Lin Beifong

"earth"

- Come on, show a little more backbone. It's time the benders of this city displayed some strength and unity against these Equalists.

Lin Beifong, the daughter of Toph Beifong, is the former Chief of Republic City's Metalbending Police Force. Although her mother taught Avatar Korra's previous incarnation how to earthbend, Lin had no special affection for the new Avatar when she first arrived. According to Lin, Korra's reckless ways left one of Republic City's streets in ruin, making her one of the biggest threats the city had faced in recent times. However, this changed when Amon and his Equalists made their public appearance and openly challenged the benders of the world.

Background
Born to Toph Beifong two decades after the War, Lin Beifong inherited the earthbending prowess of her mother, eventually mastering the art and its subskill, metalbending. She would later become the Chief of Police of Republic City, where she stood as the head of the Metalbending Police Force.

Since her mother was friends with Avatar Aang, Lin and Tenzin knew each other since childhood. According to Tenzin, she got along "famously" with his father. Earlier in her life, she dated Tenzin, but the two eventually drifted apart. The relationship was broken completely after Pema confessed her love for the airbender. According to Tenzin, Lin then unsuccessfully tried to throw Pema in jail.

Avatar Korra's arrival


When Korra arrived in Republic City, she was subsequently arrested and brought before Chief Lin Beifong. Tenzin eventually came to exempt the young Avatar of the charges; however, Lin made it clear that she wanted Korra out of her city. The next day, she attended a press conference during which Korra announced herself as the Avatar to Republic City. At that time, the new Avatar was also asked if she would be working with Chief Beifong, a question to which she did not reply.

Lin later encountered Korra again at a party hosted by Councilman Tarrlok, where she remained unimpressed with the Avatar, stating that Korra had done absolutely nothing to deserve the city's praise.

The Championship Finals


When the United Republic Council was planning to shut down the Pro-bending Arena after Amon's threat, Lin entered City Hall and, albeit reluctantly agreed with Korra, demanding that the Council show some backbone. In exchange for keeping the arena open, the chief agreed to provide heavy security for the event. This agreement convinced the Council to leave the arena open. Tenzin encountered Lin later and tried to provide her protection, but she demanded that she not be babysat, insisting she could take care of herself. She then ignored Korra's thanks for agreeing with her in the Council meeting and walked away.

Lin worked on establishing detailed security for the event, and finally agreed to bury an old hatchet and work together with Tenzin. As Tenzin became enraged about the Wolfbats' bending of the rules, Lin became amused by this, claiming that she did not think he would know the rules of pro-bending. The two exchanged some conversation during the match as the Wolfbats won a controversial victory, mostly after Korra won her tie-breaker match with Tahno. Lin becomes somewhat impressed, remarking that she could not believe that the sweet-tempered Aang was reincarnated into Korra, whom she described to be "tough as nails". Tenzin then commented that Korra reminded him of Lin at that age, and that he believed they would get along if she would give her a chance.

The Equalists came prepared, and Lin's security proved to be useless. After the match, the Equalists attacked the two with electrified gloves, rendering them unconscious. When they came to, Amon was escaping the arena with Korra in pursuit. Seeing the Avatar fall after her waterbending lift came up short, Lin jumped into action and used her cables to save Korra from falling. She then flung her up to the roof of the arena, allowing Korra to fight the Equalists.



Once she joined the Avatar on the roof, Lin was stunned again by the Lieutenant, but managed to recover and contend with the Equalists. Just as the chief attached her cables to the Equalists' airship, however, Korra fell through the Pro-bending Arena's glass ceiling. After making a difficult decision, Lin let go of the airship and used the cables to once again save Korra. Korra thanked her, and then the police chief expressed her regret for allowing Amon to play her for a fool.

Investigating the Sato factory
After the Equalist attack, Lin received notoriety from the public for failing to capture Amon. Councilman Tarrlok even proposed in a press conference that she be replaced as the Chief of Police. She began conducting numerous investigations with Tenzin, interrogating the witnesses of the incident in the arena. She later received intelligence that Cabbage Corp had manufactured the weapons that the Equalists used, so the Metalbending Police Force proceeded to shut down the company and arrest the owner.

When Lin and Tenzin were alerted by Korra of a possible connection between Hiroshi Sato and the Equalists, the metalbender at first doubted about its veracity but then agreed with Tenzin that he would have both the means and the motive. The chief and the airbender then went to the Sato estate to question him further. The businessman then excused his guilt, claiming it was all a misunderstanding. He then agreed to have his factory searched by Lin's officers. However, the chief and her men were not able to find anything to incriminate Sato.

However, a worker in the factory slipped Korra a note telling her to meet him underneath the Silk Road Bridge. The Avatar, Lin, and Tenzin met the worker, who explained that Sato was an Equalist, that he had indeed manufactured the weapons used during the arena attack, and that he was working on an even more powerful weapon, for which he had a secret factory underneath his mansion.



