Toph Beifong

[Jilak]

Full Name: Toph Beifong
Nickname(s): N/A
Age: 12
Height: Short
Weight: Light
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Alliance: Good
Home: Earth Kingdom
Franchise: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Physical Description
Toph is a rather short, 13 year old girl. Since running away from home, she allows her raven hair to flow messily around her head, sans a small bun of surts. She dresses in a green and yellow tunic, and walks completely barefoot. Her eyes, due to being born blind, are mostly whited out.

Weapons
Toph isn't the type to use traditional weapons, though, if she had to choose, her weapon of choice would most assuredly be earth.

Abilities/Powers
Earthbending[/i]
Toph proclaimed herself the most powerful earthbender in the world, despite the apparent limitation of her blindness. Her bending abilities were indeed incredibly potent.
Although blind, Toph had the unique ability of seismic sense: she used earthbending to "feel" even the most minute vibrations in the earth, including the march of ants several meters away and the presence of trees and buildings. Through this heightened seismic sense, she could visualize where people are, their relative distance to her, and their physical build, but was unable to visualize faces. This sense provided her with a distinct advantage when facing other earthbenders in combat because she could predict attacks as they began and quickly react, and her speed and agility were also greatly beneficial.

Her earthbending style was unique and thus unpredictable, as her training was unconventional. This style greatly differentiated from the rigid training and fighting style that earthbenders like the Dai Li implemented. Toph's style tended to be proven to be superior to the Dai Li, as she was able to take on a number of them and defend her friends at the same time. This is likely because while the Dai Li just manipulated the earth, Toph had established a tremendously deep connection to it at the very outset of her self-tutelage in earthbending (although both styles have an overdependence on something i.e. the Dai Li and their earth gloves and Toph and her feet).

However, because Toph was depending on vibrations in the earth, she was vulnerable to air-based attacks, as shown in her fight with Aang in the Earth Rumble VI. Later, Toph was completely surprised by Sokka dropping a large belt on her head. Her success rate in intercepting projectiles was also tied to her sensing of vibrations, being able to feel an opponent's movement, and proceeding accordingly. By her own admission, she could not feel her own projectiles while they are airborne.

Terrain that impairs Toph's ability to sense vibrations also hindered her abilities, as shown when Toph had some difficulty with sand, describing the vibrations in the earth as "fuzzy". She was able to compress sand into solid rock to gain some temporary footing, but was still unable to accurately aim attacks under those conditions. However, she seemed to have ultimately gained some mastery of sandbending, as she mentioned working on it during Team Avatar's beach party and was able to create a miniature version of the upper ring of Ba Sing Se in rich detail. Apparently, her ability to sense vibrations had improved, which may be how she was able to produce the very fine details of the city and did not show the same helplessness she had shown when previously walking on sand when the gang stepped onto the beach.

Toph also expressed an aversion for flying[ and submarine travel, as she could not sense her surroundings without her feet on solid ground. Also, as a result of her closeness or affinity with earth, Toph could rest or sleep comfortably on solid rock without any sleeping bag or blanket and could walk on any kind of terrain in bare feet, a standard trait for earthbenders. Toph relied on direct contact between her feet and the ground for "sight" as well as for her earthbending. Toph was very reluctant to allow anyone else to touch her feet, probably because insensitive handling there would make her deaf to other vibrations and thereby render her helpless (and because they were far more sensitive than other people's feet).
Despite her substantial prowess on land, Toph didn't perform well in water and on ice. She seemed incapable of seeing where she was going on ice, was not able to swim and became nauseous when she needed to travel by submarine in the Invasion of the Fire Nation.

Toph had a great sense of hearing and could recognize people by the sound of their voices. In the Si Wong Desert, Toph recognized the sandbender who stole Appa, adding that she never forgets a voice. In Ba Sing Se, Toph was seen feeling even slight vibrations as she told a man they met, "I can feel you shaking." Also, Toph demonstrated an ability to sense when a person is lying by the vibrations of his/her heartbeat and breathing patterns. However, Toph's senses were not absolute, as Azula demonstrated that she was easily able to lie without even the slightest physical reaction. However, not many people have the ability to lie while manipulating their breathing and pulse in this way.

Toph's earthbending style was 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. She was the only bender known to use a style based on a different root martial art than the standard for their bending art. This may be because she was self-taught rather than trained in the traditional earthbending form. Toph came to develop her unique style by observing the movements of the similarly blind earthbending badgermoles that could be found around her hometown.

Sandbending
Sand being loose and ultimately always changing with the winds in the desert, Toph found it hard to navigate through and control. When attacking one of the sandbenders with a small wave of sand, she missed. However, this may have been caused by her hurry to save both Appa and the others.

After the events in the Si Wong Desert showed her inability to see effectively while walking on sand, Toph practised her sandbending, eventually achieving a mastery over it that allowed her to create an extremely detailed sand version of Ba Sing Se during her time relaxing at Ember Island.

Metalbending
Toph was the first character with the ability to bend metal. Metal is derived from ore, which is found in the earth. Guru Pathik explained to Aang that "metal is just a part of earth that has been purified and refined". Because of Toph's ability to feel the vibrations in earth, she was able to locate the impurities (the small fragments of earth) in metal and manipulate them to "bend" the metal portion.
When Sokka finished his training as a sword master, he gave Toph a small piece of meteorite, which being composed of earth and metal, she could easily mold into a myriad of shapes, and subsequently transformed it into an arm bracelet she now wore. Aside from these abilities, Toph had shown herself to be one of the most powerful earthbenders in the world, being the only known earthbender to ever bend metal during Avatar Aang's time, a feat that even the Avatar was unable to perform since the origin of earthbending.

In Wulong Forest, when she was breaking into a Fire Nation airship, it was shown that her metalbending had improved greatly as she made a metal armor and manipulated the metallic structure of the room with far more ease than before, moving metal more fluidly. She was also able to crawl hanging on to the metal ceiling while completely covered in metal. Also, Toph could metalbend outside of her metal armor, even though she already was bending the armor in the first place.

