The legendary Earthbender Toph Beifong has two incredible children who appear in The Legend of Korra. Could it be possible for the Beifong name to carry with it some unexplained supernatural bending ability?
The Avatar mythos includes very little on empowered surnames, but there is something about the Earthbending prodigy's ability to balance both the good and the bad that should be noted. Growing up with an absent mother can't be easy, but with every harsh truth brought on by the Beifong name, there are an equal number of perks that helped guide Lin and Suyin into their own versions of success.
10 PERK: The Avatars Respects The Beifong Name
Avatar: The Last Airbender sets the stage for an international fandom that continues to break down the barrier between western and eastern animation styles. It is an iconic series with iconic characters. Toph Beifong is one of the many characters fans recognize by name and one of the few who appear in both the original and sequel series.
Toph's adventures alongside the Avatar earned the Beifong name respect in canon and real life. This respect was passed down to Suyin and Lin alongside Toph's surname. This pair might have had a few mom issues, but the legend of Toph Beifong opened up the door to their fandom in real life and pulled in the respect of Avatar Korra before either of them met the powerful young bender.
9 HARSH REALITY: Toph's Adventures Invited The Threat Of Rivals & Enemies Into Her Home
While it may come with a number of perks, carrying the name of the legendary Toph Beifong is also quite dangerous. Toph may have helped Avatar Aang save the world from the Firelord, but she also made some enemies in the process.
There are those who might hear the name Beifong and assume that the one carrying it is an enemy. Surely Lin and Suyin have run into their fair share of foes hoping to avenge their ego by attacking Toph's family.
8 PERK: Toph's Hands-Off Approach To Parenting Granted Suyin And Lin Unlimited Freedom
The freedom Toph created for her children gave them the chance to explore themselves in a way that few children are able to. Lin followed after her mother and innovated on her discoveries to become a master Metalbender with the ability to swing through the city like Levi Ackerman of AoT. Suyin took the freedom created by her mother to its limit and joined a crew of merry pirates whose stories could rival Luffy's from One Piece.
7 HARSH REALITY: Toph Offered Her Children Very Little In Terms Of Traditional Home Structure
It has been nearly 7 years since The Legend of Korra stopped airing, and fans are still speculating over who Suyin's father is. While not all families build a stable home, Toph's anti-social habits make it hard to believe that she even attempted to offer her daughters a sense of stability at home.
Toph's absence and inability to talk about her relationships forced Lin to step up as a parental figure. This then put a wall up between Suyin and Lin that would haunt their relationship for decades.
6 PERK: Toph's Position As Chief Of Police Surely Came In Handy When Suyin Was Breaking The Law
Despite the fact that Toph took to the streets of Republic City as a police officer, she was still the rule-bending prodigy everyone learned to love in ATLA. When Korra gets the chance to meet Toph for the first time, it is very clear that she hasn't changed all that much in the time between ATLA and TLOK. There is a certain level of responsibility that the Chief of Police has to maintain, but when dealing with her own daughters, Toph surely lets a few things slide.
The legendary Toph Beifong was able to tell if her foes were lying as a child. There is no way Suyin would have been able to hide her criminal activity from her mother without Toph turning a blind eye to the truth.
5 HARSH REALITY: Toph Is An Absent Mother Figure In Suyin & Lin's Lives
Toph might be one of the most powerful benders of all time and the former Chief of the Republic City Police Force, but she didn't do much for her children. Besides avoiding personal expressions of weakness at every opportunity, Toph chose to avoid a number of difficult parenting situations while raising Suyin and Lin. Eventually, Toph disappeared altogether to live alone in a swamp. Toph's life may be romantic and adventurous, but fans have to take Suyin and Lin seriously when they express ill will toward their mother's absent parenting tactics.
4 PERK: Toph's Status And Position Made It Possible For Her Daughters To Find Early Success In Their Careers
Though it would be incorrect to assume that Lin Beifong only became the Chief of Police in Republic City because of her mother, it would be equally disrespectful to assume that Toph's work didn't pave the way for Lin's success.
After all, Toph has an endless number of connections. Some of these connections are professional and some not so much. There should be no doubt that Lin benefited from Toph's endless network of allies. Even Suyin, who pursued a life vagabonding around the world before founding her own city, wouldn't have found as much success without her mother's connections.
3 HARSH REALITY: Both Suyin & Lin Are Expected To Follow In Toph's Footsteps
It may seem odd that the same Toph Beifong who ran away from authority to join the Avatar eventually joined the largest police force in the modern world, but Toph managed to consistently defy outside expectations. This uncanny ability to rise above the expectations of others was what makes Toph such an overpowered character in the Avatar mythos.
The ability to display powerful bending techniques came naturally for Suyin and Lin, but their path toward finding a career was full of difficult hurdles. The expectations set on Lin pushed her toward resenting her mother, and Su took an unconventional path toward success in order to avoid dealing with others' expectations for her.
2 PERK: Both Lin & Suyin Were Able To Study Under The Original Metalbender
As the very first Metalbender, Toph was forced to define the new supernatural martial art from the ground up. Of course, Toph was surely able to borrow common poses, forms, and nomenclature from Earthbending, but the version of Metalbending fans saw in The Legend of Korra was a different breed than the version Toph originally discovered in ATLA.
Most Metalbenders are Earthbenders who also learn to Metalbend, but Suyin and Lin used Metalbending so often that one could assume that it was the first bending style they learned. The fact that Suyin and Lin were able to train directly under the first Metalbender is an incredible perk that comes from wearing the Beifong name. Thanks to Toph, these two were bending metal so early that it became second nature to them.
1 HARSH REALITY: There's A Lot Of Pressure For Suyin & Lin To Master & Enhance Two Forms Of Bending
Su and Lin Beifong are both incredibly powerful benders, regardless of whether their strength was inherited naturally alongside their name or something they had to work toward. As Toph's children, both young women must have felt an immense amount of pressure while learning the supernatural art of bending.
Toph Beifong was an Earthbending prodigy. At the age of 12, she invented an entirely new bending style that would eventually become one of the most powerful bending styles in the world. Suyin and Lin definitely had big shoes to fill when developing their own bending styles.
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