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, to the extent of hiding her existence from the rest of the world.

History
After it was discovered that Toph was an earthbender, Lao enrolled her in earthbending classes with Master Yu, though only allowed her to learn basic forms and breathing techniques. Lao loved his only child dearly but failed to recognize what his daughter truly wanted. He thought Toph's blindness made her weak, helpless, and frail, and because of this belief, he had her guarded and cared for the majority of the time. However, unknown to him, Toph had superb earthbending skills. When Toph revealed her earthbending prowess by defeating the Earth Rumble VI competitors who were keeping Avatar Aang captive, his fear for her safety increased rather than diminished. He resolved to guard her even more closely by claiming that she had too much time for leisurely activities. This drove Toph to run away from the confines of her home at the age of twelve to teach Aang earthbending. Upon realizing she was missing, Lao assumed Aang had kidnapped her 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 bring [her] home", with a chest of gold as a reward.

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

Personality
Lao was generally a caring and kind man who sought the best for his family; however, he could be extremely overbearing, notably to his only daughter, Toph. Ignorant to Toph's true earthbending abilities, he perceived her as helpless and fragile, an image to which, in reality, Toph did not compare in the least. Toph's blindness resulted in his overprotectiveness 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's own desires. It was the culmination of his overprotective nature and his blindness to the truth which galvanized Toph to leave, but even following this, rather than admitting his error, his attitude didn't change, as he thought Aang had kidnapped her.

Trivia

 * According to Toph's passport and the fake letter from her mother, Beifong is written as and when succeeding, his full name translates to Old North or Mr. North.