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Toph Bei Fong (北方 托芙) is a fictional character in the Nickelodeon animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. She is a blind Earthbender who has agreed to teach Aang Earthbending in an effort to help him fulfill his duty as the Avatar to defeat the imperialistic Fire Nation and restore balance to the world.

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History

Toph is the one and only child of the wealthy Bei Fong family, whose symbol is a flying boar, who resides in the Earth Kingdom town of Gaoling. Because she is blind, her parents, especially her father, made it a point to protect her at all times, even hiding her existence. Despite her handicap, Toph has developed special skills that make her a very formidable Earthbender. However, she kept them secret from her family and Master Yu, her Earthbending teacher. Toph fought frequently in Earth Rumble, an underground Earthbending tournament, under the alias "The Blind Bandit." By the time Aang and his friends discover Toph at the tournament, she had won her way to become the current champion, then holding a 42-0 win-loss record.

Story

In the episode "The Blind Bandit," Aang was searching for an Earthbending teacher who "listens to the earth." After watching Toph's performance, he believes she is that person and challenges her to a duel (for a chance to speak to her) when Xin Fu, the tournament host, calls for volunteer challengers. With the help of his airbending, Aang easily bests Toph, upsetting her winning streak. She, however, does not give Aang a chance to speak to her and immediately leaves the arena.

Aang later finds Toph at the Bei Fong estate, and he is eventually able to talk to her about his quest and need for an Earthbending teacher. However, before Toph can make a decision, she and Aang are kidnapped by the Earthbending tournament stable.

The tournament wrestlers demand a ransom, which Katara, Sokka, Master Yu, and Toph's father pay, but only Toph is released. The wrestlers announce that they will be taking Aang to the Fire Nation instead, prompting Katara to plead Toph for her help in rescuing Aang. Her father interjects, claiming that his daughter is blind, tiny, helpless, and fragile, and unable to help them. Toph, however, disagrees and steps forward, and she soon single-handedly defeats the entire tournament stable and the host, Xin Fu. Master Yu is speechless and awed by Toph's amazing Earthbending skill. Her father is silent.

That night, Toph tries to reason with her parents that she is skillful at fighting and enjoys it, and that she should be allowed to live a normal life like any other kid. She hopes that all of this new information does not change the way they feel about her. Toph's father replies that it does not change his love for her as a father, but it instead has made him realize that he has allowed her too much freedom. He plans to have guards watching over her all day long. Toph's protests are unheard.

Outside town, just as Aang and his friends are about to depart, Toph appears and claims that her father had changed his mind, saying that she was free to travel the world. Based on Katara's and Sokka's reactions, it is apparent (to the viewer) that Toph is lying and is simply running away from home, but it is unclear whether or not Aang realizes this. With his daughter's sudden absence, Toph's father concludes (incorrectly) that the Avatar has kidnapped his daughter and issues a large reward to Master Yu and Xin Fu to bring her back by any means necessary.

Toph is currently a member of Aang's group of friends and serves as his Earthbending teacher. Aang refers to Toph as "Sifu Toph"(meaning Master Toph) in the episode "Bitter Work."

In The Earth King, Toph recieves a letter from her mother who is apparently within the city, and judging from her letter, she has come to understand Toph. Toph goes to see her mother but is instead captured in an iron coffin by Xin Fu and Master Yu.

Character

As the newest addition to Aang's party, Toph brings with her a totally new personality to the group. Unlike the nurturing Katara, flighty Aang or gruff but goofy Sokka, Toph is fiercely independent, sarcastic, direct, brutally frank, and confrontational. She appears to have the same carefree and adventurous personality as Aang, and she is very tomboyish in the way she acts and dresses - a contrast to the delicate doll her parents see her as. However, unlike Aang, who avoids fighting whenever possible, Toph loves battling and takes great pride in her Earthbending skills. She appears eager to prove that she is as strong as anyone who can see.

Toph's eagerness to prove that she can be independent has led to some initial difficulties with Aang and his friends. Toph insists that she can carry her own weight and often mistakes a simple friendly gesture as an act of pity for her blindness. Her encounter with Uncle Iroh, however, has taught her that Aang, Katara, and Sokka care for her because they are friends, not because her disability makes them feel obligated to.