Skills
Toph showed a decent amount of artistic talent, as she was able to create a realistic replica of the city of Ba Sing Se with sandbending while Team Avatar stayed at Ember Island, contrasting with Sokka's poor sculpting abilities when he created a sand sculpture of Suki. Later in a training exercise involving all of the members of the team, she was able to create earthbending mannequins while acting as the "Melon Lord". She also seemed to enjoy acting and shows a decent amount of talent at it, getting more into character as the "Melon Lord" than was necessary for Team Avatar's training purposes, rebuffing Katara for acting out of character when Aang distracted her from their act of being noblewomen (as was made necessary for entry into the Earth King's party), and reveling in the "stage name" given to her as "The Runaway". This appreciation for "getting into character" as an actor was likely behind her greater ability to enjoy the "The Boy in the Iceberg" play relative to the rest of Team Avatar.

She also displayed a remarkable amount of agility for one who prefers to have their feet planted on the ground at all times. In Team Avatar's first battle with Combustion Man, she rolled, pushed herself off of the ground with one hand, and then flipped over in the air to regain her balance after his first shot and position herself in an earthbending stance so she could fight back against at her attacker as quickly as possible.

Personality
When first introduced, Toph brought a totally new personality to the group. Unlike the nurturing Katara, flighty Aang or gruff but goofy Sokka, Toph is fiercely independent, sarcastic, direct, stubborn and confrontational. She appeared to have the same carefree and adventurous personality as Aang and she was very tomboyish in the way she acted and dressed, in contrast to the delicate doll her parents saw her as. However, unlike Aang, who avoided fighting whenever possible, Toph loved battling and took great pride in her earthbending skills. She appeared eager to prove that she was as strong as anyone who could see and that she was the best earthbender in the world.

Toph's eagerness to prove that she can be independent had led to some initial difficulties with Aang and his friends. Toph insisted that she can "carry her own weight" and often mistook a simple friendly gesture as an act of pity for her blindness. Her encounter with 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 do so.

Toph was often brutally honest when criticizing others, especially her friends. She was vocal about her opinions on others regardless of status (the Avatar, Aang) or age (Iroh). Her occasional attitude or aloofness is likely 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 earthbending tournaments, she was an expert in verbally taunting and insulting her opponents and on occasion her friends (particularly Sokka). She revealed to Katara that, being unable to see what she looks like, she doesn't feel the need to fuss over her appearance. However, despite her many quirks, Toph had shown that she was a quick learner and her courage and loyalty to her new friends seemed very stable.

Toph and Katara seemed to be polar opposites; while Katara was kind, welcoming and supportive, Toph was tough, unyielding and steadfast. These differences in personality extended to the way both girls taught Aang; however, Toph eventually showed a bit of compromise in order to help Aang through his initial difficulty with earthbending. Despite occasional clashes or spats Toph and Katara generally got along, perhaps if only for the fact that they were both girls.

One of Toph's most obvious traits involved personal hygiene. She was accustomed to lying on the ground and walking everywhere barefoot leaving her soles quite soiled. This was common, however, as most earthbenders in the show walk barefoot, likely so that their body is directly touching the earth at all times. Also, she had been seen belching loudly, picking her nose or toes, spitting, and is usually covered in dirt or, as she calls it, "a healthy coating of earth".

Toph was well-educated in the manners and bearings of high society—she merely consciously and constantly chose to ignore them. She made an exception when the group needed 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.

Toph didn't let her blindness hurt her self-confidence. Toph once told Katara, "One of the good things about being blind is that I don't have to waste my time worrying about appearances. I don't care what I look like. I'm not looking for anyone's approval. I know who I am." Katara replied by saying how she deeply admired Toph's self-confidence. Toph had high self-esteem and was more than determined to show that she wouldn't let her blindness deter her from living and fighting like everyone else.

An ongoing joke concerning Toph's blindness was her lack of ability to discern anything that had been written or drawn. In Ba Sing Se, Toph became angry when Sokka suggested that she needed help putting up fliers. She angrily slapped up a poster herself, only to inadvertently place it backwards and say, "It's upside-down, isn't it?". Also, she sarcastically complimented Sokka on his drawings of Appa despite the obvious fact that she couldn't see them. Later, in the Fire Nation, after being presented with the same wanted poster twice, Toph vocally expresses her annoyance with the constant oversight. Toph was comfortable enough, however, with the group's absent-mindedness on the subject of her blindness to even joke about it herself at times. For example, while searching for the library, Toph, while flying on Appa, claimed that she saw it, before remarking "That's what it'll sound like when one of you spots it" before waving a hand in front of her eyes; also, in reaction to Katara's asking why she preferred to not go in the Library, “I’ve held books before, and I gotta tell you, they don’t exactly do it for me”.

While hijacking an airship, Toph mistook Sokka's comment about taking the wheel thinking he was referring to her. By the smile on her face, it was pretty clear that she was gleeful about getting another chance to correct him. However, it turned out that Sokka was talking to Suki, and Toph managed to subsequently cover up her original intention pretty well. At the reunion in the Jasmine Dragon several months after the passing of Sozin's Comet, she made a joke about Sokka's drawing, saying that she thought everyone looked perfect.

History
Toph was the only child of the wealthy Beifong family ofGaoling. Born blind, she was sheltered by parents who believed her blindness made her fragile and incapable of looking after herself. They went to extreme measures to protect her, including hiding her existence from the rest of the world, which resulted in no one knowing that the Beifong family even had a daughter. Poppy and Lao Beifong expected their daughter to be well-mannered and proper due to their noble status in Earth Kingdom society; while she usually wore her green and pale yellow belted tunic and pants, at home Toph wore a floor-touching white petticoat dress, with long teal sleeves, a flower printed bodice, a long sash along the back, and a small, tiara-like headband with pink and white flowers on it. Toph, resenting her parents' treatment, grew up hard and rebellious. At the age of six, she ran away from home into a cave inhabited by badgermoles.

