Toph Beifong's relationships

This page comprises of Toph Bei Fong's relationships with other characters in the series.

Parents

 * "I know I shouldn’t complain, my parents gave me everything that I ever asked for. But they never gave me the one thing that I really wanted: their love." Toph to Zuko in "Sozin's Comet, Part 1: The Phoenix King"



Toph has a complicated, love-hate relationship with her parents. Due to the fact that their daughter was blind, her parents viewed her as helpless and fragile. In turn, they over-protected her. Toph was kept inside her family's house and guarded at all times. As a result, she never had any contact with her peers and never had any real friends. In fact, they kept her under such close guard that many people in her own village didn't even know she existed. Toph resents her parents for their treatment of her and she would often run away from home.

The relationship between Toph and her parents would change after she met the Avatar. After she used an impressive display of Earthbending to free Aang from Xin Fu and his fighters, she confronted her father who had seen the whole thing. She pleaded with her parents for them to see her for herself, and not as a helpless blind girl. Her father reacted by placing her under even more restrictions. This caused Toph to run away from home for good and join Aang in his journey to save the world in order to teach him Earthbending. She claims that her parents changed their mind, but in reality, her parents still had the same opinion of her. In the commentary for "The Blind Bandit", the creators stated that Toph's parents love her, but they are scared of and for her, which causes them to be controlling.

In "The Runaway", Toph begins acting out by scamming several people. Katara confronts her about this behavior and Toph lashes out at her, accusing her of being "motherly" and makes a reference about how fun they had without parents. Katara reasons that she only acts wild because of her relationship with her parents. After the two make up, Toph reveals that she misses her parents, and that she feels guilty for hurting them when she ran away. At the end of the episode, Toph has Katara write her parents a letter and they sent it to them via Hawky.

It is unknown if Toph gets a reply to her letter, if she returns to her parents after the end of the War or what the current state of her relationship is with them, as she was not seen with her family in the finale.

Aang

 * "Keep your knees high, twinkletoes!" Toph to Aang in "Bitter Work"

Aang had a vision of Toph in the episode "The Swamp", but it is not until the episode "The Blind Bandit" that the two actually meet. First encountering one another at the underground Earth Rumble VI Earthbending tournament, Toph considered Aang a rival at first when he almost effortlessly defeated her through Airbending. In the beginning, she was unwilling to talk to Aang and forcefully kept him quiet when he tried to talk to her parents at dinner about her Earthbending skills. After dinner, however, a truce was made and Toph explained to Aang her ability to listen to the earth and talks to him about her life under her overbearing parents. Later, Toph single-handedly saved Aang when he was held captive by the participants of the Earthbending tournament. She soon joined him on his quest after running away from home, but not before throwing him into a tree via Earthbending to even the score from the tournament.

In the episode "Bitter Work", Toph began to teach Aang Earthbending, but complications arose between Toph's teaching style and Aang's natural tendencies as an Airbender. Earthbending is, according to Toph, about directly taking on a challenge, not trying to find a way around or over it. The two also clashed personality-wise as Aang's pacifistic, carefree attitude was ill-prepared to deal with the tough and stubborn Toph. She even went as far as intentionally acting mean by taking Aang's staff and using it as a nutcracker in order to get a rise out of the passive Aang. Counter-productively, Aang's peaceful nature prevented him from acting, and depression came as a result. Only after an insightful talk with Katara about earth being his natural opposite element, did Aang start thinking positively.

Later, when he was forced to confront a ferocious Saber-tooth Moose-lion in order to protect trapped Sokka, Aang finally stood his ground and learned to think like an Earthbender. Toph was revealed to have been observing all the while, and after Aang proved his new toughness by taking back his staff and moving a boulder, Toph finally proclaimed him an Earthbender.

Toph often refered to Aang as "Twinkle Toes", which was likely out of friendly humor rather than insult. The nickname originated from Aang's hovering when they fought in "The Blind Bandit". She commented that he was "light on his feet" and asked if his tournament name was "The Fancy Dancer." In "City of Walls and Secrets" she was able to find Aang in a large crowd because of his light footsteps.