Lin, Korra, and Tenzin, escorted by some metalbending officers, conducted a second search of the Sato estate, and discovered a massive factory with Equalist propaganda and several weapons, including new, massive robot-like machines, mecha tanks. However, they soon realized they had been lured into a trap as Hiroshi Sato sealed the factory off and began to engage Lin, Korra, Tenzin, and the officers in battle with the new machines. While the group was able to fend off Sato, he and the Equalists eventually overpowered the benders and rendered them unconscious. Sato ordered his men to bind the officers and then bring them to Amon.

Meanwhile, Mako and Bolin managed to sneak into the factory undetected, and began to carry Korra, Tenzin, and Lin out. When Sato discovered them and prepared to attack the brothers, Asami appeared and used an electrified glove to knock out her father and the Lieutenant, giving time for the rest of the group and herself to escape via airship. They, however, were forced to leave Lin's officers behind.

While on the airship heading back to the city, Lin, still in pain from the attack, told Tenzin that she feared for the fate of her men and, since she had failed as police chief, was planning to tender her resignation in the morning. Tenzin told her to not give up the fight, but the metalbender stated she was resigning so that she could find her men and take down Amon her way: outside the law.

Lin officially tendered her resignation the next morning and turned the chief's position over to Saikhan.

Searching for Avatar Korra


Some days later, Lin awoke to a radio broadcast announcing that Korra had been kidnapped by the Equalists. She went to the prison and quickly freed Asami, Mako, and Bolin, who had been imprisoned by the Metalbending Police Force under Tarrlok's orders. Uncovering a network of tunnels under the city, the four, including Tenzin, discovered and infiltrated the Equalist hideout. Lin also found the officers who she was forced to abandon underneath Hiroshi Sato's mansion; however, once she discovered that Amon had already taken their bending away, she expressed regret and apologized for arriving too late. Several minutes later, a chi blocker they had captured then told them under duress that the Equalists had never kidnapped Korra and that Tarrlok had been lying. With the help of Lin's earthbending and metalbending, they escaped from their pursuers via tram, the group making its way out of the underground tunnels to the surface. From there, they traveled toward City Hall to confront Tarrlok.

Once they arrived, the group challenged Tarrlok's story of what had happened the previous night, telling him they knew he was lying and had Korra. His assistant then revealed that he was a bloodbender, and he had, in fact, kidnapped the Avatar. Lin and Tenzin readied themselves for combat, but Tarrlok knocked the entire group unconscious by bloodbending them. After they woke up, they resumed their search for Korra.

Later, when Lin and the others heard Naga howl, they traveled to the source of the sound and found the polar bear dog with Korra on her back. Lin attempted to find out from Korra where Tarrlok was, but Mako pushed her aside, demanding that they all gave Korra some space.

Defending Air Temple Island


After finding Korra, Lin decided to stay at Air Temple Island. Before Tenzin had to leave for an important council meeting, he asked Lin to protect his family, to which she agreed, although she showed regret afterward when Pema asked her to give Meelo a bath. Afterwards, sounds of explosions made it clear that Republic City was under attack, prompting Lin to order the family to go inside. When the Equalists came, she tried to defend herself, but was electrified. Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo came to her rescue and defeated the group of attackers in a small battle with surprising ease. As more airships started coming, Tenzin decided to take his family to a safer location away from Republic City.

Lin knew the family would need protection and accompanied them, taking it upon herself to protect the last airbenders in existence. As she and Tenzin's family fled, two Equalist airships pursued them. After tearing up the net launched by one of the airships, Lin made the difficult decision to attack the aircraft, telling Tenzin not to turn back, no matter what happened to her. Using the broken net's cable, she jumped off of Oogi and climbed atop the airship using her metal wires. Once on top, she ripped a hole in the metal and tore the top of the airship in two. She jumped to the second one to do the same, but was ambushed by Equalists and knocked out with an electrified bolus.



Following the capture of the metalbender, the lone Equalist airship turned back and stopped pursuing Tenzin and his family. Lin's sacrifice prompted Meelo to declare her his hero, a statement with which Tenzin solemnly agreed.

Lin was brought back to Air Temple Island to face Amon. He inquired about Korra's whereabouts, telling her that if she complied, he would not remove her bending. Lin, tied up and defenseless, chose to remain silent and willingly sacrificed her bending in order to protect the Avatar. Amon removed her bending and she collapsed to the ground.

Earthbending restored


Despite losing her bending, Lin accompanied Team Avatar throughout Amon's conquest. After Amon was outed as a bender, Lin traveled with Team Avatar and Tenzin's family to the Southern Water Tribe compound, where Korra hoped Katara would be able to restore her bending. When Katara said she was unable to restore Korra's bending, Lin grievingly remarked that Katara, the best healer in the world, must be able to do something, as otherwise Amon's damage could never be undone. However, when Korra ran away on Naga, she was visited by Aang's spirit, who restored her bending through energybending. Later, Korra used energybending to restore Lin's earthbending, substantiated when Lin raised a number of boulders surrounding their location. Afterwards, she thanked Korra for restoring her bending.