Badgermoles were the first earthbenders and according to Toph, she understood them, and they understood her because they were both blind. She learned earthbending by imitating their movements. Toph learned to "see" through the use of her earthbending, feeling people and other objects through their vibrations, which she felt through the ground via her bare feet.

She also developed a great sense of hearing. Although Lao Beifong later hired the earthbender teacher, Master Yu, to instruct her, he didn't teach her anything other than beginner moves, according to the orders of Toph's father, unaware that she had already become very powerful. She became such a powerful bender that she secretly entered underground earthbending tournaments as the Blind Bandit, and was actually the champion of Earth Rumble more than once. When she met Aang, she soon ran away to teach him earthbending, but also to get away from her parents, who never gave her any freedom.

Toph made her first appearance in Aang's vision in the swamp next to a flying boar, although he did not know her at that time. Aang recognized her during Earth Rumble VI in Gaoling, realizing that she was in his vision and was perhaps the earthbending teacher he had been searching for. Aang found an opportunity to speak with her when the tournament host Xin Fu asked for a volunteer to challenge the champion, the Blind Bandit, as she already had defeated all contestants. While Aang attempted to talk to Toph, she assumed he was only there to fight her and kept attacking him. Finally, Aang, trying to defend himself, overtook her by using his airbending ability, which Toph could not sense due to her blindness, and she did not know what type of attack Aang used. Upset at losing, Toph left the arena without giving Aang a chance to explain who he was and why he sought her out.

After asking around, Aang noticed that nobody knew the Blind Bandit's true identity, but using a reference to the flying boar, Aang found her at the Beifong Estate and tried to explain why he needed an earthbending teacher, but Toph called for the guards. Aang, Katara, and Sokka fled, but they were not ready to give up. They returned later, officially visiting the Beifong family, receiving an invite to dinner, where Aang attempted to talk to Toph's father about her earthbending and his need for a teacher. Toph tried to silence him since her parents knew nothing about her secret life as the Blind Bandit. Tensions ran high between Aang and Toph, but they finally reconciled after dinner when she explained about her parents and her ability to "see" through her bending. Their conversation was cut short when they were kidnapped by the members of Earth Rumble VI, as by The Boulder's account, Toph seemed to have lost intentionally, since he did not see Aang earthbending when Toph fell out of the arena.

Xin Fu, the host of Earth Rumble VI, demanded to Toph's parents that his money be returned in exchange for their daughter and Aang. Katara, and Sokka. Master Yu and Lao Beifong went to the arena and repaid all the money. Toph was released, but Aang was kept after Xin Fu realized that he was wanted by the Fire Nation. Katara asked for Toph's help in defeating the earthbenders and rescuing Aang. Toph's father cut Katara off, claiming once again that his daughter was too weak and blind to do any sort of fighting. Fed up with her father's assumption, Toph agreed to save Aang to show her father what she really could do. Toph displayed amazing earthbending and easily defeated all of the Earth Rumble VI contestants, as well as Xin Fu, much to the amazement of both her father and Master Yu. The earthbending master remarked to Lao that Toph was the greatest earthbender he had ever seen.

Later that night, Toph explained her secret to her parents, telling them that she hoped it would not change their opinion of her. Toph's father responded that it did not change his love for her at all, but that he realized that Toph had been allowed too much freedom, and she would henceforth be watched by guards at all times. He also declared the Avatar and his friends unwelcome in his home and forced them to leave as Toph shed a single tear.

Just as they were about to depart on Appa, Toph appeared and told them that her father had changed his mind and now she had permission to go to with the Avatar. While both Sokka and Katara realized that she was lying and was in fact running away from home, Aang seemed to believe that she was being genuine and accepted her into the group happily. Back at the Beifong Estate, Toph's father offered a large reward to Master Yu and Xin Fu to recover his daughter, whom he assumed was kidnapped by Aang.

Not long after she joined the group, Toph started a feud with Katara. As the group set up camp, Katara noticed that Toph was slumping lazily against a rock. Katara informed her that they usually divided the work among the group, implying she would like Toph to help them set up camp. Toph told her not to worry, as she felt she could carry her own weight; she suddenly earthbent a triangular, earthen, makeshift tent with two slabs of stone for herself.

Katara rephrased her last statement, telling her that they all had a job to do, including Momo, who then appeared on her shoulder with berries. Toph refuted that she did not feel she had to help anyone else because no one needed to help her. Katara attempted once more to suggest to Toph that she help out, but all it did was further irritate her. Katara finally gave up and walked back to their campsite. Later on, Katara tried to reconcile with Toph for the previous argument, apologizing and noting that she thought that they were all just a little tired and getting on each others' nerves. Toph, rather than sharing the blame and accepting her overture, simply agreed that she did seem a bit too tired and laid down to sleep. Katara, though clearly incensed by the insulting retort, brought herself to half-heartedly tell Toph goodnight and walked back to her own tent.

During the night, Toph awoke suddenly. Feeling the ground, she sensed something approaching and alerted the rest of the group. When asked exactly that something was, all she could say was that it felt like an avalanche, but also not in a way. The team was forced to journey all night in an attempt to avoid whatever was following them; Toph picking up the vibrations every time. After settling at a campsite in the morning, Toph and Katara continued to fight. Toph noticed that Appa was leaving a trail of fur as he flew, which was why they were continuously being followed. Aang snapped at Toph for blaming Appa, saying how the bison had carried her weight, and that it was easier flying for him prior to Toph's arrival. Toph had heard enough, thus she picked up her belongings and left the group.