Aang and Toph's relationship was quite strained at times. Toph's hardheaded nature clashed with Aang's on several occasions, particularly over the subject of Appa. In the episode "The Chase," a tired Toph, weary of going days without sleep, blamed Appa's shedding as the reason they could not shake their mysterious pursuers. Although she was right, Aang immediately jumped to Appa's defense, which resulted in Toph's abandoning the group for a short time. Later, in the episode "The Desert", after Appa was stolen by Sandbenders, Aang accused Toph of allowing the thieves to steal him. Only Katara was able to reason with him, reminding Aang that Toph had still managed to save the rest of the group even if it was at the cost of losing Appa. Nonetheless, they had been able to work together when dealing with threats, such as the Fire Nation and the Dai Li. They appeared to get along much better. In the episode "The Earth King", Aang referred to everyone, including Toph, as his family.

Katara

 * "The truth is, sometimes Katara does act motherly, but that's not always a bad thing. She's compassionate and kind, and she actually cares about me. You know, the real me. That's more than my own mom." Toph to Sokka in "The Runaway"



Katara has shown great sympathy for Toph over her restricted life under her parents. Like Aang and Sokka, Katara gladly welcomed Toph into their group. The two were at odds with one another after Toph refused to help set up their campsite in the episode "The Chase"; Toph said she was carrying her own weight. Toph, at one point, referred insultingly to Katara as "Sugar Queen". However, at the end of the episode, they had reached better terms with each other. In the episode "Bitter Work", Katara tried to help Toph by offering her wisdom on how to teach Aang Earthbending, although Toph naturally ignored the suggestion because of the fundamental difference between the head-on attitude of Earthbending and the redirection of Waterbending. At the very least, Toph seemed to respect Katara as an equal, Bender to Bender. Katara and Toph's relationship is often thought of as an older and younger sister bond.

In "The Desert", Katara was the only one who stuck up for Toph when Aang blamed her for not saving Appa.

Later, in "The Tales of Ba Sing Se", Katara and Toph got makeovers together and the usually self-confident Toph felt down about her looks after a group of pompous girls made rude comments about her. Katara managed to cheer her up by expressing her admiration for the fact she did not care about other people's opinion about her, for which she was rewarded with a friendly (and unintentionally painful) punch in the arm. The two of them definitely respect each other and seemed to be becoming good friends by this point.

The two were in conflict a second time in "The Runaway" when Toph accused Katara of being over-bearing and "motherly". Katara said that Toph was acting this way because of her parents and because she was feeling guilty about running away. This made Toph exceptionally angry. However, in this episode, Toph, in a private conversation with Sokka which Katara overhears, admitted that Katara's motherly ways could be good sometimes. The pair made up when Toph told Katara that the real reason she was so angry when Katara accused her of acting out was because she was feeling guilty about her parents, thereby proving the fact that Katara was indeed correct.

Toph also has nicknames for Katara which include "Sugar Queen", "Madame Fussy Britches" and "Sweetness", which link to Katara's motherly nature and habits. She has used them to insult her whenever they have argued.

Sokka

 * "I don't know. They missed you or something. I didn't care." - Toph while secretly blushing in "Sokka's Master"



Because of Toph's young age and blindness, Sokka was skeptical of her Earthbending powers at first. Upon witnessing her skills, however, he was astonished to the point of fainting. Afterwards, he gladly welcomed Toph into their group. Just as Sokka was doubtful of Toph's fighting skills, Toph thought little of Sokka's abilities as a warrior, dismissing his fighting skills due to his lack of bending abilities.

Though they were initially hostile, in "The Chase" Sokka was the only member of the group who did not confront Toph for her apparent lack of responsibility, and later confronted Katara and Aang with the realization that they "were pretty much jerks". He was also the only one who attempted to stop her when she tried to leave the group. The two had come to an easy understanding, and frequently worked together to accomplish tasks outside the range of one or the other.

During the episode "The Serpent's Pass", Toph was knocked into a large body of water while crossing it on an ice bridge. Unable to swim, Toph called for help and, though Sokka began to jump to her rescue, Suki was able to reach Toph before Sokka had entered the water. Unaware that it was Suki, Toph gleefully thanked Sokka for the rescue and kissed Suki on the cheek. She was very embarrassed to find out what actually happened, commenting that Suki could let her drown. The creators confirmed that the scene was intended to show Toph's romantic interest in Sokka.

