Suyin Beifong

"earth"

- I was ... more of a rebel. Mom wasn't too happy with how either of us turned out. When I was sixteen, I left home to explore the world. I sailed the seas on a pirate ship, joined a traveling circus for a while, and lived in a sandbender commune in a desert. It took me a while, but I finally realized what I was looking for was a family. So I bought this plot of land, found a brilliant architect who later became my husband, and created a place I could truly call home.

Suyin Beifong, also known as Su for short, is a dancer and the leader of Zaofu. As the daughter of Toph Beifong, Suyin is a powerful metalbender with many talents and skills. Although a troubled past strained her relationship with her older half-sister, Lin, Suyin is happily married to an architect named Baatar, with whom she has five children, and considers family of utmost importance.

Early life


Born six years after her half-sister, Lin, Suyin also inherited the earthbending prowess of her mother, Toph Beifong, and eventually mastered the art and its sub-skills of metalbending and seismic sense. Having endured constant restriction during her own childhood, Toph gave Suyin and Lin much more freedom. However, Toph's carefree approach to raising the two led Lin and Suyin to compete for her attention. Lin became a police officer while Suyin became a delinquent. At some point in 141 AG, Suyin became associated with members of the Terra Triad, to Lin's disapproval. Eventually, she was roped into aiding a robbery by driving the getaway car, only to be stopped by Lin. As Lin caught her with a metal cable, losing her cool, Suyin cut the line by metalbending her wrist guard, which snapped back at Lin and scarred her face, much to Suyin's shock. Afterward, the two sisters were brought before a distraught Toph, who expressed her anger at them both. Not wanting Suyin to go to jail, Toph destroyed the police report and sent Suyin to live with her grandparents.

In 142 AG, at the age of sixteen, Suyin went to travel the world. Her adventures included sailing on a pirate ship, joining a traveling circus, and living in a sandbender commune. Eventually, she decided to settle down and start a family, and bought a large plot of land where, with the help of her future husband Baatar's architectural skills, she created the city of Zaofu. Suyin went on to have four sons and a daughter. She later also took in an eight-year-old Kuvira, whose talents she nurtured. Suyin came to see her protégée as a daughter and recognized herself in the smart young woman, who, as a natural leader, quickly rose through the ranks. Taking up many hobbies, Suyin also created a successful dance group. At some point after her retirement as police chief, Toph began visiting Suyin often and during one such occasion reconciled with her daughter, though they were both disappointed that Lin refused their invitation to do the same.

Family reunion


After Harmonic Convergence, Suyin gave shelter to Varrick, who was on the run from Republic City, and her daughter, Opal, gained airbending abilities. Learning that other airbenders were emerging, Suyin sent a request to Avatar Korra to help train her daughter. Upon their arrival in the city, Team Avatar found Suyin rehearsing with her dance troupe for a performance to be held the following month, although the latter quickly ended practice when she noticed the team's presence. Aiwei quickly informed her that the Avatar had lied about how many people were in her group. To Suyin's surprise and delight, Korra confessed that Lin had also come to Zaofu. When asked by the Avatar how she knew Lin, Suyin revealed that the two were sisters, which Lin later clarified as half-sisters.

Suyin and the group ventured to the police airship, from which Lin had not yet disembarked. She hoped for a simple hello out of her half-sister after being able to see her for the first time in thirty years, but Lin bitterly asserted that she had nothing to say to her. Suyin claimed that she had been trying to mend relations, to which Lin responded by accusing Suyin of tearing the family apart, prompting Suyin to counter that Lin had kept it that way.

Desiring not to argue about the past, Suyin decided to bring Korra's group to her estate to meet her family, beginning with her twin sons Wei and Wing, who were in the process of playing a game they themselves had invented called power disc. When Wei scored on Wing, Suyin congratulated the former before saying she was proud of both of them. She next led them to her son Huan, who made art through metalbending, and asked him to meet the Avatar's group and his aunt. Finally, Suyin introduced them to an excited Opal, though when Lin grew impatient to leave with the airbender, Suyin described her half-sister as "the woman apparently trying to abduct [her]". Afterward, she explained that the rest of the group was set up for their stay, while insisting that Korra train Opal. A nervous Korra believed that Opal should get training at the Northern Air Temple, but Suyin remained insistent, believing that it could be done right at home. The Avatar ultimately relented, and tried to explain Lin's impatience by saying that four criminals were after the group. Suyin assured them that there was plenty of security around before telling them to prepare for dinner, saying that her chef would prepare an appetizing meal.

