History Characters / AvatarTheLastAirbenderTophBeifong

* BadassBoast: She calls herself "the greatest Earthbender in the world" after escaping an inescapable cage, horrifying her captors.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Justified in that because she's blind, her bare feet are her strongest connection to the world. Anything that's not solid ground (or even moderate bandaging) dampens her "vision". The animators pay special attention to this; whenever she's shown asleep, she has her feet out of contact with the ground as the equivalent of [[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/ed/7c/a2/ed7ca23b411cb496b85bdd4f3ce7fa4e.jpg "closing her eyes."]]

* EarthyBarefootCharacter: Toph is almost always [[DoesNotLikeShoes barefoot]], since her earthbending abilities require her to constantly be in contact with the ground at all times in order to sense vibrations and "see" properly.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Shoes interfere with her ability to read vibrations, so she doesn't wear them.

* DisabledSnarker: Mostly at Sokka's expense and she's biggest snarker in the series after him. Also some of the show's best lines are from Toph, especially when she's talking trash to her opponents. For instance:

* ScrewPolitenessImASenior: Her attitude hasn't changed with age. If anything, age has only made her more direct.

-->"[[LargeHam I am not Toph! I am MELON LORD]]! [[EvilLaugh MUAHAHAHA!]]"

-->"''I am not Toph! I am MELON LORD! [[EvilLaugh Muahahaha!]]''"

* ActionGirl: Don't let her small stature fool you, Toph is a [[CuteBruiser small]] [[DisabilitySuperpower blind girl]] who is introduced beating up a large earthbender named: "The Boulder", and later defeats him, and a bunch of other wrestlers, [[CurbStompBattle easily]]. And she just keeps on going from there.

* HairstyleInertia: Keeps the same hairstyle of her youth, now with a Republic City Police badge in her headband. She even retains this hairstyle in the present. Through all iterations from her youth to her old age, she keeps her PeekABangs (which aren't a visual impediment for her since she doesn't have eyesight to begin with).

As a child, Toph Beifong was thought of as frail due to her blindness and was kept from the outside world by her [[OverprotectiveDad overprotective rich father]]. She found an outlet by becoming an Earthbending master, even learning to "see" by sensing vibrations in the Earth. Because of this, she was selected to be Aang's Earthbending teacher. Though she has a bit of an attitude problem out of a desire to prove her independence, Toph makes up for it with her blunt insight and all-around roughness. Also the first metalbender in history, which she's rightfully proud of.

* WhipItGood: Her older armor uses a hip-mounted spool instead of the back-mounted version modern metalbenders use.

** Toph does this to Yakone (and has [[OffModel six fingers]]) in a flashback.

* AchillesHeel: She's very reliant on her [[DisabilitySuperpower "tremor sense"]] to function. Unfortunately, it isn't foolproof, and has quite a few holes in it. First, she can't sense anything in water, and earth is the only thing she can detect in the air. As such, she can't swim and she is extremely vulnerable to aerial attacks. Second, standing on anything other than solid earth will affect her "vision," making her weaker or helpless depending on the circumstances. When she stands on wood, she had to hold Aang's arm while walking. Making her lose her footing or injuring her feet will leave her truly blind until she recovers, while conversely foot massaging causes what looks like ''excruciating pain'' (enough to make her send an assistant flying through a nearby wall.)

* AgonyOfTheFeet: Largely averted as she can walk barefoot on any surface from scorching hot sand to frozen ice and, while weakening her vision, is unbothered by the sensation. She does, however, appear to be in excruciating pain when she gets a foot massage at the spa.

* RecruitedFromTheGutter: {{Inverted|Trope}}. The LonelyRichKid is recruited by the itinerant monk and his two near-penniless sidekicks. However, Toph very much lives ''as if'' she's in the gutter, like that "healthy coating of earth" tht she cultivates.

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/JessieFlower (English),[[labelnote:Click to see other languages]]Ximena Marchant (Latin American Spanish), Marie-Luise Schramm (German), Creator/JustynaBojczuk (Polish)[[/labelnote]]Creator/KateHiggins, (''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' past), Creator/PhileceSampler (''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' present), Vivian Vencer (''VideoGame/NickelodeonAllStarBrawl'', ''VideoGame/NickelodeonKartRacers 3: Slime Speedway'')

* {{Foil}}:
** To Mai, in a way. Both were raised by very fancy families that suppressed them, Toph's parents overprotecting her because of her blindness and Mai's parents keeping her well-behaved so she didn't jeopardize her dad's political career. Toph responded by defying her parents, acting out and really enjoying her earthbending, whereas Mai obeyed them, becoming very insular and apathetic to almost everything.
** In ''The Rift'', she's contrasted with Aang. Their upbringings are quite different, as Monk Gyatso believed in letting Aang be a kid, while Toph's parents forced her to learn tradition and propriety. As a result, Toph wonders if Aang is trying to hold onto his past, while Aang wonders if Toph is trying too hard to run away from her past.

* TownGirls: After Suki joins the team, she becomes the Butch(TheLadette, and OneOftheBoys), to Katara's Femme (LadyOfWar, and TeamMom), and Suki's Neither (a NiceGirl, but not stop being a [[ActionGirl Kyoshi warrior]]).

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/JessieFlower (English),[[labelnote:Click to see other languages]]Ximena Marchant (Latin American Spanish), Marie-Luise Schramm (German), Creator/JustynaBojczuk (Polish)[[/labelnote]]Creator/KateHiggins, (''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' past), Creator/PhileceSampler (''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' present)

* ActionGirl: Don't let her small stature fool you, [[DishingOutDirt Toph]]is a [[CuteBruiser small]] [[DisabilitySuperpower blind girl]] who is introduced beating up a large earthbender named: "The Boulder", and later defeats him, and a bunch of other wrestlers, [[CurbStompBattle easily]].

* BecomingTheMask: Parodied and PlayedForLaughs in "Sozin's Comet". when acting as the "Melon Lord" during a practice to take down Fire Lord Ozai and having a blast at it:

** In-universe and out, as she started WalkingTheEarth and disappeared. We find out where she disappeared to in Book 4.
** And after all this time, we find out from Toph who Lin Beifong's father is. [[spoiler: His name is Kanto. It didn't work out. That's all there is to it.]]

* HandicappedBadass: She's blind but can "see" by sensing vibrations with her feet, which allows her to prevent attacks from opponents and kick a lot of ass. She can also hear better than anybody in the Gaang and never forgets a voice, which helps them out in numerous tight spots. In fact, she's so competent that her friends frequently forget that she's bind.