Throughout Steven Universe, Lapis transformed from a trauma survivor trapped on Earth who wanted nothing more than to escape and return to Homeworld, to a Gem on the run confused about her place in the universe and scared of the Diamond Authority, to a full-fledged Crystal Gem willing to do whatever it takes to stand up for her home and for the people she believes in. It's one of the best examples of character development we get throughout a series that's absolutely chock-full of it.
Through all that development, there's bound to be a handful of things that even dedicated fans might have missed about her character.
Today, we'll be taking a look at ten things that even die-hard fans might not have known about Lapis Lazuli.
10 She Copes With Dark Humor
Lapis is a survivor of some pretty extreme trauma, having been poofed and then mistaken for a Crystal Gem and imprisoned, alone, for thousands of years- all due to a rebellion that she'd been mixed up in, not having wanted anything to do with it. Ever since Steven freed her, she's been slowly working on different ways to cope with her new life and with her own past, both her imprisonment and the horrible things she did prior.
One of these coping mechanisms is her rather dark sense of humor, as in the movie after Peridot mentioned that it took her a while to stop trying to kill Steven, a laughing Lapis adds that she's 'still on the fence'.
9 Being Cracked Messed With Her Eyes
This is a fact that can be relatively easy to forget, as Steven healed Lapis' cracked gem fairly quickly after she emerged from the mirror, but her cracked gem affected her physical form.
We've seen a similar thing happen with Volleyball whose injury refused to heal because of mental trauma despite her actual gem being fine. In Lapis' case, her cracked gem caused her pupils to appear differently than normal. We're unsure if this actually impacted her eyesight in any way, but if it did, she didn't act like it.
8 She Has A Defeatist Personality
When put into situations where it looks like Lapis isn't going to be able to win, she adopts quite the pessimistic personality. This changes over time, of course, as by the end of the series she's willing to stand up for herself, Beach City, and the Crystal Gems- but for a good while after her introduction, this is far from the case.
This is showcased several times, one of which being when she takes the barn and flees to the Moon upon worrying that the Diamonds might come, wanting to avoid a confrontation altogether as she believed winning was impossible. She also tells Steven and the others to give up immediately upon learning that Jasper and Peridot were on their way to Earth, despite all the hardships the Gems had overcome up to that point.
7 She Harbors Intense Self-Hatred
Lapis is incredibly spiteful from the moment we meet her- spiteful towards Homeworld for how she ended up while loyal to them, spiteful towards the Crystal Gems for not doing anything to help her while fully aware she was trapped in the mirror, but above all else, Lapis Lazuli harbors spite for herself most of all. She despises herself for her actions as Malachite, beginning to question if there was anything different between her and Jasper after all, but is able to stop herself from falling back into their toxic relationship with Steven's help.
She is also shown to have a fear of responsibility, such as when Greg suggests she captain a boat they're on to which she immediately refuses- but later decides to accept with Steven's encouragement, a good step in the right direction.
6 She's One Of The Strongest Non-Physical Gems We've Seen
While Jasper is the most physically tough gem we've seen, in non-physical powers, Lapis matches or even outclasses her. Before her cracked gemstone was even healed, she was shown to be able to control and part the entire ocean, being able to do serious damage if she'd decided to use these powers for harm. We see her abilities further in the Future episode "Why So Blue?" where, while physically restrained, was still able to control waves of rushing water, as well as break the water chains using sheer mental strength without having to move her body.
5 She's Resistant To Blue Diamond's Powers
In "Reunited" when Blue Diamond uses her powers to render everyone at the wedding essentially useless, Lapis appears and is shown to not be affected by them at all. Blue has the power to transfer her own grief onto others, forcing them to feel what she suffers through- but because of all the trauma that Lapis had suffered over thousands of years, she simply remarks that Blue's feelings are nothing in comparison, and is able to still use all of her powers to their full capacity.
This is also indirect confirmation that powers that influence other's emotions will not affect those whose own emotions are stronger.
4 Her Struggles With Control
Because of Lapis' past experiences of being taken advantage of by other people, she is always desperately struggling to try to gain some semblance of control in whatever situation she's in. However, this ends up acting like sort of a double-edged sword for her, as despite being terrified of not having control, she's also terrified of the things she's capable of doing once she does gain control over a situation, such as how she treated Jasper after they fused to form Malachite.
After they un-fuse, though, she begins to harbor some regret for those controlling desires, so it's safe to assume they've faded since then.
3 She Used To Destroy Planets Without A Second Thought
For a very long time, besides the fact that she used to side with Homeworld, nothing was really known about Lapis' past or what she was like before being trapped in the mirror. Thankfully, the Future episode that centers around her, "Why So Blue?", we finally get to hear Lapis speak about what the nature of her job was when she was back on Homeworld.
Lapis was assigned to terraform planets- essentially destroy them and all life that may have called it home, to make room for whatever plans the Diamonds had for them. She said that before she met Steven, she had never given any of it a second thought and that she often wonders what sorts of life she'd destroyed.
2 Why She Visited Earth To Begin With
It's been stated that Lapis visited Earth during the time it was starting to be colonized by Homeworld gems, getting caught up in the rebellion by accident, and poofed while trying to escape the planet. However, what was never stated even at the end of Future was why Lapis was on Earth to begin with- surely it couldn't just have been to sightsee, and she didn't ever mean to get caught up in the rebellion, so that couldn't have been it, either.
Using what we learned about her during Future, it can be assumed that the reason why Lapis was sent to Earth was so she could begin terraforming parts of the planet. She has also been seen acting as an informant, so it also could have been simply to gain information on the rebellion and Rose. Either way, her job would have been in direct opposition of the Crystal Gems she now sides with.
1 Her Feelings Toward Water Change
Before fusing with Jasper into Malachite, Lapis had always seemed most comfortable closest to a body of water, presumably because that's where the majority of her available powers come from. With everything she had been through prior to being released by Steven, it makes sense that she'd always want to have her method of both offense and defense close by, in case she needed it. However, after un-fusing with Jasper, her attitude changes a bit.
Peridot, in good faith while trying to convince Lapis not to leave Earth, drills her a small pool outside of the barn. However, Lapis seems disgusted by this, stating that she now viewed water as her 'tomb' after having spent so long holding Jasper in the ocean.