Just as they started dinner, Suyin's husband, Baatar, alerted her that he and their eldest son, Baatar Jr., would have to skip on eating with them due to a major breakthrough in the remodeling of a tram station. Suyin let her husband head off, not desiring to stand in the way of success. She subsequently expressed what a blessing it was to have five children, to which Lin remarked that their mother said the same thing but never really meant it. Suyin later asked Korra about the search for new airbenders, to which the Avatar answered by explaining that she had recently freed a group of them from the Earth Queen's possession.



The metalbender promptly chastised the queen, calling her a horrible woman who believed she could do whatever she wanted, and referring to the monarch's rule as outdated. She asked Korra what she thought about the monarchy, and after hearing that Korra had not thought much about it, Suyin advised her to gain an understanding of it, due to the evolving world, which she believed was reason enough for the queen to step aside. Lin responded by making a facetious comment about Suyin's apparent expertise in global affairs, to which Suyin challenged her sister to say what she wanted to say to her face. They were promptly interrupted by the arrival of Varrick and Zhu Li. Suyin explained to the group that Varrick was heading up the technology division. When Lin lashed out at her sister for harboring a criminal, Suyin defended the industrialist by saying that he did not deserve to be imprisoned for the rest of his life and reasoned that her own chef was once a pirate, declaring that people could change. Lin coldly stated that her half-sister had not changed at all and stormed out of the room.

After dinner, Suyin found Korra observing a model of Zaofu in her office, and explained why she built the city. Korra thanked her host for giving them a place to stay and apologized for Lin's behavior. When asked by Korra what had happened, the matriarch explained hers and Lin's difficult childhood and the many occupations she held before settling down. Though the Avatar commented that she had created the perfect life, Suyin remarked that it would have been as such if Lin had been a part of it, but she gave up any hope of reconciliation long ago. Korra attempted to mend the sisters' rift by asking Opal attempt to connect with her aunt but she was rudely sent away.

The following day at breakfast, Suyin expressed her disapproval with her sister's behavior toward Opal. As Wei and Wing join them for a quick bite before their power disc match, Suyin asked if they were ready. After Korra rejected the twins' offer to join them for the game because she did not know metalbending, Suyin was surprised that Lin did not teach her. Suggesting with a laugh that Lin would have been a bad teacher, the matriarch offered to teach Korra, something she eagerly accepted. With Bolin not so sure about his own desire to learn the art, Suyin kept an offer open for him. She soon noticed the metal neck plating around her gown being pulled along with the rest of their dishes, and she ducked as the latter went toward Varrick's magnetic suit.

Later that morning, Suyin led Korra to a courtyard where she kept pieces of meteorite, one of which she used as a demonstration of metalbending for her. After showing a few shapes, the metalbender gave the fragment to Korra. They soon noticed Bolin sneaking around to watch them, and Suyin again offered to teach him, telling him that the only thing that could stop him from performing the act was his attitude. Bolin decided to just watch, and Suyin turned her attention to Korra again, advising the Avatar to focus on the pieces of earth within the metal. Once Korra completed the act, Suyin congratulated her.



The matriarch continued to watch as Korra continued to catch on to metalbending, complementing her on being the first Avatar to perform it. Bolin soon approached Suyin and shyly asked her to train him as well, to which she happily agreed. At that moment, however, Lin confronted Suyin about the incident that led to their separation. Responding to Lin's claim that she let their mother threw her career away, she reminded her that Toph retired a year as a hero, but Lin counter-claimed that what Suyin had done left their mother ashamed to wear the badge. The matriarch claimed she was not perfect but had changed and reconciled with Toph, telling her half-sister that she had the chance to do the same. When accused of having not changed, Suyin said Lin was the one who had not done so; she was still a bitter loner who only cared about herself and that was why Tenzin left her. No longer able to keep calm, Lin attacked Suyin, and the latter decided to counterattack, sparking a full-fledged duel. She dodged rocks and metal and, at one point, knocked over Lin with a meteorite fragment, but was unable to keep her half-sister down. At a second point, she used the metal walling to send Lin back several feet. Suyin angrily asked if Lin had vented completely, but when she refused to stand down, prepared to hurl a giant rock at her against Lin raising the metal stairs. At that point, Opal interfered, blowing their weapons away with airbending and demanding to know why they wanted to hurt each other. Soon after, Suyin watched as her sibling passed out.