Toph walked through the forest, soon meeting an old man after attacking him due to thinking that he was another kind of person. Toph had tea with Iroh on a small cliff. She commented that he was probably thinking she could not take care of herself because she was blind and a little girl, as he would not let Toph pour her own cup of tea. Iroh explained that he poured her tea only because he wanted to and for no other reason. Toph told him that everyone treated her like she was helpless, but she could take care of herself. Iroh responded that she sounded like his nephew, mentioning how both seem to feel that they had to do everything themselves, but both had friends and family that love them and want to help them. He also added that he had been trying to track Zuko, so that even though Zuko may wanted to be alone to figure out his problems at the moment, Iroh would be right there should Zuko need him. Iroh's words inspired Toph and she decided to go back and find her friends, but first told Iroh that Zuko was lucky to have an uncle like him and also that perhaps he should tell Zuko that the uncle needed the nephew as well. Then, she proceeded to rejoin the Avatar's group in a fight against Azula, who finally disappeared with a firebending trick.

It was Toph's responsibility to teach Aang how to earthbend in preparation for the fight against Fire Lord Ozai and the Fire Nation. Her task, however, proved extremely difficult as the fundamentals of earthbending (remaining steadfast and determined) are the polar opposites of airbending (using many perspectives and methods to solve a problem), and so Aang found himself in conflict with his former training. Toph had very little patience for him and aggressively pushed him to learn to earthbend. She put him through a series of basic tests, but Aang had trouble grasping the concept of earthbending. He failed the first three tests, which included pushing a large boulder, lifting and carrying a boulder and pushing his fingers through solid rock. He performed slightly better in the next few tests, and Toph deemed him ready for a harder test, where he had to hold his stance and stop a boulder that was rolling down a high cliff towards him. However, Aang chose to evade the rolling boulder, further angering Toph.

Disheartened, Aang took a break from training with Toph, who insulted him for not being brave enough to stop the rock, choosing to work on his waterbending with Katara. He returned to find Toph, who was using his staff as a nutcracker. Katara noticed that Sokka was nowhere and asked Aang for help to find him. Minutes later, Aang found Sokka trapped in a crack in the earth and tried airbending him out. But that failed and Sokka asked him to earthbend, but Aang told him he could not, nor could he get Toph because it would be too uncomfortable for him. The baby saber-tooth moose lion Sokka was trying to capture earlier returned, closely followed by its mother, who charged at both Aang and Sokka. Aang stood his ground and defeated the mother using his airbending, saving Sokka. Toph, who was silently observing the conflict, half-heartedly congratulated Aang, stating that he could defeat the creature by standing firm and unmoving, like an earthbender. Incensed that she callously stood by and did nothing as Sokka's life was in danger, Aang forcefully demanded that she return his staff. Toph then said that Aang was thinking like an earthbender and told him to do the rock test again, which Aang accomplished successfully. After deeming Aang a true earthbender, Toph dragged Sokka out of the hole, finally giving him freedom.

After the group lost Appa in the Si Wong Desert, they were forced to travel on foot. After they encountered a family with a pregnant woman and Suki, they decided to pass the lake separating them from Ba Sing Se, called the Serpent's Pass. They started to cross it, but then they came to a dead end in the middle of the sliverous path. Katara and Aang had to waterbend a path through the water so that they could pass. While they were walking on the path, they discovered why the name of the path was "The Serpent's Pass", it was guarded by a gigantic serpent that disrupted their waterbending. In order to stop them from drowning, Toph elevated the ground and brought them to the surface. This stranded them in the middle of the water, with the serpent circling around them.

Aang attacked the serpent, telling Katara to get the others across while he distracted it. Katara created an ice bridge for the others to cross, then leaped to help Aang without a second thought. The others crossed, except for Toph, who was afraid to go through the ice bridge, until the serpent slammed the ground behind her. She began to cross, until the serpent destroyed the ice path, sending her into the water. Toph said she could not swim, so Sokka called that he was coming after her, but Suki dove in first and saved her. Toph, thinking that it was Sokka, gave Suki a kiss on the cheek to thank "him" before Suki could tell her the truth. Suki then did, much to Toph's embarrassment, and Toph stated that "she can go ahead and let me drown now". The group survived the ordeal, and they head to Ba Sing Se. On the way to the Earth Kingdom capital, the pregnant woman, Ying, started to give birth. They named the baby "Hope" in the name of the journey they had while traversing the Serpent's Pass.

Once the group arrived to Ba Sing Se, they were presented with even more trouble. A giant Fire Nation drill was trying to break down the walls of the mighty city. Sokka made up a plan to sabotage the drill. Toph refused to enter the drill, where she could not bend, and instead tried to slow it down from the outside using her earthbending. After Katara got out of the drill, she called for Toph to help her bend the slurry in the pipes back to help bring down the drill. After Aang dealt the final blow on the top, the drill shut down and the team was once more victorious. They saved Ba Sing Se this time.

Riding the monorail, the group finally entered Ba Sing Se. Sokka was confident that they would easily find Appa, but the city was bigger than they imagined. Soon after they arrived, Toph and her friends were met by Joo Dee, a cheerful, incessantly-smiling woman assigned to guide them around the city. As a reward for protecting Ba Sing Se from the Fire Nation attack, Toph, Katara, Sokka and Aang were given a house in the city's upper ring.

In the upper ring, Aang and his group were finally taken to their new house. When a possible audience with the Earth King was finally mentioned, it was revealed that they wouldl have to wait at least a month. It soon became apparent that within the walls of the city, no one wanted to talk or even think about the War raging in the rest of the world. Even Aang's attempted to find Appa bore no fruit as no one seemed willing to divulge any information to them, thanks to some meaningful glances from Joo Dee to citizens. Along the way they also saw members of the Dai Li — elite guards who safeguard Ba Sing Se's cultural heritage and society.

When a notice arrived of a party being held in the palace, Katara decided it was a good way to reach the Earth King. Toph said that since the gang is mostly commoners, they would be spotted right away if they went to the event. In the end, Toph decided that Katara could pass off as a high born girl, and both of them dressed up in formal attire proper of the city. They then headed for the palace while Aang and Sokka waited at the house. The girls were initially refused entry by a guard, who rejected even Toph's family seal. They eventually got inside by tagging along with an official named Long Feng, but their attempts to sneak Aang and Sokka inside (they had entered to the party as servers) were stymied by Long Feng himself, who seemed determined to personally help them out. When he saw Aang was going to meet the king, he ordered the Dai Li bind the team with earthbending. They then went and had a meeting with Long Feng and learned that Ba Sing Se was really controlled by him rather than the Earth King. He also said that the War was a banned topic in the city and the king had no information about it, due to his function to maintain the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se, all his duties relate to issuing decreed on such matters, not military issues.