Toph is brutally honest when criticizing others. She is vocal about her opinions on others regardless of status (the Avatar, Aang) or age (Uncle Iroh). Her occasional spoiled attitude or aloofness may be related to her being the only child of one of the richest families in the Earth Kingdom. Thanks to her time as a competitor and champion of the Earthbending Tournaments (in "The Blind Bandit"), she is an expert in verbally taunting and insulting her opponents, and on occasion her friends (particularly non-bender Sokka). However, despite her many quirks, Toph has shown that she is a quick learner, and her courage and loyalty to her new friends seems very stable.

Toph and Katara seem to be polar opposites; while Katara is kind, welcoming, and supportive, Toph is tough, unyielding, and steadfast. This extends to their teaching styles to Aang. However, Toph eventually shows a bit of compromise to help Aang through his initial difficulty with earthbending. Despite occasional clashes or spats ("The Chase"), Toph and Katara generally get along, perhaps if only for the fact that they are both girls. One of Toph's weaknesses involves personal hygiene. She is accustomed to lying on the ground, and walking everywhere barefoot leaving her soles quite soiled. However, most Earthbenders in the show walk barefoot, most likely so that their body is directly touching the earth at all times. Also, she has been seen belching loudly and picking her nose, and is usually covered in dirt or, as she calls it, "A healthy layer of earth".

Despite her generally blunt and slightly crude nature, Toph is well-educated in the manners and bearings of high society--she merely consciously and consistently chooses to ignore them. She makes an exeption in one episode ("City of Walls and Secrets"), when the group needs to go to a special party to see the Earth King, in order to give news of the solar eclipse, only to meet the head of the Dai Li, Long Feng.

An ongoing joke concerning Toph's blindness is her lack of ability to discern anything that has been written or drawn. One example is during "Lake Laogai", when she becomes angry when Sokka suggests that Toph needs help putting up Appa posters. She becomes angry and spitefully puts up a poster, only to inadvertently place it backwards and for her to say "It's upside-down, isn't it?".

Earthbending

Although blind, Toph has the unique ability to use Earthbending to "feel" even the most minute objects on the earth, including ants marching on the ground several meters away and the presence of trees and buildings. Through this heightened seismic sense, she can visualize where people are, their relative distance to her, and their physical build, but she can not see faces, as stated in "The Tales of Ba Sing Se." This sense is incredibly useful when fighting against fellow Earthbenders, who often make contact with the ground or rip rocks from their surroundings, all of which cause vibrations which Toph feels. Because she can predict attacks as they begin and quickly react, her speed and agility also greatly benefit. This sense also helps her battle Firebenders, Waterbenders, and other skilled fighters, as all attackers (short of Airbenders) normally require constant contact with the ground while launching attacks.

However, because Toph is dependent on vibrations in the earth, she is vulnerable to air-based attacks and thusly has great difficulty attacking Airbenders, as they are capable of gliding above the ground for short periods of time. Aang (or as she calls him "Twinkle Toes") used these weaknesses to his advantage and easily defeated her in battle using his Airbending skills in the Earth Rumble VI earthbending tournament. This vulnerability to air-based movements is also apparent at the end of the episode "The Blind Bandit," when Toph is unaware of Sokka dropping a large belt on her head. An exception to this would be that, in multiple cases, she has been able to knock earth based objects out of the air or shatter them.

As shown in the episodes "The Library" and "The Desert," Toph has some difficulty with sand. Sand constantly shifts and is not a solid mass like rock, and she cannot accurately "feel" where she is going, describing the vibrations in the earth as "fuzzy." She is able to compress sand into solid earth, however, to gain some temporary footing.

Toph's Earthbending skills seem to have many beneficial effects, many of which are physical. Through Earthbending she is able to take on superhuman toughness so she can dig her hands into soil or rock as easily as through water (demonstrated in "Bitter Work") or even headbutt a large boulder into rubble.

Also as a result of her closeness or affinity with earth, Toph can rest or sleep comfortably on solid rock without any sleeping bag or blanket and can walk on any kind of terrain barefoot. Going shoeless seems to be standard for Earthbenders, though this is particularly important for Toph because she relies on contact with the ground for perception as well as in her Earthbending. In "The Serpent's Pass" she seems to have trouble feeling mud, as well as solid but non-earthen ice.

