Yellow Diamond

"You think you can get away, Rose? You stood your ground on that little speck called Earth...But you're on our world now."

- Yellow Diamond threatening Steven whom she believes is Rose Quartz in disguise. "I don't care about potential and resources. I want my cluster, and I want that planet to die."

- Yellow Diamond to Peridot

Yellow Diamond is one of the main antagonists of the Cartoon Network series Steven Universe alongside Blue Diamond and White Diamond. She is one of the Matriarchs of the Gem Homeworld and a member of The Great Diamond Authority.

She is voiced by Patti LuPone.

Appearance
Yellow Diamond, as one of the rulers of Homeworld, is of a massive size, her Pearl standing barely as high as her shin. She has a pointed, upturned nose, plump lips and an unusually long neck. Her hair (which may actually be a helmet) is a short bob with two spiked tips. She has black eyebrows, and black markings around both her eyes, which are bright yellow with diamond shaped pupils. She wears a black and olive bodysuit similar to the ones worn by Jasper, Peridot and Garnet, as well as a yellow coat with very large shoulder pads and a cutout for her gemstone. She also wears gloves of a slightly darker yellow and very dark olive yellow boots.

The long coattail seen in her episode debut was changed to just only a short one in the episode "That Will Be All".

However, in "The Trial", she retained her debut attire.

Personality
"Shut your mouth! You have failed at every stage of this mission. Your only chance to redeem yourself is to obey this simple order. You are to leave the Cluster to grow. It will tear apart the Earth, and I will take immense satisfaction in erasing that hideous rock off of our star maps. Is that clear?!"

- Yellow Diamond to Peridot.

Yellow Diamond, like most Homeworld Gems, is shown to have a strong hatred for the Earth and looks down on organic life.

As shown in her debut, Homeworld reputes her as a perfectly logical and rational leader, but in reality, she is vindictive, ruthless, and quick to anger. She states that she would get great satisfaction to see the Earth destroyed. When Peridot contacts her, she is annoyed by her multiple failures. However, in contrast to Blue Diamond, she offers Peridot multiple chances to redeem herself.

She puts forth her agenda under the guise that it is what is best for the Gem race. This is evident when she chooses to reject Peridot's proposal to utilize the Earth again, despite the fact that Homeworld is low on resources, as stated in "Too Short to Ride".

Yellow Diamond is shown to have a "down-to-business" attitude. In "Message Received", she takes over the call Peridot was having with her Pearl to get the message that Peridot had quickly. In "That Will Be All", Yellow Diamond tells Holly Blue Agate to "get to the point" when she begins to ramble on. In "The Trial", she brushed off Green Zircon's praises and kept pushing to shatter Steven/Rose and get the trial over with.

When dealing with grief, Yellow Diamond tries to suppress her negative feelings and instead wishes to move forward. She expresses this to Blue Diamond in "That Will Be All", by explaining that she should "start looking forward and stop looking back". Yellow Diamond finds it ridiculous that Blue Diamond is doing so much to preserve Pink Diamond's legacy instead of trying to move forward, opting instead to destroy Earth as it remains a tragedy for the Diamonds. But even while trying to console Blue and getting her to 'move on' she herself seems momentarily overcome by grief.

Yellow Diamond's response to Blue Zircon's conclusion - that Rose Quartz could not possibly have been guilty of the murder of Pink Diamond, but that it would have to have been someone with the power, ability and influence to commit the deed and afterwards cover it up - appears suspicious.

Abilities
Being a Diamond, Yellow Diamond is one of the most powerful Gems in the entire Gem Empire.
 * Electrokinesis: Yellow Diamond can generate powerful electric currents around her entire body and then project it from her fingertips, which are powerful enough to destabilize a Gem's form. This attack functions exactly like a Gem Destabilizer. She can also focus electricity to cut through thick surfaces.
 * Enhanced Strength: Yellow Diamond was able to "poof" a Zircon Gem with the press of her finger, something not even a Quartz could do. This may be a simple question of physics rather than an ability, given the enormous size difference between a Diamond and a Zircon.

Season 1
Yellow Diamond was first mentioned by Jasper in the Season One episode "The Return." Yellow Diamond is most likely either the leader of the Gem Homeworld, or Jasper's and Peridot's superior given the fact that both Gems have a yellow diamond on their outfits. Yellow Diamond also appears to be a greatly feared Gem given Peridot's and Lapis' reactions to Jasper mentioning her.

Yellow Diamond's role in the series was still shrouded in mysteries before, and that she has yet to make a physical appearance in the series. However, many people claim that Yellow Diamond could be seen briefly during a screening of Steven Universe while Rebecca Sugar was attending the San Diego Comic-Con. She could be shown giving a side glance while she was conversing with Peridot, Lapis, and Jasper. It was confirmed that by Rebecca Sugar herself that she was, in fact, the notorious Yellow Diamond. Her main goals are still unknown.