Days after the confrontation, at the location of the gang's house in Ba Sing Se, the whole group was busily cleaning themselves up for the day aside from Toph who had yet to wake up. When Katara woke her, Toph presented herself with her hair a mess and her body covered in dirt, which, according to her, was "a healthy coating of earth", considering herself ready. Katara suggested they have a "girl's day out", and took her to the Fancy Lady Day Spa. Toph agreed reluctantly, as long as they did not touch her feet. This request was denied and Toph sent one of the attendants through the wall during a pedicure. The girls then took a mud bath where Toph used her earthbending to make creepy faces with the mud and scare away the attendant. The two then relaxed in a sauna, using their bending to both feed the fire and create the steam.

The girls left the sauna now with make-up on their faces. As they crossed a bridge, a girl of the upper ring named Star and her friends made fun of Toph's make-up. Toph was upset by these remarks and Katara tried to urge her to ignore them. Toph, however, laughed back at the girls and then earthbent the rock of the bridge from under them, dropping them into the river. Katara finished with her own parting shot by waterbending the girls downstream. Katara tried to console Toph as they continued walking on. Toph claimed that because she is blind, she did not have to worry so much about personal appearance or the approval of others, but the words of the girls still hurt her all the same, and she shed a few tears. Katara complimented that Toph was not only confident and self-assured, but also pretty. Toph proclaimed she would like to return the compliment but had no idea what Katara looked like. Katara laughed at this and the story ended with Toph giving her a friendly punch on the arm.

Out in the city, the gang was setting up more posters for the lost Appa when Katara ran into Jet. He told her that he wanted to help and he had changed and had left his group, but Katara distrusted and attacked him. Jet deflected her attack and tried to prove his honesty by dropping his hook swords. The others arrived, drawn by the noise, and Jet tried again to explain himself. Then Jet showed them a flier of Appa. Toph, reading Jet's heartbeat and breathing patterns with earthbending, pronounced that he was telling the truth. Katara was distrustful, but she agreed. Jet lead them to a large empty warehouse, where he said they may had been holding Appa. Toph confirmed it by finding a tuft of Appa's fur, and an old cleaning man, a Dai Li undercover agent, said that Appa was sent off to Whale Tail Island, down near the South Pole. Aang immediately wanted to set off, and Jet offered to come along. Toph asked Katara whether Jet was her boyfriend. She got mad and said no, but Toph teased her by saying she could tell she's lying.

On their way out, the group was sidetracked when Smellerbee and Longshot happened to come across them. Katara once again turned on Jet, as he had claimed to have left the gang behind. Jet insisted that he had been living alone in the city, but Smellerbee claimed that he was dragged away by the Dai Li. Toph realized they were both telling the truth, even though their stories did not match. Sokka quickly figured that Jet had been brainwashed by the Dai Li. Katara used her healing to try to soothe it. Finally, Jet remembered that he was taken to a secret facility under a lake. Sokka remembered what Joo Dee had said about her "vacation" in Lake Laogai, fully jogging Jet's memory, the base is under that lake, he said. The group made their way to the lake next day, and Toph quickly found and uncovered the secret underwater entrance. They went inside, quietly making their way through the dark corridors.

The gang found themselves confronted by Long Feng and several Dai Li agents. A battle quickly broke out. Toph showed the true mastery of earthbending when she incredibly took down several Dai Li agents. Long Feng escaped, with Aang and Jet in hot pursuit. After dealing a grievous blow to Jet, Long Feng escaped as the others entered the chamber. Katara tried to heal Jet and realized just how badly he was injured. Longshot, speaking for the first time in the series, told Aang and his group that they should go and find Appa and leave Jet to Smellerbee and himself. Jet tried to assure Katara that he'll be fine, but as they left, Toph sorrowfully said that Jet was lying. Jet eventually died from his injuries.

After they exited the underground base, they finally met back with Appa. Katara and Toph both wanted to leave Ba Sing Se, as they had found Appa and thus had no reason to remain there; Toph hated the city. On the other hand, Sokka wanted to stay to inform the Earth King of all that is taking place within Ba Sing Se, as well as the approaching solar eclipse, as this was their entire reason for heading towards Ba Sing Se in the first place. Aang agreed with him. Ultimately, the others agreed to do so and all four rode Appa back to Ba Sing Se's royal palace and managed to break in, tearing their way through the Royal Guards despite a strong defense. Toph showed again her power, defeating many guards at the same time. She changed all the steps of the palace entrance to a flat surface making all the guards fall down like in a long slide.

At the palace, Toph and her friends finally reached the Earth King's throne room, where they were encountered by Long Feng and many Dai Li, who stood before the Earth King as a last defense. Aang went on to explain the various events going on that the Earth King was unaware of: a war outside Ba Sing Se's walls, Long Feng and the Dai Li's conspiracy, the imprisonment of Appa, and the brainwashing of their friend Jet and countless other individuals. They decided to show the Earth King the lake Laogai and the submarine headquarters of the Daili, but they already had hidden all, so they didn't find it, then the team decided to show the king the outer wall, which was earlier penetrated by the Fire Nation's drill, but the King had had enough, and decided to return to the palace. Sokka quickly convinced him to continue the investigation, however, by letting him ride on Appa.
The Earth King arrived at the outer wall, and was shocked to see the remains of the Fire Nation's drill leading right up to and through Ba Sing Se's wall. Long Feng was then arrested. After the group split up, Toph got a letter that told her to meet her mother. She entered an upper-ring building that she found empty. She went in, but only suspected trickery at the last minute, and was captured in a metal coffin. Master Yu and Xin Fu emerged from the shadows and prepared to return Toph to their parents in Gaoling, so that they may retrieve their reward.

