Rutile Twins

“	We survived because all the other Rutiles ran away when we emerged. We survived because they were afraid of us.	„
	~ "Off Colors"

The Rutile Twins are unaligned Gems. They formerly lived in an abandoned Kindergarten facility on the Gem Homeworld amongst other defective or abnormal Gems known as the Off Colors. They would later travel through space on board the Sun Incinerator with the rest of the Off Colors, before landing in Beach City in the episode, "Change Your Mind". They and the rest of the Off Colors now reside on Earth. They made their debut in "Off Colors".

They form a defective Gem, being one Gem having split into two during formation (and sharing one body and gemstone).

Appearance

The Rutile Twins are tall, slender, conjoined twin Gems with short maroon hair that is styled up to a point at the top and light red skin. They have one pair of legs and arms, but two torsos and heads, and they also appear to lack noses. Their gemstone has a "Y" shape and is located on the navel, where their bodies connect. Their body should not be confused with a forced fusion. According to Rebecca Sugar, their design is based on a "gem deformity ", when a gem is split in two making a V shape.

The Rutile Twins wear an open-toed dark red and black bodysuit, which is red with black stripes on their right half, and black with red stripes on their left half.

Personality

The Rutile Twins are shown to be helpful, being the ones who tell Lars and Steven to jump into the hole to the Kindergarten before being caught by the Robonoid chasing them.

They often speak either alternating words, fragments, or even sentences. They also often repeat what the other said, but in a different way. They are also shown to be curious about Lars and Steven's foreign lifestyle.

History

When the Rutile Twins emerged, they weren't supposed to live. However, they did since the other Rutiles ran away from them. Being a defective, off-color Gem, they are banished from Gem society. The Rutile Twins and the other Off Colors are currently on Earth along with Lars and the Off Colors.

"Off Colors"

The Rutile Twins rescue Steven and Lars from a Shattering Robonoid by leading them into a cavern hidden by a rock. They lead them to an abandoned Kindergarten where the rest of the Off Colors reside. They reassure Rhodonite when she is scared of Steven and Lars. They explain to Steven that they are a Rutile that came out wrong and that they will be shattered if the Shattering Robonoids find them. When the Robonoids find the Off Colors, they are rescued by Lars. When Lars dies, they don't understand what happened at first and praise Lars for saving the Off Colors.

"Lars' Head"

The Rutile Twins are happy when Lars is brought back to life. When the Robonoids return, they block the entrance with the help of Rhodonite and Steven, and are surprised to see Steven's greater strength. After that they question if they should stay at their current hiding spot or not. Later on, they wonder if Lars will reform with a different color when he poofs.

When Steven returns from Earth through Lars' head, they say that that is impossible. When told otherwise by Steven, they are pleasantly surprised. Lars later tells the group to go through his head to get back to Earth, even if it means leaving him behind, Rhodonite approaches him, but the Rutile Twins stop her, not wanting to leave Lars behind. They state the Off Colors will find an alternate route to Earth.

"Lars of the Stars"

The Rutile Twins, along with the rest of the Off Colors led by Lars Barriga, escape the Homeworld Kindergarten and go on the run. They steal an Emerald's personal shuttle before crashing it on the planet Upsilon 9, travel to various planets, impersonate "imperial officers during a cosmic jubilee," and later sneak past 67 elite Citrine guards to steal Emerald's fastest ship, the Sun Incinerator, from a docking bay on the planet Klavius 7. While Emerald contacts them through the ship, the Rutile Twins (now pilots under 'Captain Lars') fire up the ship's nova thrusters. After Emerald threatens them, Lars has the Rutile Twins pilot the ship into taking off at hyperspeed.

"Your Mother and Mine"

The twins are first seen taking the command from Lars to activate the nova thrusters, expressing disappoinment alongside him, Rhodonite, and Fluorite when the ship's power goes out. They also show wonder upon meeting Garnet, recognizing her irregular number of eyes as a sign she is a fusion. As Padparadscha later notes, Garnet makes the Off Colors, including the Rutile Twins, uncomfortable with her compliments, due to never having received them on Homeworld. Like the other Off Colors, the twins display shock when Garnet mentions Rose Quartz, claiming she was a defective Quartz who went haywire. Despite this, they still listen to Garnet as she shares what she believes to be the real story of Rose Quartz, and they're surprised as they learn of original Crystal Gems such as Bismuth, Pearl, and Garnet herself. Despite being saddened, Garnet manages to inspire the Off Colors, who set to work attempting to fix the core.

"Letters to Lars"

The Rutile twins are seen in their usual seat in the Sun Incinerator, helping pilot the ship.

"Change Your Mind"

The Off Colors arrive on Earth shortly after the Crystal Gems and the Diamonds, landing after Sadie Killer and the Suspects finish singing their cover of Let Me Drive My Van (into Your Heart), Let Me Ska My Van Into Your Heart. Initially panicked at seeing White, Yellow , and Blue Diamond, Steven calms the Off Colors and assures them that the diamonds are there to help. The twins seem excited when they see Sadie for the first time, having heard about her from Lars during their journey. They are also seen curiously poking Lion as the rest of the Off Colors pet him. They are later seen listening Barbara.

"Steven Universe: The Movie"

TBA

Abilities

Presumably, the Rutile Twins possesses standard Gem abilities and traits such as being ageless, can reform their physical form as long as their Gem remains in tact and to not need anything in order to survive.

Natural Abilities

• Photokinesis: In "Off Colors", the Rutile Twins are shown using their gemstone to project a red light, like a flashlight. They share this ability with Garnet, Pearl, Peridot, Ruby Eyeball, and Ruby Doc.
• Piloting: In "Lars of the Stars", they pilot the Sun Incinerator.

Relationships

Steven Universe

The Rutile Twins first found Steven and Lars as they were about to be scanned. The Rutile Twins at first did not know that they were humans, saying "They certainly don't look like Gems we've seen before". Then, they brought them to a Kindergarten, and, when Rhodonite asked if they could trust them, the Rutile Twins said they could.

Lars Barriga

The Rutile Twins were first introduced to Lars when they saved him and Steven from being scanned. Lars at first thanked them, but when he could see them Lars seemed scared by the Rutile Twins as he jumped back and screamed when he saw them. The Rutile Twins reacted by covering themselves with their hands. However considering he returned the favor and helped save them they seem to be on good terms with the Twins happy to hear he came back to life.

Fluorite

Not much is shown about the Rutile Twins' relationship with Fluorite, besides the fact that they have been around each other for a long time.

Rhodonite

Not much is known about their relationship, but they seem to have a mutual respect for one another.

Padparadscha

Padparadscha and the Rutile Twins' relationship is very vague and unexplored, considering neither has had a line of dialogue with each other, except for Padparadscha mentioning how the Rutile Twins would bring Steven and Lars to their hiding place.

Trivia

• The Rutile Twins form the first unfused Gem shown in the series to have a conjoined body.
• Each of the twins, though having the same voice actress, speak slightly differently from each other. The left twin speaks in a lower tone while the right speaks in a higher one.
• Like Sapphire, Jasper, Padparadscha and Aquamarine, the Rutile Twins both lack a nose.