When Sokka briefly left the group to pursue the tutelage of a renowned sword master in "Sokka's Master", Aang, Katara, and Toph all expressed regret over his absence, reflecting that his humor and strict adherence to a planned schedule had given them entertainment and focus in their lives. When Sokka returned, Toph claimed that she had not missed him, but turned aside and blushed afterwards, providing more evidence that Toph had a crush on him. Sokka also seemed to connect with Toph more than with any other character in the group. As they departed, Sokka gave her a piece of meteorite that was used in crafting his sword. Being composed of earth and metal, Toph was able to mold the fragment into any shape or form she desired and wore it as an arm bracelet. She later expressed how valuable her meteorite arm bracelet was to her when she let herself get captured by Fire Nation soldiers, only to have her plan backfire on her. When Katara asked if she has the bracelet so that they might escape, Toph told her she left it at camp because she feared of it getting taken away from her by the soldiers. In "The Runaway", Sokka remained the only person who managed to settle the argument between Toph and Katara. He also trusted Toph enough to tell her that he couldn't remember his mother's face and that he only saw Katara's face when he tried to picture his mother's face, which he hadn't told anyone before, just as she trusted him enough to tell him how she actually appreciated Katara's motherly attitude sometimes.

During the search for Fire Lord Ozai in the "Day of Black Sun", Toph used her expert Earthbending and Metalbending abilities to locate the underground bunkers. Sokka constantly expressed his admiration for Toph's abilities during this search and how happy he was that Toph had been added to the group.

Toph and Sokka ("Captain Boomerang" as Toph called him) made a superb team while destroying Ozai's Airships alongside Suki during the arrival of Sozin's Comet. When Suki was separated from them, Toph helped Sokka finish the attack. Unfortunately, the two fell off one of the Airships and hung helplessly as Sokka gripped onto the hull. Sokka desperately tried to defend Toph and himself as the Firebenders attacked, but was soon rendered powerless. Toph cried when she realized both of them would die, as Sokka was about to be struck down. Fortunately, the duo was saved by Suki, and they succeeded in finishing the attack. They celebrated their victory with the gang at Ba Sing Se. Although it was never confirmed that Toph was over her crush on Sokka, her seeming acceptance of Suki as they joke after Ozai is subdued shows that she probably doesn't mind their relationship. Because of this, it is generally regarded that their relationship is platonic.

Do NOT add information about Toph holding on to Sokka's arm while riding Appa in The Crossroads of Destiny. Anything mentioned would just be interpretation instead of factual. Discuss interpretations on the "Discussion", not the article.

Iroh

 * "I met him in the woods once and knocked him down. Then he gave me tea and some very good advice." Toph to Aang and Sokka in "The Crossroads of Destiny"



Toph meets Iroh in an Earth Kingdom forest when she temporarily separates from Aang, Sokka, and Katara in the episode "The Chase". The two sit around a fire that Iroh uses to make tea and engage in conversation, although neither indicates his/her purpose for traveling or the identities of his/her relations. Iroh notes that Toph is a lot like his nephew because they both try to do too much by themselves. He also comments that there is nothing wrong with needing help, and sometimes people offer help because they want to, not because they believe the other person is incapable. Toph thanks him for the advice and suggests that Iroh tell his nephew how much he means to him.

Toph and Iroh encounter each other again later in the episode when the two participate with Aang, Sokka, Katara, and Zuko in cornering Azula in an abandoned Earth Kingdom town. Iroh's attention is distracted off of Azula when he notices Toph's presence and her association with Aang, Sokka, and Katara. Taking advantage of his lack of focus on her, Azula wounds Iroh with a blast of fire before successfully fleeing. Toph shows particular concern for her new friend, but leaves him after Zuko violently demands that she and the others leave him and Iroh alone.

In "The Crossroads of Destiny", when Iroh seeks Aang, Sokka, and Toph in order to seek their help in rescuing Zuko, Toph refers to him as an old friend.

In "The Ember Island Players, Toph refers back to her meeting with Iroh in order to reassure Zuko about Iroh forgiving him. She says that Iroh's constant talk about Zuko was "kind of annoying" but "very sweet". In "Sozin's Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters, she says Zuko's keeping of Iroh's stinky sandal was "kind of sweet", referring back to her general knowledge about Iroh and Zuko's relationship that was founded upon this first meeting.

Appa

 * "I'm sorry, Appa." Toph to Appa after he gets captured in "The Library"



Toph hates and fears flying, as it renders her truly blind; at best, she's bored and restless while flying on Appa. This is emphasized in "The Library" when she claims to have spotted the titular library from Appa's back, only to remind her friends that she is blind.