Later, Suyin and Baatar were approached by Opal, and they each gave their daughter permission to travel to the Northern Air Temple and train with Tenzin. Suyin soon approached Lin in front of a statue of Toph, believing she had a role in Opal's decision, and expressed her approval of Opal's honesty and desire for her to be happy. She lamented about having too much freedom from their mother but giving her own daughter too little, wanting for her to choose her own way. The metalbender subsequently apologized for giving Lin a hard time when they were younger, unable to imagine her life without having been sent away, chuckling at her sibling's joke that she would be in prison. Suyin also told Lin that Republic City was happy to have her, and that their mother was proud of them too. She expressed her desire to move on and for Lin to join her life, hoping to have the kids be joined by their aunt and a co-director for her dance troupe. Lin advised her to take things slow, starting with a promise not to show up and attack her again. Suyin agreed and shook her sister's hand.

Sometime later, Suyin hosted a farewell dinner for Opal. She expressed her pride in her daughter while complementing her on being a good daughter, sister, and friend. She expressed her belief that Opal would become an airbending master. Suyin kissed her on the side of her forehead before raising her glass to lead the toast. After dinner, Suyin, her family, and their guests helped see her off as Opal departed in an airship.

Red Lotus attack


That night, the estate was infiltrated by the Red Lotus, who sought to kidnap Korra. Hearing the ruckus, Suyin, Wei, and Wing joined in the effort to surround them, covering them with metal panels, only for Ghazan to divide the sides by turning the ground into a pool of lava. Suyin and her sons were able to save Team Avatar and Lin from a combustion attack by P'Li by shielding them with a metal panel before joining them behind another. Unsure as to how they got in, Suyin declared they would not escape. She planned for her and Lin to descend from the dome on metal cables, telling Bolin he would need to disable P'Li's third eye before the siblings dropped in. Suyin, Lin, and the twins made their way to the dome's roof, warning Wei and Wing to metalbend them up in case of trouble. Upon getting the go, Suyin and Lin dropped in. Bolin was able to land a pebble on P'Li's third eye at the last second, blocking her chi, and giving the half-sisters the opening they needed to rescue Korra. As they ascended, Zaheer pursued on his glider, but Suyin shot four arrows into it, causing their foe to fall to the ground, which Lin thanked Suyin for. After getting Korra safely to the roof, Suyin called on the radio for her guards to search the estate. A short time later in her office, the matriarch was left unsure as to how the incident happened, calling the operation well-planned. At Korra's suggestion that one of the guards helped them, Suyin demanded they be questioned.



The next morning, Suyin watched as Aiwei interrogated the guards on duty and even Varrick. At Lin's suspicion, the metalbender agreed to be questioned, declaring she had nothing to hide. She calmly stated she had nothing to do with the attack; Aiwei determined she was telling the truth. The next guard in was Hong Li, whom Aiwei found to be lying about not having any role. Suyin threw the guard into the wall, demanding to know how they got in and out as well as their whereabouts before calling him a traitor to the clan.

Later that day, Suyin and Lin made their way to Aiwei's house after hearing an explosion. The matriarch asked where Aiwei was, to which Korra and Mako told her of his betrayal of the clan, having allowed the Red Lotus entrance and exit through a secret passageway, while lying about Hong Li and destroying any evidence of his presence. Suyin was shocked as she trusted Aiwei, Lin laying a hand on her shoulder in comfort. Regathering in her office, she recalled trusting the emissary with her life and thought they were all a family. When Lin and Korra argued over the Avatar's safety, Suyin stated her agreement with her half-sister, assuring Korra that Aiwei and his associates would be brought to justice. She told Team Avatar that her staff would prepare their airship for a morning departure.

A short time later, however, Suyin stopped by to visit the team again, asking Korra if Naga could track Aiwei. After being given an affirmative response, she handed Korra the key to a fully-loaded jeep, which they could use to find the traitor. She explained her agreement with Lin was just to let half-sibling hear what she wanted to hear, instead being a ploy to buy them time to begin their search. The metalbender assured them she would deal with Lin's wrath in the morning and embraced Korra before they left.

