will take White Diamond's place. However, White Pearl suddenly frowned in observance due to Steven and Connie fusing into Stevonnie.

White Diamond appears in the episode "Change Your Mind". White Diamond controls White Pearl by telling them "You're not going anywhere." She fought against Blue and Yellow Diamond then mind controls them just like what will happen to Amethyst, Pearl and Garnet. White tears off Steven's gem and was devastated that it wasn't Pink who went out. It was Steven. The hologram of Steven was attacked by White and her slaves, but they he managed to survive. Later, the hologram and Steven refused resulting in White's disagreement believing that Steven isn't half-human nor a child. Steven asks White what's her excuse is and her cheeks turned red, freeing all her slaves.

White asks herself who she is and began to question her mistakes. Steven comforts her, saying that she can be better if she wants to, but she has to leave her own head. Later, she, with the other Diamonds, went to Earth to cure the Corrupted gems. Then White Diamond left Earth together with Blue and Yellow Diamond.

Trivia

 * Prior to White Diamond's debut, a fan had met Patti LuPone after a performance of "War Paint", a musical she starred in that was running on Broadway at the time. After complimenting her on her voice work as Yellow Diamond, Patti told the fan that Christine Ebersole, her co-star in the musical, was the voice actress for White Diamond. While never confirmed, it was eventually proven to be true.
 * Due to the location of her gem on the forehead and the fact that Pearl of the Crystal Gems used to serve the Homeworld (as she claimed in the StevenBomb episode "Adventures in Light Distortion"), it is strongly implied that Pearl used to serve White Diamond before defecting to the Crystal Gems.
 * However, this theory is still in debate since Pearl has both Pink and White color in her body, and so, it is unknown whether she used to belong to Pink or White Diamond. Some theorize she was a gift from White to Pink.
 * It was revealed in "A Single Pale Rose" that Pearl belonged to Pink Diamond, but the following episode revealed Pearl was given to Pink Diamond. Although, it was shown in “Legs from here to Homeworld” that White Diamond had her own pearl.
 * Interestingly enough, White Diamond's Pearl shares her gem placement with Pink Diamond.
 * Because of her Diamond symbol being on top of the other Diamonds and her hulking size, it is largely implied that she is the oldest and leader of the Great Diamond Authority, and by extension, the ruler of the entire Gem Race. However, it is stated by Peridot that the army of Homeworld obeys mostly to Yellow Diamond and she has complete authority over the military. Therefore, White Diamond is mostly equal to the other Diamonds.
 * Given the prominence of White Diamond's structure on Homeworld, it is possible that she serves as Homeworld's head of government. It is shown that both Blue and Yellow afraid of her, showing she is the leader of the entire Gem race as well as her fellow Diamonds.
 * Due to her design, palette and small cameos, including her hand in "Your Mother and Mine", it is believed White is a diamond representative of light and glory, similar to Yellow's association with electricity and Blue's link to water. The belief stems from her hairstyle, imitating a starbust or sun and her outfit being extremely bright white. Additionally, when shown using her power, her aura shows a starbust-esque effect, a design typically reserved for cartoon-ish light or radiance.
 * In "Change Your Mind," White Diamond says that she removed her flaws by splitting them into the other Diamonds. This is similar to how Father in Fullmetal Alchemist tried to remove the Seven Deadly Sins from himself by turning them into Homunculi.