Out on a road, an ostrich-horse was pulling a cart carrying Master Yu and Xin Fu as well as Toph, who was trapped within a huge metal box. The two up front were arguing about which way to go in order to back to the Beifong estate, when Toph yelled at the two to stop arguing and let her out to go to the bathroom. Master Yu started to get up to let her out, but Xin Fu sharply pulled him back from the action, noticing the obvious trick where his companion did not. Toph pounded against the cage she was in, only infuriating Xin Fu more, who told her that no matter how good an earthbender she thought she may be, there was no way that she could bend metal. Toph continued bashing her hands into the metal walls of her coffin trying to bend it. Her blows sent out vibrations, allowing her to sense the fragments of earth contained within the metal. Toph reached out for the fragments, readjusted her stance, then created a very large dent on the cage. She cheered and congratulated herself for her discovery, before continuing her assault on the coffin's walls.

Master Yu and Xin Fu were startled by a tearing sound from the back of the wagon and went to investigate. A massive hole had been ripped in the back of Toph's coffin, and she was not inside. Toph emerged further back on the road, and used earthbending to thrust Xin Fu and Yu back into the metal coffin. She then gripped each side of the hole she made earlier and pulled them back together, trapping her captors in her place, metalbending. After taking a few moments to yell out her triumph and state that she was the greatest earthbender ever, Toph rapidly headed back to Ba Sing Se by surfing along a self-made wave of earth. This left Xin Fu and Yu locked very uncomfortably within the coffin, and Xin Fu frustrated as ever at having to spend time with his companion while Yu needed to go to the bathroom.

Sokka and Aang were making their way back to Ba Sing Se on Appa as fast as possible due to Aang's vision of Katara in deep trouble. As they flew along, they spotted Toph, who was trying to get back to the palace as quickly as she could. Because they were flying, she did not know of their presence until Aang asked if she needed a ride. Toph yelled in surprise, tripped, and fell. They picked her up and flew to Ba Sing Se, trying quickly to get there to see if Katara was all right. When asked if he had mastered the Avatar State, Aang lied to the others, saying that he had, although he had escaped before the end of the process.
Outside the palace, Sokka and Toph soon saw General How, but before they could say anything, the Dai Li placed them under house arrest. At that very moment, every general of the Council of Five was arrested. The two made it into the throne room, and they revealed to the Earth King that the girls were not Kyoshi Warriors. Upon seeking Sokka, Ty Lee started to flirt with him, but he said that he was involved with Suki. Ty Lee did not know who Suki was, which exposed them and Toph threw her to the side with some rocks. Mai, realizing that their identities were exposed, threw a hail of ornate shurikens at Toph, who blocked them with a wall of earth. Ty Lee began to "fight" Sokka. However, the fighting was in vain, as Azula soon had the king at flame-point. Sokka and Toph gave up immediately, and were soon disabled by Ty Lee.

Toph was later seen in a metal prison cell with Sokka and the Earth King. After Sokka checked to see if any guards were nearby, Toph easily metalbent and destroyed the door and they escaped to the astonishment of the king.

Later, back in the palace, Ty Lee was trying to teach Bosco, the bear of the king, how to walk on his front legs, but soon her hands and feet were trapped by Toph with earth. Toph and Sokka took a fighting stance against Mai, who in her nonchalance said to take the bear and the king reunited happily with his pet. After Aang got wounded in the Crystal Catacombs by Azula, the group (including the Earth King and Bosco) all escaped Ba Sing Se on Appa.

After the events at Ba Sing Se, Toph and the rest of the team, now accompanied by Hakoda, Bato, Pipsqueak, The Duke, and other friends, commandeered a Fire Nation ship and began to hide in the waters. Shortly after Aang awoke, they were greeted by another Fire Nation ship. While the others hid, Hakoda and Bato, with Fire Nation cloth, tried to talk their way out, but the crew of the other ship eventually found holes in their story. The Fire Nation Captain decided to let them think that they were successful in fooling the Fire Nation, but intended to sink the ship as soon as they were clear. Toph overheard the order, however, and sounded the alarm while swiftly dropping the captain and his guards into the water by way of metalbending. Katara then put space between the two ships with a huge wave that nearly capsized the enemies, and they tried to escape. Despite the tremendous efforts of Katara and Toph, the ship took heavy damage from the pursuing Fire Nation ship. Out of sheer bad luck, the serpent of the Serpent's Pass appeared but was struck by a stray fireball. They got an opportunity to escape as the enraged serpent attacked the Fire Nation ship. Aang later fled the ship believing that only he could fight the Fire Lord and he did not want to involve his friends in more problems. Toph, Sokka and Katara split with Hakoda and the others and found Aang on Crescent Island.

Toph and the others traveled through the Fire Nation, using "cloudbending" to hid Appa in a cloud. They took temporary shelter in a cave and then went to seek out new clothes to help them better blend into the Fire Nation. They found an unattended clothesline and stole some outfits and then went to town to buy some accessories. Toph ripped out the soles of her new shoes to maintain contact with the ground. After Aang decided to host a dance party in the cave for a bunch of Fire Nation students of a school, Toph helped him with the construction of the place with earthbending.

When the gang traveled to the polluted fishing village in the middle of the Jang Hui River, Katara became stricken with compassion for the poor people living there. For the next few nights, she disguised herself as the Painted Lady and helped the villagers, even destroying a Fire Nation army factory which was polluting the river. The next day, Toph and the others, discovering that Katara had been feeding Appa berries to make him look ill and stay there to help the villagers, aided her in driving out the Fire Nation soldiers, who were terrorizing the village and used earthbending to clean the mud out of the river.

Sokka, later, gave Toph a small piece of a meteorite that had fallen during a recent meteor shower. It instantly became a prized possession of hers and she began wearing it as a bracelet, which she used even after the end of the War.

