Earthbending/Metalbending
Toph has an ability to earthbend. Earthbending is based on the psychical manipulation with rocks and ground - whatever is connected with the Earth. Earthbending is a fictional ability (as described in Avatar: The Last Airbender). While the Earthbending style used by most Earthbenders is rooted in the Hung Gar style of Kung Fu, Toph's style is based on Chu Gar Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu. Being blind, Toph has the ability to "feel" even the most minute vibrations in the earth, be it the presence of trees and buildings or the march of ants several meters away. Through this heightened seismic sense, she can visualize where people are, their relative distance to her, and their physical build. This sense provides her with a distinct advantage when facing other Earthbenders in combat, who require contact with the ground in any fight. As another result of her blindness, Toph has acquired an acute sense of hearing, enabling her to recognize people by their voices, discern a person's physical appearance by sound, and overhear distant conversations. Toph also has the ability to sense falsehood by feeling the individual's heartbeat, although this can be outdone by the highly-trained. Because she depends on vibrations in the earth, Toph is vulnerable to attacks initiated in mid-air or opponents who require less contact with the ground. Terrain that impairs Toph's ability to sense vibrations also hinders her abilities; she has some difficulty with sand, which constantly lacks solidity, preventing her from accurately "feeling" her surroundings. Because Toph relies on sensation in her feet to perform Earthbending, she becomes truly "blind" if the soles of her feet are damaged, as shown when Zuko accidentally burned her feet. As further illustrations of her affinity with the earth, Toph does not know how to swim and expresses an aversion to flying and to travelling underwater.
Throughout the first series, Toph is the only Earthbender known for the ability to bend metal. When Toph is imprisoned in iron, the sadhu Guru Pathik explains to Aang in a parallel scene that metal is refined Earth; whereupon Toph locates the iron's impurities and manipulates them to "bend" the metal portion. Later, