Steven "Steve" Small, better known as Mr. Small, is a prominent supporting character in The Amazing World of Gumball. As the hippie school counselor at Elmore Junior High, his role is to guide students, yet he often appears to be the one most in need of help himself. This ironic dynamic is a consistent source of humor throughout the series.

== Appearance == Mr. Small is easily recognizable as a tall, fluffy, cloud-like creature, similar in build to Masami and Tobias. He sports a distinctive rainbow-patterned shirt, black bell-bottoms, and blue and yellow sandals. His body is covered in white fluff, particularly dense on his forearms, feet, and head, and he keeps his long hair tied back in a small ponytail. His eyes are a striking lime green with red pupils.

Interestingly, his fluffy exterior conceals a very bony and skinny internal structure, revealed in "The Painting." The episode "The Lie" even shows a more primate-like face beneath the fluff on his face. As a student, his hair was mid-back length, and he wore a pink shirt with a sideways yin-yang symbol and bluish-white jeans.

His design saw slight alterations starting in Season 2, most notably the addition of eyebrows and changes to his sandals. His voice also evolved; initially, a calm, quiet Southern accent in Season 1, it transitioned to a more stereotypical hippie voice from Season 2 onwards, losing the Southern inflection entirely.

== Personality == Mr. Small's personality is a vibrant blend of well-intentioned idealism, New Age philosophy, and bizarre eccentricity. As Elmore Junior High's guidance counselor, his job is to assist students with personal problems, yet his counseling techniques often veer into the strange and ineffective. Students frequently leave his office more confused than when they entered. For example, in "The Painting," he attempts to help Gumball and Darwin with their destructive energy through unconventional methods like screaming to relieve anger or expressing themselves by rolling in paint. Despite the chaotic outcomes, Mr. Small genuinely loves helping students, aiming to "shape minds, challenge perceptions, and be remembered as the single greatest teacher that ever lived." His initial guilt over not inspiring children turns to delight when Gumball and Darwin seek his guidance, albeit leading to mischief.

His character is heavily defined by his hippie and new-age persona. He enjoys meditation, is generally mellow, and his appearances are often heralded by the strum of a sitar. His office is filled with spiritual paraphernalia like incense, healing crystals, and scented candles, which he uses in his counseling. He also tends to follow current new-age fads, listening to mystic chants and whale songs in his free time.

Mr. Small is undoubtedly one of Elmore's more peculiar residents. Early in Season 1, he could exhibit a temper, such as yelling at Gumball during an interpretive dance or using his "Silence Snake" puppet to chastise Gumball and Darwin in "The Sock." From Season 2 onward, his more volatile traits are toned down, and he becomes significantly more mellow, though he's also shown to be quite cowardly and weak. In "The Banana," herbal tea causes him to pass out and space out, yet he enthusiastically, if not effectively, helps Gumball and Darwin with their problem. Season 3 further showcases his quirks. He develops an obsession with his purple van, Janice, and believes in strange conspiracy theories, such as redheads being alien descendants and the existence of a Void for bad ideas. His attempts at "alternative medicine" in "The Allergy" and "The Silence" (using crystals and acupuncture) often lead to disastrous results for his patients.

== Trivia ==

• He was voiced by Lewis MacLeod in season 1, with Adam Long being the replacement from season 2 onwards.
• He once cosplayed as Usagi Tsukino from the anime Sailor Moon (セーラームーン), as seen in the episode "The Ghouls".
• He's been shipped with Larry, even going as far as wearing a wedding gown, as seen in "The Shippening". Sadly, in that one episode, it was Sarah G. Lato's doing.
• He is named after Steve Small, one of the show's designers on season 1, who works at Studio AKA. It was revealed that Mr. Small's first name is Steve in "The Wand." However, he was not directly addressed with his first name until "The Possession."
• It is revealed in "The Bet" that he is a licensed rollerblader, although he is not very skilled at rollerblading.
• He is a vegetarian, meaning that he abstains from eating meat. However, in "The Castle" and "The Potato", he is seen eating a large chunk of meat, and in "The Stink", he said he ate the animals in the forest. According to him, he only pretends to be a vegetarian for the "rush of superiority" from making other people feel guilty. In "The Potato", he seems embarrassed by this.
• He owns a van which he calls Janice, which is based on the 1971–1976 Chevrolet ChevyVan. It made its first appearance in "The Void," where it is revealed to be one of the "mistakes" stored in the Void.
• In "The Job," Mr. Small claims to be practicing breatharianism, also known as inedia, which is the belief that humans can live without consuming food or water, or with very minimal intake.
• Mr. Small believes in some conspiracy theories as revealed in "The Void." Aside from the world putting mistakes in the Void, he believes that redheads are the descendants of an alien race.
• According to the episode "The Fight," Mr. Small is quite terrified of Tina Rex.
• In "The Boombox," it is implied he views Miss Simian as an enemy because he was happy about her supposed retirement. "The Gi" supports this because it was revealed that he used to be in her class when he attended Elmore Junior High.
• In "The Finale," it is revealed that the events of the episode "The Sock" gave him claustrophobia, which is the fear of enclosed spaces. This is shown again in "The Night."
• Mr. Small can play the guitar, as shown in "The Painting," "The Gripes," and "The Advice."
• In "The Fraud," he admits that he is not a United States citizen. Show creator Ben Bocquelet, via Twitter, has stated that Mr. Small is from Canada.
• In "The Saint," he is shown to be able to pilot a small airplane.
• Mr. Small's personality and mannerisms are similar to those of Mr. Van Driessen from Beavis and Butt-Head.
• In "The Night," he has a dream catcher and two peace signs on his bedpost. In that same episode, a rainbow flag can also be seen there, possibly indicating that he is a part of the LGBT community.