Toph

Toph Beifong is a fictional character in the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender and its sequel The Legend of Korra. Blind from birth, she is an earthbender from the Beifong family in Gaoling in the Earth Kingdom. Despite her disability, she demonstrates extraordinary earthbending prowess and becomes a member of Team Avatar, acting as Aang's earthbending teacher. She relies on tactile senses and environmental vibrations to perceive her surroundings, a technique often referred to as earth sense. She is known for a blunt, stubborn demeanor and a competitive fighting style, earning the nickname The Blind Bandit during the show.

Toph is credited with pioneering metalbending, a form of earthbending that enables control of metal objects. She discovers this capability when she senses and manipulates a metal shard, demonstrating that metal can be bent if approached with the right technique. Metalbending becomes a significant development for security and law enforcement in the Avatar world.

In The Legend of Korra, set decades after Avatar: The Last Airbender, Toph appears as an aged figure who guides Korra and also helps establish a metalbending police force in Republic City. She is the mother of Lin Beifong, who later becomes a prominent political and security figure in Republic City.

Toph's legacy lies in expanding the boundaries of bending arts through metalbending and in influencing security practices in the Avatar universe. Her character also contributes to discussions of disability representation in animation.