Lao Beifong

"earth"

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

Lao Bei Fong was a wealthy figure in the Earth Kingdom village of Gaoling. He was married to Poppy Bei Fong and the father of Toph. Caring deeply for his daughter and only wishing for her safety, he was far too overprotective of her, even to the extend that he hid her existence from the rest of the world.

History
Toph's father cared deeply for his daughter but failed to recognize what was best for her, and thought her blindness made her weak and frail. Due to his fear, he was unaware of Toph's Earthbending skills until he saw her in combat. When he witnessed her Earthbending prowess, his fear for her increased and reinforced in his mind that she should be guarded even more closely. While Lao did love Toph, he was extremely overprotective and this drove her to run away from home. When Toph ran away to teach the Avatar, he 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 takes" to rescue her.

Some months later, Toph, with the help of Katara, sent a letter to her parents using Sokka's messenger hawk, but no known reply was received.

His ultimate fate after the War is unknown.

Personality
Lao Bei Fong was generally a caring and kind man who sought the best for his family. He could be extremely overbearing, however, notably towards his only daughter, Toph. Ignorant to her true Earthbending abilities, he saw her as helpless and fragile, an image Toph did not compare to. The truth of 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.

Relatives

 * Poppy Bei Fong (wife)
 * Toph Bei Fong (daughter)
 * Bei Fong (granddaughter)

Trivia

 * According to Toph's passport and the fake letter from her mother, Bei Fong is written as 北方 and when put after 老(lào) translates as Old North or Mr. North.
 * The prestigious Bei Fong family was not the richest in the world, or the Earth Kingdom for that matter. They were, however, the wealthiest and most influential family in the southern Earth Kingdom.