The next morning, Suyin was approached by Lin, who was wondering where Team Avatar was. Suyin assured her Korra was fine and was waiting to hear word on if she tracked down Aiwei. An angered Lin accused her of stabbing her in the back, but Suyin only replied by saying Lin could not control the Avatar's movements. She watched as her half-sibling walked away to decide to try.

Stopping the Red Lotus


Sometime later, Suyin was radioed by Team Avatar that they were on their way back to Zaofu and that she needed to try to get in contact with the Northern Air Temple to warn them of the Red Lotus' approach. She had her men continue to contact the temple while awaiting the arrival of the team's airship. She reported that they had not had any luck so far and voiced her worries about her daughter, prompting Lin to comfort her. Unable to keep waiting around, she announced that she would ready her airship, intending to travel toward the temple with a full force of the Metal Clan's security as back up to take on the Red Lotus.

Attempt to rescue Korra


On board the Zaofu airship bound for the Northern Air Temple, Suyin suggested an ambush attack from the west, dropping in on metal cables and quickly defeating the "lowlifes". Lin dismissed the plan because of the risk P'Li posed, but Suyin rebuffed her, asking if she had a better plan, to which she suggested dropping the valley and catching them off-guard by climbing up the mountain. Suyin was skeptical as it would give the Red Lotus the high ground and Ghazan the opportunity to melt them off the mountainside. When Korra stated any effort would be in vain because Zaheer would wipe out the airbenders upon sighting the team, Suyin stated her sympathy with her because of the danger posed to Opal. At Korra suggesting she turn herself over, the matriarch told her they would give her whatever she needed. After learning of Zaheer's desire to meet Korra alone at Laghima's Peak, Suyin came up with a new plan: aware that Zaheer did not know their strength in numbers, she suggested Mako, Bolin, and Asami head to the air temple while she, Lin, Tonraq, and her metalbenders would wait at the base of the peak.



While Suyin's group was slowly climbing the mountain, Mako radioed Lin to inform them of the Red Lotus' double-cross. The metalbenders rapidly ascended and confronted Zaheer and P'Li, the latter of whom moved to hold them off. Suyin and Lin fired large slabs of rock at the combustionbender while dodging her dangerous attacks. However, the half-siblings were forced to take cover behind a large rock due to P'Li's continuous strikes. Suyin was told by Lin to take their foe out while she distracted her, much to the matriarch's dismay. Lin told her she loved her before initiating the plan. After her sister was knocked to the cliff's edge and P'Li went for the finishing blew, Suyin bent her plate of armor at the combustionbender, causing P'Li's blast to blow up in her face, killing her. The metalbenders promptly swarmed in and surrounded Zaheer; Suyin threatening him to surrender. When Zaheer intentionally slipped off the edge, they ran toward it, only to see the airbender floating in mid-air. Suyin and Lin tried to capture him with metal cables, but the criminal flew away, much to their shock.

The group reunited in a forest away from the temple with Kai having help saved Mako, Bolin, Asami, and Tenzin. When Mako told the group of Bolin's lavabending feat to get out of the collapsing structure, Suyin expressed her faith in him, saying all he needed to do was believe in himself. She also told the rest of the group about his ability to fly. Kai subsequently told them about the location of the airbenders and probable location of Korra: a secret cave. With Oogi having arrived, the group had a means of transportation to reach the location in question. Kuvira told Suyin she wanted to come along, but the latter told her and the guards to stay behind and help the wounded.

Rescuing the airbenders
Kai led the group to the cave. Tenzin stayed behind and told them to find both the airbenders and his family, to which Suyin assured him they would not come out without any of the captives. The group burst into the cave and disabled one of the Red Lotus sentries. Suyin blocked an attack from the second sentry, allowing Asami to leap in and disable him with her electrified glove. She promptly rushed over to Opal and hugged her, though was pushed away by an eager Bolin, much to her annoyance. The metalbender subsequently helped in getting the captives out of the cave while Mako, Bolin, and Tonraq searched for Korra.



