Lao Beifong

"earth"

- The Avatar has kidnapped my daughter. I want you to do whatever it takes to bring her home.

Lao Beifong was a wealthy figure in the Earth Kingdom town of Gaoling. He was the husband of Poppy Beifong and the father of Toph. Caring deeply for his daughter and only wishing for her safety, he was extremely overprotective of her, even to the extent of hiding her existence from the rest of the world.

History
Lao Beifong loved his daughter dearly but failed to recognize what was best for her and thought her blindness made her weak, helpless and frail. He was oblivious to Toph's earthbending skills until he saw her in combat. Once he witnessed her earthbending prowess, his fear for her was increased rather than diminished, and he resolved to guard her even more closely. This drove the free-spirited young girl to run away from home. When Toph left to teach the Avatar, Lao assumed she was kidnapped by him and commissioned Xin Fu, the promoter of the Earth Rumble VI tournament, and Master Yu, Toph's earthbending teacher, to do "whatever it [took]" to rescue her, with a chest-load of gold as reward.

Some months later, Toph, with the help of Katara, sent a letter to her parents using Sokka's messenger hawk.

Personality
Lao was generally a caring and kind man who sought the best for his family. He could be extremely overbearing, however, notably toward his only daughter, Toph. Blind to her true earthbending abilities, he saw her as helpless and fragile, an image to which the real Toph did not compare in the least. Toph's blindness caused him to be very overprotective of her, placing her under strict surveillance. His wish to keep his daughter safe often influenced his decisions, many of which were unfavorable to Toph. It was his overprotective nature and blindness to the truth that caused Toph to runaway.

Relatives



 * Poppy Beifong (wife)
 * Toph Beifong (daughter)
 * Lin Beifong (granddaughter)

Trivia

 * According to Toph's passport and the fake letter from her mother, Beifong is written as 北方 and when put after translates as Old North or Mr. North.