After their money started to run dangerously low, Toph used her earthbending to make money for the group by scamming people off the streets, mostly in games. After winning large amounts because of Toph, who was flaunting her blindness, and seeing many people being cheated because of it, Katara began to think the idea was wrong. Katara objected at the immorality of the idea and argued with Toph over the issue. Toph retorted and called her a "motherly" figure and complained bitterly that Katara was not her, Sokka or Aang's mother. Due to remarks made by Katara, Toph went on to say how much she hated her own parents.

Sokka found a wanted poster for 'The Runaway', the new alias of Toph in the city. After Sokka read it aloud, Toph was delighted at the nickname. After hearing how much money was being offered for her return, Toph convinced Sokka to keep the wanted poster as a secret by giving him funds for Appa's armor, as well as an atlas of the Fire Nation. Later, while going through Toph's possessions, Katara discovered the wanted poster and had an argument with her, to which Toph angrily replied again that Katara was not her mother and should not tell her what to do. Sokka then talked to Toph to try to mend the rift between her and Katara. As they discussed Katara's motherly instincts, Sokka suggested that he and Toph have a chat about Katara. Toph and Sokka were not aware that Katara was swimming in the water below the cliff on which they were sitting. Toph admitted that Katara cared for her more than her real mother had, leaving her in tears. A touched Katara then suggested that she and Toph would work together to make a cheat and collect the bounty that Toph had accumulated as the 'ultimate scam', and then Toph would escape using metalbending.

After faking handing her in to the police, it turned out to be a trap set by Combustion Man. Katara and Toph were placed in a prison made of wood, a material that neither of them can bend. Combustion Man, on the other hand, used them to lure Aang to the jail, allowing him kill the Avatar. As Aang and Sokka fought against Combustion Man, Katara bent her own sweat as a source of water to escape the prison. They raced to help Aang, and arrived just in time. Toph hurled a boulder at Combustion Man to divert his attention, which he exploded causing a pebble-sized fragment to hit him in his third eye. He got up and attempted to shoot only to find his chi blocked, and due to this, the group managed to escape unharmed. Later, Toph admitted she did not hate her parents, but missed them and felt guilty about what she did to them. With Katara acting as a scribe, she wrote down a heartfelt message for her parents. It was delivered using Sokka's newly adopted messenger hawk, Hawky, without Sokka's permission.

Toph served as an earthbending soldier in the Invasion Force during the Invasion of the Fire Nation. When the Day of Black Sun began and the invasion force arrived on the island, she was introduced to Tyro and Haru. She also encountered her former enemies, The Big Bad Hippo and The Boulder; at first she prepared to fight them again, until The Boulder told her that they were fighting for their kingdom now, rather than for others' entertainment. At this point, they maintained a friendly partnership. When the invasion force traveled in the waterbending-powered submarines, designed by Sokka and the mechanist, she felt nauseous and threw up in The Duke's helmet. When the battle began, Toph fought alongside the other soldiers and most especially with The Boulder and The Hippo against the Fire Nation. She was seen hurling boulders against Fire Nation guard towers.

Toph then joined Sokka behind a wall of tanks while he was commanding the invasion, due to his father being injured. Soon, they were joined by Hakoda and Katara and shortly afterwards by Aang, who told them that the entire palace city was abandoned, and the Fire Lord was not there, leading Sokka to realize that they must had known about the invasion. While Aang believed that the Fire Lord must be away on a remote island, Sokka reasoned that he would have a secret bunker underneath the city where he could still be close enough to lead his nation. Toph volunteered to find this bunker and went off with Sokka, Aang and Appa to the base of the volcano. There, she used her ability to feel into earth with vibrations to locate the outer wall of the metallic bunker, then used earth and metalbending to open a hole for them. She lead them inside and took them in the right direction, saying that the other way was a dead end. She continued to lead them through the bunker until they reached a river of lava, which Aang flew them over with his staff. They reached a large metal door, which Toph easily broke through, prompting Sokka to say he was "so glad they made her a part of the group." Eventually, they encountered War Minister Qin, who quickly told them where the secret Fire Lord's throne room was. Just as the eclipse began, they reached the outer entrance of the throne room, which Aang broke through. However, instead of finding the Fire Lord, they found Azula sitting on the throne.

Azula taunted them until the group began questioning her about her father's whereabouts. Toph warned her that she would be able to notice it if she was lying, until Azula successfully fooled her senses. Toph admitted she was good, but encased her body in stone and warned her to tell the truth anyway. However, the stone mysteriously broke apart. The group was shocked for a moment, before Azula revealed that she brought back two Dai Li agents from Ba Sing Se. A furious battle ensued, with Aang and Toph fighting the Dai Li agents while trying to corner Azula. Eventually, both agents became trapped while Aang and Toph chased after Azula. Sokka realized that Azula was trying to keep the group here and wasted their eclipse time to defeat Ozai. After a furious confrontation during which Azula goaded Sokka into furiously questioning her for a minute, she regained her firebending and escaped. Aang wanted to fight the Fire Lord anyway, but Sokka and Toph agreed to leave, and they quickly escaped the bunker.

Outside, Toph quickly joined the Invasion Force's escape, until they were cut off when the Fire Nation airshipsdestroyed the submarines. The oldest members of the forces agreed to save the young people, while the others would be captured by the Fire Nation to escape later. So, Toph, the rest of the team and Teo, Haru and The Duke escaped to the Western Air Temple, where they would take refuge, until Azula's attack.

After the invasion, the group dejectedly made its way to the Western Air Temple. When they crossed into the edge of a canyon, Toph excitedly announced that they had made it. While only Aang seemed to know what she was talking about, Toph said that the Temple was amazing. They found that the Temple was carved upside-down out of the canyon.