After the airbenders saved Korra and threw Zaheer to the ground with a tornado and quickly ensnared the criminal in an earth shell. The Avatar, however, had been poisoned, severely weakening her and leaving her on the verge of death. Jinora quickly told Suyin the poison was metallic, prompting the metalbender to rush over and feel for the substance. She began bending up her body and was able to draw the most of the liquid out, saving Korra.

Two weeks later on Air Temple Island, Suyin joined her half-sister, Tenzin and his family, Korra's family, Lord Zuko, and President Raiko, watching as Asami brought out a debilitated Korra. She later attended Jinora's airbending mastery ceremony, smiling as Tenzin praised both the airbender and the Avatar for their efforts in saving the Air Nation, and watched as Jinora's tattoos were revealed.

Rift in the ranks


In the wake of Hou-Ting's death, Suyin was asked to help restore order in the Earth Kingdom, as she had the trust of the world leaders backing her up and as a Beifong, she had credibility in the Earth Kingdom. Although she was honored by the request, she declined, as she was not interested in "imposing [her] ideals on an entire nation". As Kuvira argued that it would be an opportunity for Suyin to share Zaofu's progressive ways, the Zaofu matriarch posed that marching an army down to Ba Sing Se would be met with nothing but war. Although her captain of the guard stressed that there were already wars and that this was an opportunity to change things, Suyin's answer remained the same as she did not want to seize power for herself. Although she did not realize it at that time, her disagreement with Kuvira let to a rift between the two women. After some time, Kuvira and Suyin's eldest son, Baatar Jr., as well as a large part of Zaofu's security force and some of the city's wealthiest citizens, decided to march to the Earth Kingdom capital and take on the task that Suyin refused. Angered over the betrayal, Suyin ordered them all to stay, lest they would never be welcomed back. Despite the threat, Suyin was left alone as they left. Baatar Jr.'s leaving led to a falling out between him and Suyin, who felt betrayed by him.

174 AG
Suyin traveled to Republic City in order to attend Prince Wu's coronation as the new Earth King. As she was checking in to the Republic City Four Elements, she was greeted by her eldest son, whom she greeted in return as "Baatar Junior", which he dryly corrected to being just "Baatar". When he gloated about all of his and Kuvira's accomplishments, Suyin refuted his statements of them "doing good" as them conquering the Earth Kingdom. Although her son attempted to further enhance Kuvira's status, pointing to the fact that she would become an official member of the Beifong family through a marriage with him, Suyin did not react to the announcement and merely pointed out that she was glad Kuvira was stepping down the following day due to Wu's coronation.



Suyin attended Wu's coronation and bore witness to Kuvira's declaration of usurping power in the Earth Kingdom, which she renamed the "Earth Empire", although she was not impressed by the words. Afterward, she attended a meeting with the world leaders, who let her talk to Kuvira as their representative. When Kuvira scolded her for having assumed a passive attitude when the Earth Kingdom crumbled after Hou-Ting's death, Suyin corrected her former captain of the guard by pointing out that she did not want to seize power for herself as Kuvira had done. She declared that it was necessary for the greater good that Kuvira stepped down as leader of the Earth Empire as she was just another tyrant. When she stated that she knew what happened to cities that denounced Kuvira's rule, she was warned about the fate that would befall Zaofu if she would not follow Kuvira.



Suyin returned to Zaofu and after some time, a guard alerted her to the emergency that she had been expected. Although her husband, Baatar, stated he would contact President Raiko to receive help from the United Forces, Suyin did not particularly see the point in that as Kuvira had already arrived with the full force of her army. Facilitating a meeting with Kuvira, Baatar Jr., and Bolin, Suyin made it clear to her former protégée that she was not giving up her city, regardless of the military pressure Kuvira brought with her. She tried to reason with her son, saying that he must have realized that all he had done the past three years had gone directly against what she and Baatar had tried to teach him. When Baatar Jr. coldly refuted her, Suyin wondered how he did not realize that he had been brainwashed by Kuvira. As tensions rose high and Bolin tried to defuse the situation, Suyin angrily walked up to Kuvira, expressing her disbelief over the fact that the latter had attempted to use Bolin to sway them into surrendering the city. She ordered the military officers to leave, emphasizing that Zaofu would never accept Kuvira as its leader, though received the warning in return that she had twenty-four hours to agree to join the Earth Empire, lest the city would be taken by force.