It should also be noted that Toph has a great sense of hearing. She also has a distinct ability to recognize people by the sound of their voices (though this is common among blind people, even in real life). In "The Library" Toph recognized the Sandbender who stole Appa by his voice, stating that she "never forgets a voice". In "City of Walls and Secrets" it is revealed that Toph can even feel slight vibrations as she tells a man they meet "I can feel you shaking." Another notable fact is that she can tell whether someone is lying or not by feeling their heart and breathing rate through the earth around them.

Toph's Earthbending style is based on Chu Gar Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu, which is a style that is apparently unique to her; the style of earthbending used by other Earthbenders is rooted in the Hung Gar style of Kung Fu. This may be because she is self-taught rather than trained in the "correct" Earthbending form. Toph shares her name with a particular kind of sandstone . It also is interesting to note that "Toph" is a Hebrew word for "small drum" or "tambourine," and may be an allusion to her ability to see by "feeling the beat" of vibrations from the earth . It is possible that her name could be a homonymic play on the word "TOFF", which is British slang for a member of the upper class. Accordingly, her name would accentuate Toph's rebellion to her refined & cosseted lifestyle with her elitist family through her chosen adventure & mannerisms. As seen by the customs/ferry-ticket woman's reaction to Toph's family seal in "The Serpent's Pass," the Bei Fong family's status (and/or wealth) is well-known and regarded in whatever Earth Kingdom aristocracy that exists. Or Toph may also simply be a play on the word "tough," to symbolize both her rigid attitude and one of the basic concepts of earthbending/earth itself.

In the episode "Lake Laogai", Toph demonstrated an ability to sense a person's heartbeat and breathing pattern from the vibrations, and can recognize lies. Most likely, with this system, she can also determine the level of excitement or exhaustion that a person is in and to some extent predict future movements.

Family

Toph's parents are very protective of their daughter. To avoid the risk of danger, they kept Toph at the beginner level of earthbending (while she is secretly more skilled than her teacher) for over six years. They always had guards keep close watch on her and kept the knowledge of her existence from the public. They viewed her condition as a disability in every sense of the word, assuming her to be weak and vulnerable to anything around her. Their ignorance of her true talents often upset her.

After realizing that their daughter is a skilled Earthbender, their opinions are only strengthened, and to her dismay they decide that she needs guards around her constantly. When Toph subsequently flees her home unannounced to join Aang on his quest, her sudden absence leads her father to conclude wrongfully that she has been kidnapped by the Avatar. He hired Master Yu, her former teacher, and Xin Fu, organizer of the bending tournaments, to bring her home by any means necessary.

Relationships

Aang

Aang has a vision of Toph in the episode "The Swamp," but it is not until the episode "The Blind Bandit," however, that the two actually meet. First encountering one another at the underground Earth Rumble VI Earthbending tournament, Toph considers Aang a rival at first when he almost effortlessly defeats her through Airbending. At first, she is unwilling to talk to Aang and tries forcefully to keep him quiet when he talks to her parents at dinner about her Earthbending skills. After dinner, however, a truce is made, and Toph discusses with Aang her ability to listen to the earth and her life under her overbearing parents. Later, Toph single-handedly saves Aang when he is held captive by the participants of the earthbending tournament. She has since joined him on his quest after running away from home, but not before throwing him into a tree via Earthbending to even the score from the tournament.

In the episode "Bitter Work," Toph begins to teach Aang Earthbending, but complications arise between Toph's teaching style and Aang's natural tendencies as an Airbender. Earthbending is, according to Toph, about directly taking on a challenge, not trying to find a way around or over it. The two also clash personality wise as Aang's pacifistic, carefree attitude is ill prepared to deal with the tough and stubborn Toph. She even goes as far as intentionally acting mean by taking Aang's staff and using it as a nutcracker to get a rise out of the passive Aang. Counterproductively, Aang's peaceful nature prevents him from acting, and depression comes as a result. Only after an insightful talk with Katara about earth being his natural opposite element, does Aang start thinking positively.

Later, when forced to confront a ferocious Saber-tooth Moose-lion in order to protect a trapped Sokka, Aang finally stands his ground and learns to think like an Earthbender. Toph is revealed to have been observing all the while, and after Aang proves his new toughness by taking back his staff and moving a boulder, Toph finally proclaims him an Earthbender.

