‘The Legend of Korra’: Fans Think Toph Grew the Least Out of Team Avatar
The Legend of Korra premiered on Nickelodeon in 2012 and ran for four seasons until 2014. The series followed Avatar Korra, Aang’s successor in the Avatar cycle, years after Avatar: The Last Airbender.
In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Aang and his friends Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko, and Suki were known as Team Avatar. The Legend of Korra shows what happened to each character, and fans think Toph grew the least following the events of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
[Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra.]
Toph in ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’
When Toph was introduced in Avatar: The Last Airbender, she was already a powerful earthbender. Born blind, Toph learned how to earthbend from badgermoles. She then began entering underground tournaments as “The Blind Bandit.”
Because she was already an earthbending master, Aang asked her to join him so he could learn earthbending. She decided to leave her sheltered life in the wealthy Beifong family behind to teach Aang. As the series progressed, Toph’s skills improved, and she originated the skill of metalbending.
Where she is in ‘The Legend of Korra’
Personality-wise, Toph is confident, stubborn, and extremely competitive. Because of her sheltered upbringing, she is also very independent. Before The Legend of Korra, she helped Team Avatar create Republic City. She then became the city’s first Chief of Police and started the Metalbending Police Force.
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When The Legend of Korra begins, Toph has two grown daughters from two different relationships. Lin Beifong followed Toph’s footsteps and became Republic City’s Chief of Police. Toph’s second daughter Suyin Beifong was more of a rebel like Toph was when she was younger, but she goes on to create the city of Zaofu.
Toph raised Lin and Suyin as a single parent, and her parenting style ended up being pretty hands off. This led to Lin and Suyin resenting each other and their mother at times because of how much freedom they were given. However, by the end of The Legend of Korra, Lin, Suyin, and Toph have all reconciled in their own way.
How fans feel about Toph in ‘The Legend of Korra’
Netflix added The Legend of Korra on Aug. 14, 2020, leading more fans to see what happened to the original Team Avatar. However, Toph has been a discussion point among fans for quite some time. Some fans were surprised by Toph’s character arc and her parenting style.
However, others found Toph’s journey after Avatar: The Last Airbender and during The Legend of Korra to be fitting. This is because some fans think Toph had the least amount of character development in Avatar: The Last Airbender, which affected her as an adult.
“Toph’s character stayed pretty resolutely static throughout ATLA as well. The only change really was getting attached to the rest of the Gaang, but she hardly had an life changing revelations, and didn’t really change any fundamental behaviour either,” one Reddit user wrote. “It’s very in character for her, typical to her being the most connected with the earth, to be very much unchanging in the long run.”
Another Reddit user wrote, “Toph is stubborn, prideful, cynical, reckless, independent, and by her own admission loves to boss people around. She became a cop partly because she loves to boss people around. She raised her children poorly because she was raised horribly by her parents and she is the least able to talk about her feelings. Her daughters are vivid reflections of aspects of her personality. Of all the members of the Gaang she would be the least likely to really mature and change.”