Toph expresses some dislike towards Appa in "The Chase" when she angrily points out that Appa's shedding left a large trail that allowed Azula to find them no matter how far or fast they flew.

In "The Library", Toph tries her best to protect Appa from being stolen by Sandbenders. She can't fight her hardest since she also has to keep Aang, Katara and Sokka's only exit from an ancient library from falling into sand, which curtails her abilities. This causes her to fail in protecting Appa, and her sadness afterwards shows that she does care for Appa as a friend.

Toph, along with everyone else in the gang, is very happy to see Appa again when he returns to the group in "Lake Laogai". Despite her persistent dislike for flying, Toph cares much more about Appa in later episodes.

Zuko

 * "I’m going with Zuko! What? Everyone else went on a life changing field trip with Zuko. Now it’s my turn." Toph says to the rest of Team Avatar in "Sozin's Comet, Part 1: The Phoenix King"



In the episode "The Western Air Temple", Toph is the only one in the group who doesn't dismiss Zuko right away after he expressed his desire to join the gang (other than Appa,) scolding Aang, Katara and Sokka afterwards for letting their hurt feelings cloud their judgment. She even went as far as to yell "I'm beginning to wonder who's really the blind one around here!" and then stormed off. She is also a realist, pointing out that, besides Zuko, there is no one who could teach Aang firebending, stressing the prince's importance. At night, she secretly visits Zuko at his camp site; Zuko, assuming it was an enemy or a wild beast, accidentally burns her feet. This, however, does not deter her opinion of him, and after he defends the group from Combustion Man she lets him join them under the pretext that it will give her plenty of opportunities to get back at him for burning her feet.

Presumably, her ability to remain neutral or objective towards Zuko may stem from the fact that she was not yet a part of the group at the time they were heavily persecuted by him, having only had a brief exchange with him during The Chase.

In the episode "The Firebending Masters", unlike Sokka and Katara, Toph gives helpful advice to Zuko when his firebending becomes weaker. She suggests he relearn firebending by learning from the original source. During the first part of the Finale, when Aang disappears prior to the arrival of the comet, Toph grabs Zuko's arm and insists that she join him during their search for Aang, stating it was her turn for a "field trip" with him (Zuko blushes at the sudden act). Toph tells of her life-story and her troubles at home, however, Zuko somewhat brushes her off, obviously more occupied with finding Aang, much to Toph's chagrin. At the end of the war, Toph and Zuko are still friends and they are seen in Ba Sing Se at Iroh's tea shop, the Jasmine Dragon, with the rest of the gang.

The Duke


Toph has a friendly relationship with the Duke. Toph and the Duke presumably met while Aang was still unconscious from Azula's attacks. When a Fire Nation ship attacks them soon after Aang wakes up, The Duke acts as Toph's eyes so that she may fire at the ship correctly. The Duke offers Toph his helmet (which she vomits in) when she became seasick from riding in a submarine during the invasion of the Fire Nation. At the Western Air Temple, The Duke suggests looking for Toph after she disappears from the group because of her meeting with Zuko. They are separated when Azula attacks the Western Air Temple. At the end of the war, they meet back up and The Duke hugs her. Afterwards they are sitting next to each other, The Duke was on Pipsqueak's shoulders and Toph was on The Big Bad Hippo's shoulders.

Badgermoles



 * "I learned from Badgermoles. They don't talk, but they're still good teachers." - Toph to Sokka in "Sokka's Master"

Toph is shown to have great respect and sympathy toward these creatures. When she was little she ran away from home, in a cave. She met badgermoles and recognized herself in them, as she understood their blindness. They taught her how to earthbend like one, and they showed affection to her as well. The Badgermoles are somewhat Toph's masters, which she shows respect and discipline to when speaking about them.