Toph has adopted to referring to Aang as "Twinkle Toes." This is likely out of a kind of friendly humor, rather than insult. The nickname likely originates from Aang's hovering when they fought in "The Blind Bandit." She commented then that he was "light on his feet" and asked if his tournament name was "The Fancy Dancer." In "City of Walls and Secrets" she is able to find Aang in a large crowd because of his light foot steps.

Aang and Toph's relationship is sometimes quite rocky. Toph's hardheaded nature clashes with Aang's on several occasions, particularly over the subject of Appa. In the episode "The Chase," a tired Toph, weary of going days without sleep, blames Appa's shedding as the reason they cannot shake their mysterious pursuers. Although she is right, Aang immediately jumps to Appa's defense, which results in Toph abandoning the group for a short time. Later, in the episode "The Desert," after Appa is stolen by Sandbenders, Aang accuses Toph of allowing the thieves to steal him. Only Katara is able to talk sense into him, advising that in lieu of not saving Appa, she did save the rest of the group. It seems like they get along a lot better now. Ever since they have been able to work together when they deal with threats, such as the Fire Nation and the Dai Li. In the episode the Earth King, he refers to everyone, including Toph, as his family.

Katara

Katara has shown great sympathy for Toph over her restricted life under her parents. Like Aang and Sokka, Katara gladly welcomes Toph into their group. The two have been recently at odds with one another after Toph refused to help set up their campsite. Toph at one point referred insultingly to Katara as "Sugar Queen". However, at the end of the episode "The Chase," they have reached better terms with each other. In the episode "Bitter Work," Katara tries to help Toph by offering her wisdom on how to teach Aang Earthbending, although Toph naturally ignores the suggestion, since Earthbending requires a harder and tougher approach than Waterbending. At the very least, Toph seems to respect Katara as an equal, Bender to Bender.

In "The Desert," Katara's the only one who sticks up for Toph when Aang blames her for not saving Appa.

Later, in "The Tales of Ba Sing Se" Katara and Toph get makeovers together, and the usually self-confident Toph feels down about her looks. Katara manages to cheer her up, for which she is rewarded with a friendly (but hard) punch in the arm. The two of them definately respect each other and seem to be becoming good friends.

Toph will sometimes make references to her and Katara's differences in personality and lifestyle, giving her names such as 'Sugar Queen' and 'Sweetness.'

Sokka

Because of Toph's young age and blindness, Sokka is skeptical of her Earthbending powers at first. Upon witnessing her skills, however, he is astonished to the point of fainting. Like Katara and Aang, Sokka gladly welcomes Toph into their group.

Just as Sokka was doubtful of Toph's fighting skills, Toph thinks little of Sokka's abilities as a warrior, dismissing his fighting skills because he cannot bend (consequently infuriating Sokka).

In the episode, "The Chase," Sokka is the only member of the group who doesn't confront her for her apparent lack of responsibility.

In "The Serpent's Pass" Toph saves Sokka's life and expresses annoyance and possible jealousy when he worries about Suki rather than thanking her. Later in the same episode she is saved from drowning by Suki and, thinking Suki is Sokka, exclaims, "Oh, Sokka! You saved me!" and kisses her on the cheek. After finding out that her rescuer is Suki and not Sokka, she says, "You can let me drown now", very much embarrassed.

Toph enjoys teasing Sokka to annoy him; in "Lake Laogai" she praises his crude drawings of Appa, and for a moment he is pleased before sourly remembering that she cannot see them.

Iroh

Toph meets Iroh in an Earth Kingdom forest when she temporarily separates from Aang, Sokka and Katara in the episode "The Chase." The two sit around a fire that Iroh uses to make tea and engage in conversation, although neither indicates his/her purpose for traveling or the identities of his/her relations. Iroh notes that Toph is a lot like his nephew, because they both try to do too much by themselves. He also comments that there is nothing wrong with needing help, and sometimes people offer help because they want to, not because they believe the other person is incapable. Toph thanks him for the advice, and suggests that Iroh tell his nephew how much he means to him.