While Teo, The Duke and Haru set out to explore the temple, Toph, Sokka, Katara and Aang decided to talk about their future plans to defeat the Fire Nation and Ozai, though Aang seemed reluctant. They discussed Aang finding a firebending teacher, but were unable to come up with any viable person. Aang ran off to play in the temple, while the others followed him. They landed next to a large fountain. While Aang tried to show them different parts of the temple, Toph announced that that would have to wait, and pointed out that Zuko was there.

Zuko told the others that he had changed and that he wished to join their group to teach Aang firebending. While the others immediately shot Zuko down and refused him, Toph stayed mostly silent and thoughtful. After Zuko left, the others angrily talked against him. When Katara called Zuko a liar, Toph told them that he was not lying and that he had been sincere the entire time. While the others continued to act angry, Toph recommended that they should at least consider Zuko as a possibility, since they were trying to find a firebending teacher for Aang and that he was the only one they knew. However, Aang, Katara and Sokka all flatly refused and Toph stormed off, angrily shouting that she wondered who was really the blind one among them.

Later that night, Toph found Zuko's campsite and approached him. However, Zuko was only just waking up and was startled by the sounds of someone approaching. When Toph did not immediately identify herself, he firebent at her in panicked self-defense. Toph tried to shield herself from the fire, but she stepped back while the fire was spreading and it burned her feet, causing her to panic and flee because she can't see. Zuko followed, insisting that he wanted to help her even as she frantically earthbent at him in self-defense. Eventually he was hit and lost her. Toph rejoined the group, unable to walk because of her burned feet. While Katara attempted to hea lher, Toph explained that she went to see Zuko last night and he burned her feet. She said that it was an accident but conceded that Zuko did a dangerous thing, firebending at her.

Just when they were planning a retaliation attack on Zuko for harming Toph, they were attacked by Combustion Man. Zuko noticed this and intervened, and tried to get Combustion Man to stop his attack, but the assassin ignored him and even attacked him. Eventually, Combustion Man was taken out by Sokka's boomerang, but he stood up again and was finally defeated by Zuko. Aang thanked Zuko and he explained himself fully; the gang finally accepted him in the team, while Toph was the first to forgive him. She added that she had plenty of time now to pay him back for her feet, though there was no evidence of her ever trying to do so.

Toph seemed to be more comfortable around Zuko than the others were, due to the fact that she did not have the emotional baggage of being constantly pursued by him like the others. Later, she informed the group how she learned to bend from the original source of earthbending, badgermoles, helpfully suggesting that Zuko try to find the original source of firebending in order to regain his powers.

After Sokka and Zuko rescued Hakoda from the Boiling Rock, the Fire Nation attacked the Western Air Temple, and Toph's earthbending proved essential in saving her friends and allies as they escaped through the ruins.

Toph accompanied her group, now with Suki, to "The Boy in the Iceberg", a play about themselves being shown on Ember Island. She took great pleasure at teasing her friends about how "accurate" their portrayals on stage are. Toph was inaccurately portrayed by a large muscular man who claimed to see by letting out a "sonic wave" through the mouth and said that they call her Toph, because it sounded like "Tough." Toph, however, was thrilled at her "tough guy" image. During the play's intermission, Toph talked to Zuko about Iroh, who was reminded of him by the play. He was ashamed, remembering how he had betrayed him at Ba Sing Se.
Toph comforted Zuko by telling him how Iroh had told her about him and that his uncle had faith that Zuko would find his way. Through this conversation, Toph was able to begin bonding with Zuko more than the others. She demonstrated her affection by punching him, much like she did with her other friends. When the play ended, Toph agreed with her group that it was a terrible show. This was due to its unpleasant ending, as she seemed to enjoy the beginning.

Prior to the arrival of Sozin's Comet, Toph and her friends had a beach party on Ember Island in Ozai's beach house, where she instantaneously sandbent a miniature model of Ba Sing Se. The party was interrupted by Zuko when he informed the group of Ozai's plot to destroy the Earth Kingdom on the day of the comet. As the group drilled for their final assault, Toph played the Melon Lord. She really got into her role, nearly hitting Sokka with her earthbending, and refusing to listen to the name "Toph" as she was now "Melon Lord". When Aang disappeared, Toph eagerly joined Zuko in his search for Aang, as it was her turn for a "life changing field trip" with him. However, when she started talking about her family issues, Zuko curtly shut her down, leading her to remark that it was the "worst field trip".

As the team was unable to find Aang even with June and Nyla's help, Zuko decided to request his uncle's help, as only he could defeat Ozai if Aang had disappeared. After they met and made a plan with the Order of the White Lotus, Toph traveled with Sokka and Suki to Ba Sing Se to launch an attack on the Fire Lord's airship fleet and participated in the final battle. Toph defeated the crew at the controls of an airship by bending a large metal door into a suit of armor, and easily overwhelming the crew with metalbending. The trio used the airship to destroy and ram into the rest of the ships, but Suki was separated in the process when the airship they were riding on split in half. With Suki telling them to complete the mission, Toph felt the forward half of the airship, which they were on, falling and warned Sokka that maybe they should jump, knowing that Suki could make it. Then, after jumping onto another airship, with Sokka helping her, Toph forced the airships to crash into each other by bending their rudders, causing Sokka to admire her invention of metalbending. A Fire Nation soldier came out to inspect and discovered them. The soldier shot a giant fire blast at them, causing them to slip off the vessel while trying to avoid the fire. Sokka used his sword to slow their fall, which succeeded partially, but injured his leg upon landing. He grabbed Toph's hand as she fell overboard and managed to hold her while fighting off two fire nation guards, losing his sword and boomerang in the process. Toph slipped more and more, each second and just as Toph was only hanging by a few fingers, Suki came in with an airship and saved the two.

The battle ended in a complete victory for the trio as all of the airships were destroyed and they soon reunited with Aang, who already had defeated Ozai. Toph and Sokka teased the defeated Ozai and Toph gently advised Suki to "leave the nicknames to us," after Suki failed to come up with an original joke.

Other
Toph's, like, blind and stuff. Bet you didn't see that one coming.

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