Personality


During her time as police chief, Lin was tough, uncompromising, and displayed great leadership. Tenzin himself described her as "challenging". She makes it clear when she is irritated or dislikes someone, being abrasive, especially toward Tenzin and Korra. However, she can show her soft side at times. When she was Chief of Police, she apprehended anyone who broke the law, regardless of their intent, as she was quick to condemn the actions of Korra when the Avatar destroyed public and private property in an attempt to thwart the actions of the Triple Threat Triad. She believes that the only way to maintain peace and stability in Republic City is through the use of military might, and worked hard to enforce the city's laws, and felt that Korra could potentially compromise this stability. However, she and Korra both worked together in trying to defeat Amon, proving that she now trusts Korra to a certain extent. Since the Pro-bending finals battle, she seems to have become a bit less harsh toward not only Korra but Tenzin as well, to the point of rescuing Korra's friends and helping Tenzin and his family escape the Equalists.

Lin has many traits that at first appear to be different from those of her mother, Toph. While her mother, at least in her younger years, was freewheeling and laid back where rules were concerned, Lin has a no-nonsense attitude and takes the rules that were set in Republic City very seriously. However, Lin has also shown to be willing to work outside the law to free her officers, displaying a Toph-like attitude. Moreover, it is likely that as Chief of Police, adult Toph also displayed a law-upholding attitude.

Lin has inherited her mother's habit of not giving special treatment to others based on titles, as seen through her treatment of Korra. Despite her indifferent and somewhat cold exterior, Lin also cares deeply for the safety of Republic City, and takes responsibility for those who serve under her, as demonstrated when she decided to resign from her job so she could work outside the law and its limitations to save her officers taken captive by the Equalists.

Earthbending
Like her renowned mother, Lin has mastered earthbending. She is able to easily manipulate large and multiple stone structures at once, as well as launch herself high up into the air. She is also equally proficient in both traditional earthbending and her mother's style.



Lin has also demonstrated a great mastery of the sub-skill seismic sense, which allows her detect with great precision the layout of the general area. This also allows her to locate subterranean structures and determine who is within the area. For example, she was able to locate her captured officers within an Equalist hideout, but also perceive that Korra was not present. She could also sense the mechanism of a locked door without seeing it to effectively open it with her bending. Like Toph, Lin's ability is limited without direct skin contact, requiring her to either use her hands or retract the soles on her boots.

Following the Equalist attack on Air Temple Island, Lin's refusal to reveal Avatar Korra's location resulted in the removal of her bending by Amon. Her abilities were later restored by Avatar Korra, and she was seen levitating several large boulders with ease.

Metalbending


As the former head of the Metalbending Police Force, Lin is especially proficient in the advanced art of metalbending, able to rip metal beams or floors from their bearings and single-handedly tear apart an airship's metal hull. For more general use, Lin uses her standard retractable metal cables, which are highly versatile in battle. With them, she is able to perform considerable acrobatics, easily moving around the Pro-bending Arena to reach its roof. She can also fashion them as wrist blades for close-range battle. Lin performed intricate and otherwise delicate metalbending as well, from unlocking metal handcuffs from a distance to wrapping her armor around herself, and even closing up Bolin's fly.

Other skills
Despite being middle-aged, Lin is very agile, quickly recovering from a chi blocker attack and in the same move, somersaulting upright and taking down two chi blockers. Her reflexes are great enough to handle multiple chi blockers by herself. Like her mother, Lin is also considerably strong, able to launch Korra onto the roof of the Pro-bending Arena with one cable while using the other to swing in the air. She has also shown considerable aim, able to snap Tarrlok's gavel from across a large room with one of her metal cables.

Trivia

 * She was first announced on July 23, 2011 at San Diego Comic-Con, and is the second named child of a member of (the original) Team Avatar to appear, the first being Tenzin.
 * Chief Beifong's appearance bears a greater resemblance to her grandmother Poppy Beifong than to her mother, at least as seen in the Avatar: The Last Airbender series.
 * Lin was responsible for updating the metal cables on the police uniform from being in their belts to being in spools on their backs.
 * Lin Beifong's character design, aside from her personality, was partially inspired by Han Young Ja, the general manager at Studio Mir, and longtime friend and colleague of Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino.
 * When Korra was frustrated with her inability to airbend, she tried directing an airbending attack at a newspaper hanging on a line with an image of Lin on the front page. When she failed to blast it away, she set fire to it instead.
 * Lin is the first person in The Legend of Korra to use seismic sense, but the third in both series. The first one to use this was Toph, who then taught it to Aang. Lin then learned it from Toph.
 * Despite being an earthbending master, Lin appears to heavily favor metalbending.
 * Lin's method of equipping herself with armor resembles that of many heroic characters throughout media history, such as Iron Man.
 * Lin is the first known female victim of bending removal, the first person to have their bending restored by Korra, and only the second person to have their bending restored by an Avatar.
 * Lin is a Chinese female name that may be written with the Chinese character for "beautiful jade"(琳). It is also a common Chinese surname that is often written as 林 meaning "forest".
 * It was confirmed by the creators that Lin did not want to have children and that this difference of opinion with Tenzin hurt their relationship.
 * Lin Beifong deciding to fight outside the law is ironic, considering how she had no patience for people who would use vigilante justice against criminals during the first episode.