A History of Transgender Characters in Comics, Games and Animation

Stevonnie (Steven Universe, 2015)

Steven is a boy with magical powers inherited from his mother, a powerful warrior from an alien race known as Gems. Among the many powers unique to Gems is the ability to fuse with each other into more powerful beings. Steven’s surrogate parents try and fail to help him master the art of fusion, but he later achieves it by accident with his human best friend, Connie.

The result is Stevonnie, a fusion combining Steven and Connie’s appearances and personalities. Since Steven identifies as male and Connie as female, Stevonnie is nonbinary, a combination of both male and female identities.

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Steven Universe is a series celebrated for its exploration of LGBTQ themes and characters, boasting the first gay kiss on a Cartoon Network show. In particular, the concept of fusion is used to explore relationships and identity. Like relationships, strong fusions are based on friendship or love, while some unhealthy fusions are driven by darker emotions. Some characters choose to fuse permanently, a decision met with disgust by traditional Gem society.

Stevonnie is neither male nor female, and uses “they” pronouns. Additionally, while Steven and Connie are children, Stevonnie resembles an adult, and is an exploration of the experience of puberty. According to creator Rebecca Sugar: “Stevonnie challenges gender norms as an individual, but also serves as a metaphor for all the terrifying firsts in a first relationship, and what it feels like to hit puberty and suddenly find yourself with the body of an adult, how quickly that happens, how it feels to have a new power over people, or to suddenly find yourself objectified, all for seemingly no reason since you’re still just you.”