While she was conversing with the rest of her family, Suyin was glad and relieved to find Korra entering her home. She promptly moved to embrace the Avatar and asked where she had been all those years. Korra waved off the question to be answered at a later time and asked Suyin how she could help in stopping Kuvira. The Zaofu matriarch took the Avatar on a walk during which she was asked how her relationship with Kuvira had grown sour. Suyin briefly relayed her history with Kuvira, from the start of their relationship until the betrayal three years prior. When Korra declared that she wanted to fix the situation, Suyin stated that she needed to access the Avatar State and destroy Kuvira's army in order to remove Kuvira from power.

After Korra left to attempt reasoning with Kuvira, despite Suyin's warning that there was no talking to her former protégée, the Zaofu matriarch, together with Wei and Wing, sneaked out of the city and infiltrated Kuvira's camp in order to take care of the military threat themselves. But, they were caught in a trap and arrested by Kuvira, who use them to require Zaofu surrender and join Earth Empire under her leadership.

Personality


A direct opposite of Lin's uptight and blunt personality, Suyin is a more carefree and upbeat individual. She enjoys many hobbies as a means to express herself. She is also very open with her opinion, showing personal distaste for political control to revolve around royalty. She also has a deep love for family, even for her estranged half-sister. She is very much a humanist in her beliefs, seeing the potential in other people and encouraging them to pursue their passions and talents to the ultimate extent of their capabilities. She does a good job of this, especially in regards to encouraging her very diverse children and their respective interests; from her eldest son's engineering projects with her architect husband, to Huan's sculpting career, Wei and Wing's athletics, and her daughter Opal's airbending. In addition, Suyin believes in giving others a second chance at redemption, as she does with Varrick even though he is a wanted fugitive. However, she did not offer Aiwei such leniency following his personal betrayal of Suyin and Zaofu. As a progressive humanist who favors technology as the driving factor for a nation, she does not believe in spreading change through subjugation and opposed those who claim power they are not entitled to for themselves.

Realizing that her mother allowing her and Lin too much freedom when they were younger was the cause of many of her youthful troubles, she is more controlling and protective of her own children, similar to her own grandparents. She does however realize this when she allows Opal to leave home to train.

When dangerous matters arises, she is extremely loyal to her allies, willing to help them in any way as long as she believes they are doing the right thing. However, she is not above going behind her sister's back, as she helped Team Avatar load a jeep full of supplies so they could track down Aiwei and the Red Lotus despite Lin having protested the plan.

Earthbending


Like her mother and half-sister, Suyin is a very proficient earthbender, mastering both the traditional style and its sub-skill, metalbending; in battle, she is able to immediately shift between styles or utilize both in perfect unison, and her proficiency in metalbending enabled her to construct an entire city out of metal. As a dancer, she is rather graceful, maintaining both her balance and posture while swinging down a metal cable in synchronization with her troupe. Using this skill in battle, she can seamlessly twist and maneuver through a barrage of earth projectiles with no wasted movement. Suyin also has great precision, able to curve several metal shards in the air in order to pierce a glider staff. Her control over metal is also fine enough to bend even liquid metal that she cannot see, as exemplified by her bending most of the mercury out of Korra's body. Despite all this, her mother, Toph, did not believe Suyin picked up all the specifics of metalbending.

Suyin is also capable of using the seismic sense technique, able to effectively determine how many people are in a location.

Other skills
Suyin is also a skilled tactician, able to plan battle strategies and pick out key points in areas which she demonstrated in her and her metalbenders' attempt to rescue Korra from the Red Lotus. Suyin is also a skilled dancer, leading Zaofu's dance troupe in performances.

Appearances
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Book Four: Balance (平衡)
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Trivia

 * Suyin and her sister are the first known siblings in The Legend of Korra to be half-siblings, as well as the second pair in the franchise, after Zuko and Azula and their younger half-sister, Kiyi.
 * Neither Suyin nor Lin know the identities of their respective fathers.
 * Suyin is the first master to instruct the Avatar in the art of metalbending.
 * A young Suyin was voiced by Jessie Flower, who also voiced her mother, Toph, in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
 * Suyin is the only known female to have ever been part of a bending triad.
 * Suyin is the second known character in the Avatar universe to scar a close relative, the first character being Ozai in Avatar: The Last Airbender. However, Suyin accidentally scarred Lin, whereas Ozai scarred Zuko deliberately.