Toph and Iroh encounter each other again later in the episode when the two participate with Aang, Sokka, Katara and Zuko in cornering Azula in an abandoned Earth Kingdom town. Iroh's attention is distracted off of Azula when he notices Toph's presence and her association with Aang, Sokka, and Katara. Taking advantage of his lack of focus on her, Azula wounds Iroh with a blast of fire before successfully fleeing. Toph shows particular concern for her new friend, but leaves him after Zuko violently demands that she and the others leave him and Iroh alone.

Appa

Because Toph can see only through Earthbending, she is completely blind when riding on Appa. This fact is emphasized in "The Library" when she claims to have spotted the library only to remind her friends that she is blind. Because of this, Toph is often very bored and restless when riding on Appa.

Toph expresses some dislike towards Appa in "The Chase" when she angrily points out that Appa's ridiculous amount of shedding left a large trail that allowed the Fire Nation to find them no matter how far or fast they flew.

In "The Library" Toph tries her best to protect Appa from being stolen by Sandbenders. She could not fight her hardest, as she also had to keep Aang, Katara and Sokka's only exit from an ancient library from falling into the sand, trapping them for eternity. She also had to deal with the fact that she couldn't "see" as well when on sand (as explained in this article as well). This causes her to fail in protecting Appa, and her sadness afterwards shows that she does care for Appa as a friend.

Though she cares for Appa like the rest of the group, she admitted that she hates flying.

Trivia

• Toph is the first and, so far, only Bender to have a different root martial art than what is associated with a particular bending element.
• Toph is so far the only one in the show to have a last name (Bei Fong). The only other instance of one in the show was Aang's made-up surname "Pipinpadlopsakopolous" during the group's first visit to Omashu. Historically, in East Asian cultures family names were reserved for members of nobility before common people started adopting family names for themselves.
• The Bei Fong family seems to be quite affluent due to the special treatment Toph was given when she requested four tickets in the episode "The Serpent's Pass."
• In the episode "The Serpent's Pass," Toph reveals that she can't swim. Earlier in the episode when Aang's group is playing in the river, Toph is seen simply splashing in the water with her feet only. This makes logical sense, because Toph is used to "seeing" things through direct contact with solid ground.
• In the episode "The Drill," Toph seemed to know that Iroh (The Dragon of the West) actually got into the city of Ba Sing Se during his 600-day seige. This suggests that Toph was well educated, even though her blindness prevents her from enjoying books (As mentioned in "The Library"). Interestingly, she made friends with Iroh during "The Chase,".
• With her method of 'seeing', it is hard for her to see specific features. In "The Tales of Ba Sing Se" when Katara tells her she's pretty, Toph replies - "I'd return the compliment, but... I have no idea what you look like."
• Coming from an affluent family, Toph is trained in etiquette. However she prefers to live freely as seen in her unlady-like behavior, although she can behave more ladylike as shown in the episode "City of Walls and Secrets."
• In "City of Walls and Secrets," the names Katara and Toph used at the party were Kuā Měi (姱 美) for Katara and Dòng (侗) for Toph. Toph was not happy with hers because while Kuā Měi translates as 'fascinating beautiful,' Dòng means 'ignorant' or 'rustic.'
• In the episode "The Tales of Ba Sing Se," Toph reveals that she does not like anyone to touch her feet. She also reveals that she is self-conscious about her appearance.
• In "The Serpent Pass," Toph's passport reads as 土國頭等護照北方拓芙 (tǔ guó tóu děng hù zhào běi fāng tuò fú) which translate as 'Earth Kingdom Head Class passport of Bei Fong Toph.' Here, her name means 'supported lotus,' which matches her parents view of their daughter as a flower that has to be protected. In "Tales of Ba Sing Se," her name was changed to 托 夫 (Tuō Fū), which means "entrusted husband." Her name is reverted back to 拓芙 in "The Earth King." Bei Fong ( 北 方 ), her last name, means "North". The word 托 (Tuō) also means "to support in one's palm" and is usually a prefix to another Fù ( 付 ) that means "hand over."

References

1. ^ "Biography of Avatar: The Last Airbender character: Toph". Musogato.com. Retrieved 2006-07-09.

• Avatar: The Last Airbender characters
• Fictional characters with the power to manipulate earth
• Fictional blind characters
• Fictional martial artists
• Fictional heroines