Suki
"You can go ahead and let me drown now." - Toph after mistakenly kissing Suki in The Serpent's Pass

At the Serpent's Pass, the Team Avatar (without Suki and Zuko [Suki allied in here. not members]) hits a section which is completely submerged by the lake. Initially discouraged, the group is brought together as Katara tells everyone to get in a single file line as she parts the water for them to walk the path. Aang helps out and they create a bubble for them to walk in. Momo jumps into the water looking to catch some fish when suddenly something large swims by. The bubble is burst by the creature, Toph earthbends the floor of the path high enough to get them above the waterline. The creature circles them and then shows itself. As Sokka states, we now know why it's called the Serpent's Pass. Aang tells Katara to get the others to safety as he distracts the serpent. Katara makes an ice bridge for the others to cross and then heads out on top of the water to assist Aang. Sokka encourages Toph to cross the ice, but mid-way the serpent smashes the bridge, sending Toph into the water. Suki rescues her, but thinking it was Sokka, who had called out to Toph that he was coming for her, Toph kisses Suki instead. When she realises, an embarrassed Toph says "You can go ahead and let me drown now."

Princess Azula

 * "I'll roll your whole head!" - Toph to Azula in "The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse."



Azula is an indirect enemy of Toph. Her main goal is to eliminate the Avatar, thus Toph is more of an obstacle to her "trophy". Like Sokka, Toph never had a direct scuffle with the princess, usually dodging the attacks of Azula and her allies with Team Avatar throughout the Earth Kingdom until the events in the Fire Nation Capital's underground bunker. She and Aang both attempted to land a punch on her, though Azula was proven to be a formidable foe even without her Firebending. Toph's aggression toward Azula also clouded her realization that Azula was simply stalling the Team until the eclipse would end. Sokka was able to see through her ruse, though Toph was still baited by Azula, as Azula made a nasty joke toward her blindness. Unfortunately, Sokka did not keep a level head, and Azula was able to trick him into attacking her. If it was not for Toph's timely intervention of pinning Azula to the wall, Sokka would have been stabbed and likely killed.

Toph and Azula indirectly met for the last time at the Western Air Temple in the episode "The Southern Raiders." The two did not meet again, as Azula was defeated by Katara during the arrival of Sozin's Comet.

Xin Fu

 * "Hey! Who do you think you're dealing with?" - Toph after being captured by Xin Fu in "The Earth King"



Xin Fu and Toph did not have a very well defined relationship for most of the time they knew each other, as he was limited to being an Earth Rumble VI host, where Toph competed and showed her prowess as an Earthbender. Xin Fu apparently found out or had known her true identity, as he was able to locate her in the Bei Fong Estate, while most people only knew Toph as The Blind Bandit. The two finally had a formal scuffle under the ring after Toph defeated all the other opponents. In a short matter of time, Toph easily defeated Xin Fu. Later that day, after Toph ran away with Team Avatar, Lao Bei Fong appointed Xin Fu and Yu to bring Toph back.

The two men traveled through the Earth Kingdom, and eventually to Ba Sing Se, where they finally caught her by setting a trap. As they carried Toph back to her home, Xin Fu reminds Toph she is stuck in a metal cage, and that she can't bend metal. Toph, however, teaches herself to bend metal in no time, allowing her to escape from the box, trapping Xin Fu and Yu within the box in the process. The two are never shown meeting again.

Yu

 * "It's another one of her tricks!" Yu to Xin Fu in "The Guru"



Unlike Xin Fu, Yu and Toph seemed to have a more interactive relationship. When Toph was discovered to have Earthbending abilities, her parents had Yu become her master, giving her private lessons in which she was only allowed to be taught basic forms and breathing exercises, despite Toph's already perfect mastery over those techniques. At first, Yu seemed to be an ally, as he went with Lao Bei Fong to recover Toph from Xin Fu, wherein he watched her defeat the other benders with ease. Yu would, however, prove an enemy in the long run, as he quickly accepted Lao's cash bribe to forcibly bring Toph back. He is, however, considerably less hostile towards Toph than Xin Fu. He and Xin Fu capture her in Ba Sing Se, though she is able to escape from the metal box they used to transport her in by teaching herself Metalbending, trapping Yu and Xin Fu within the box in the process. She is never shown meeting Yu again.

Long Feng

 * "He's your puppet!" - Toph about King Kuei to Long Feng in City of Walls and Secrets



Toph and Long Feng first met when she and Katara were attempting to sneak into Bosco's party so they could talk to the Earth King. They told Long Feng their parents were waiting for them, and that they had lost their invitations. Long Feng let them enter, but he quickly apprehended Toph and the rest of Team Avatar to tell them that they are no longer to interfere with his conspiracy, or else they'll be expelled from the city. The team at first listens to him, but they soon defied him by invading the palace and informing Kuei of the conspiracy, resulting in Long Feng's arrest.

Relevant enemies only