Season 2
Yellow Diamond first appears in the episode "Message Received". Peridot describes Yellow Diamond as "the most perfect, the most reasonable, rational, efficient decider ever to exist in the universe". Later on, Peridot uses the Diamond Communicator to call Yellow Diamond. Yellow Diamond takes over the call after her Pearl talks to Peridot. She asks Peridot how her mission to Earth was, where Jasper's whereabouts are, and what happened to the ship. Yellow Diamond thanks Peridot for her report, and tells her that she would be sending a ship to her location to pick her up, but Peridot continues the call, telling Yellow Diamond that they should terminate the Cluster because the Earth has so many resources. Yellow Diamond disagrees because she wants the Cluster to emerge and for the Earth to die. This causes the two to get into an argument and eventually leads to Peridot insulting Yellow Diamond. After the call is over, Yellow Diamond remotely detonates the Diamond Communicator in anger.

In "Log Date 7 15 2", Peridot is shown to be fearful after realizing she insulted Yellow Diamond.

Season 3
In "Hit the Diamond", Yellow Diamond sends a group of Rubies to the Earth to locate and retrieve Jasper. Peridot reveals that Yellow Diamond has full control of Homeworld's army.

Season 4
In "That Will Be All", Yellow Diamond enters Pink Diamond's Zoo, where she appears to be annoyed by Blue Diamond. Yellow Diamond wishes to bring Blue Diamond "back to reality", which she believes is moving on from Pink Diamond instead of constantly grieving. Yellow Diamond sings "What's the Use of Feeling (Blue)?" to Blue Diamond, where she expresses that although the Diamonds still love and always think about Pink Diamond, they need to move on and start looking forward. Yellow Diamond discovers that all Blue Diamond wants is to get more humans for the Zoo, so she asks Sapphire if the Cluster emerged yet. When Sapphire says no, Yellow Diamond turns to Blue Diamond and says "then there's still time".

In "I Am My Mom", Using the report she received from Peridot in "Marble Madness", Blue and Yellow Diamond send Aquamarine and Topaz to Earth to retrieve the different human varieties mentioned by Steven during his very first interaction with Peridot.

Season 5
In "The Trial", Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond arrive in the court room on Homeworld to run a trial against Steven (whom they believe is Rose Quartz and Pink Diamond's murderer). Upon seeing Steven for the first time, Yellow Diamond tells Blue Diamond that they should shatter him just for taking on a "hideous form". Upon Blue Diamond's wishes, Yellow agrees to the trial, and summons her and Blue's thrones. When Green Zircon addresses Yellow Diamond by many names, Yellow becomes irritated and tells her that "my Diamond" will suffice. After Green Zircon makes her case with the help of Eyeball, Yellow Diamond is convinced that Rose is guilty and believes it is time to execute Steven, but the trial continues upon Blue Diamond's wishes so the defense can speak. Blue Zircon wishes to remind the court that Steven turned himself in, which Yellow Diamond replies "the court remembers, and the court does not care". When Steven tells the Diamonds that he shattered Pink Diamond, Yellow becomes relieved, thinking that the trial is over because he confessed. Blue Diamond asks Steven how he shattered Pink Diamond, and he makes up a story because he doesn't know. This causes Blue Diamond to become distressed, so Yellow calls a short recess and goes to comfort Blue.

As Blue Zircon makes her argument, asking the Diamonds how a Rose Quartz got past Pink Diamonds entire entourage, Yellow Diamond becomes outraged; she slams her fists down and yells that her entourage was there and they saw the whole thing. Yellow Diamond yells to Blue Zircon that Rose must have slipped past Pink Diamond's Agates and Sapphires. Once Blue Zircon blames the Diamonds for the death of Pink, Yellow stands up and poofs her with her finger, and then uses an electricity attack to poof Green Zircon. Right afterwards, Yellow tells Blue that they don't need to listen to that "nonsense", and that they can shatter Steven and be done with it. Blue yells at Yellow, asking if she can restrain herself, to which Yellow responds that the trial is pointless. When Steven and Lars escape on Blue Diamond's Palanquin, she cuts a hole in the side of the building. Yellow Diamond stands at the edge of the hole and tells Steven "You think you can get away, Rose? You stood your ground on that little speck called Earth...But you're on our world now."

Trivia

 * Yellow Diamond is the fifth gem to have a last name. Due to the fact that her gem has two words in its name, the first being Rose Quartz, the second being the Desert Glass, the third being Watermelon Tourmaline, the fourth being Lapis Lazuli, the sixth being Rainbow Quartz, the seventh being Blue Diamond, the eight being Blue Pearl and the ninth being Yellow Pearl.
 * In Gemology, Diamonds are the stones of truth and victory.
 * Yellow Diamond was also mentioned in the episode "The Return."
 * In "Catch and Release" Peridot states that she has not received a response from Yellow Diamond since her distress message in "Cry for Help."
 * She is shown physically for the first time in "Message Received".
 * She is most likely the Yellow Gem seen on the mural in the episode "Serious Steven."
 * She's speculated as being a member of the "Diamond Authority," which is later revealed to be true.
 * Before her voice actress was confirmed to be Patti LuPone, it was rumored that Yellow Diamond would be voiced by Rebecca Sugar, the creator of the Steven Universe show.
 * After the episode "The Trial", it is hinted that Yellow Diamond was responsible for the death of Pink Diamond and framed Rose Quartz (Steven's mother), and that she covered it up from White and Blue Diamond.
 * Although, it was also possible she is simply angered at being accused of such a crime.
 * However, another possibility is that White Diamond shattered Pink, and Yellow Diamond knows this and does not want Blue Diamond to find out.