Beifong family

The Bei Fong Family, an upper-class Earth Kingdom family, is the wealthiest family in the village Gaoling. The family includes the father Lao Bei Fong, the mother Poppy Bei Fong, and their only daughter Toph Bei Fong. Their sprawling estate contains several ponds and well-pruned gardens, and also houses many guards and servants. The symbol of the Bei Fong family is a Flying Boar, and the family Earthbending instructor is Master Yu, resident of Gaoling.

History
The Bei Fong Family lives in Gaoling, a village located within a mountain range in the Southern Earth Kingdom. Their blind daughter Toph Bei Fong is the only child in the family. She was sheltered by parents, who believed her blindness made her fragile, docile, and incapable of looking after herself. As a result of these extremely overbearing protective measures, no one outside of the family knew she even existed. Toph, resenting her parents' treatment, grew up to become tough, confrontational, and rebellious.



At the age of six, she ran away from home into a cave inhabited by Badgermoles. These creatures were the first Earthbenders and, according to Toph, she understood them and they understood her because they were both blind. She learned Earthbending by imitating their movements and learned to "see" by using Earthbending to detect minute vibrations through the ground with her bare feet. Although her father, Lao Bei Fong, later hired Earthbending Master Yu to instruct her, he didn't teach her anything other than "basic forms and breathing exercises", unaware that she had already become very powerful. She became such a powerful bender that she secretly entered underground Earthbending tournaments as "The Blind Bandit", and was the champion of Earth Rumble VI. After she was defeated by Aang in the final stage of the tournament, he and his friends went to her house to request Toph be the Avatar's Earthbending teacher. She refused at first in order to keep her parents ignorant of her Earthbending prowess, but that night Aang and Toph were kidnapped and held for ransom by Xin Fu and the other competitors from Earth Rumble VI. This resulted in Toph using her Earthbending in front of her father in order to defeat the kidnappers and save Aang. Toph asked about teaching Aang Earthbending, but her parents did not give their consent, opting instead to put their daughter under an even more stringent, twenty-four hour watch. That night Toph escaped with Aang, Katara, and Sokka, lying to them, saying that her parents had changed their minds. Lao and Poppy Bei Fong, thinking that the Avatar had kidnapped their daughter, hired Xin Fu and Master Yu for the get their daughter back "by any means necessary". They did not successfully return her to the Bei Fong family, but Toph did write a letter to her parents in The Runaway.

Influence


The Bei Fong family have been shown to have great respect and influence in the Earth Kingdom such as when their daughter is able to use their family Documents to gain Passage on the ferry across Full Moon Bay. Their wealth has been displayed when they offer gold to the bounty hunters to hunt down their daughter. The documents reads "土國頭等護照 北方拓芙", meaning "Earth Kingdom First Class Passport - Toph Bei Fong". Their influence doesn't appear to extend to the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se as the Documents don't gain Toph and Katara access to Bosco's Party though this may be due to "special circumstances" at the time.

Members

 * Lao Bei Fong
 * Poppy Bei Fong
 * Toph Bei Fong

Bei Fong Familie Bei Fong Familie