Spinel

Spinel is character from the Cartoon Network series Steven Universe, created by Rebecca Sugar. Spinel debuted late into the series, initially appearing as the main protagonist in the 2019 television film Steven Universe: The Movie. In this film, she is portrayed as an abandoned creation of Pink Diamond, being left alone for thousands of years and wanting to destroy all creations after finding out she was abandoned. After eventually making up with Steven, Spinel made additional cameo appearance in the finale of the 2020 sequel series Steven Universe Future, having been reformed.

As the winner of Ms. /co/ 2019, Spinel is considered one of the most controversial characters in the history of any /co/ tournament. Steven Universe: The Movie debuted approximately 11 days before the start of the tournament, which led to a concern by some anons that the recency of the film alongside the popularity Spinel acquired would lead to dominance of the tournament, with many noting similarities in the character herself to previous years winner Jenny XJ9. With a first seed, Spinel never got below 55% of the vote for any round, though she also only got above 60% of the votes for only one round. After a memorable first round defeat of Muriel Bagge, Spinel continued to advance against opponents, eventually reaching the elite 8 on her first try after defeating Lord Dominator. Continuing to show dominance against long-time waifus, she got by Velma Dinkely and Frankie Foster to reach Raven in the finals, who she defeated 976 votes to 780 to become the only 1 seed to win a tournament. She, alongside Kronk, are the only characters (outside those in the initial tournaments) who have won a tournament in their first appearance on the bracket.

She later appeared in the Tag-Team Tournament 2019 alongside Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, though they were eliminated after the first round.

Spinel's dominance has gained both supporters and dissenters. Supporters of Spinel's run argue that she did not break any rules that the competition had at the time and that she had sincere support due to her vintage cartoon character inspiration, her sense of humor, and her backstory and themes of isolation and rejection that are relatable. Dissenters believe that the character only won due to her recency as a flavor of the month and that outside brigading from Discord and the Random Cartoon Facebook page played a hand in her victory and make it illegitimate. This is often humorously associated with asterisks being applied to her name, while supporters of Spinel usually replied humorously with 'hoes mad'. However, as of now Spinel's victory is still considered as the official result of the tournament.

The controversy of Spinel's run caused two significant changes. The stress caused by her run caused the initial tourney host to quit during the semifinals, eventually being replaced by the current tourney runner. In addition, a FOTM rule was added that restricted new characters from appearing in tournaments until 1 month after they made their debut.

Because of Spinel's win, she is not elgible for further Ms. /co/ tournaments.

Tournament History
As Spinel officially debuted 11 days before the nominations for Ms. /co/ 2019, Spinel was eligible to participate in that year's tournament under the rules that existed at the time, though arguments were made if she should have been included. Quickly, Spinel made a mark by quickly being the second nominated character and getting the support needed to qualify. With the qualification round commencing, fanart and other OC of Spinel from a dedicated group of fans began to form. This led up to Spinel and Steven Universe as a whole having one of the most dominate qualification round result in /co/ history, with a first place seed from Spinel with 325 votes, while the second seed of Peridot had 167 votes and the third seed of Pearl had 166 votes.

Spinel's first round was against Muriel Bagge. A surprise candidate who didn't match up with the expected characteristics of a /co/ waifu, Muriel was considered by many to be a potential contender to knock out Spinel in the first round due to support that she has and the offbeat nature of an older lady being in a tournament many base their selections by with looks, potentially being the first 128 seed to advance. This was also seen as a test if the vocal anti-Spinel faction could have numbers that would match with the Spinel support at the time. Muriel eventually fell short by a little over 200 votes, but Muriel's stand against Spinel in the round was considered to be a reason she saw a significantly higher seed in the 2020 tournament

With the results of the first round showing Spinel's supporters outnumbered those against her, she received the highest percentage of votes she got in any round by defeating Tinker Bell with slightly over 60% of the votes in round 2. Round three was against Judy Hopps, who fared better but still could not crack Spinel's streak. Reaching the sweet sixteen, Lord Dominator's first of several sweet 16 runs ended without reaching the Elite 8, as Spinel reached this portion of the tournament in her first attempt. With Pearl and Peridot also reaching this round, 3 of the elite 8 characters would be Steven Universe related

By this point, discussion of the tournament was entirely Spinel related, with rival sides fighting each other over the character and her role in the tournament. While this led to the downfall of the two other Steven Universe girls in the Elite 8, Spinel defeated longstanding waifu Velma Dinkley to advance in this round. By this point, the stress that the tournament bickering was causing the initial tournament caused the tourney host to quit. While it was thought the tournament might have gotten cancelled at this point, a new tourney host set up and the final matchups commenced. In the semifinals, Spinel notably met Frankie Foster, often considered one of the strongest contestants in the tournaments. By defeating Frankie to reach the final and eventually winning, she notable made Frankie lose only to the champions of the tournaments she participated in. With her victory in the overall tournament looking certain, she sealed the tournament by defeating Raven by a 976 to 790 vote margin.

References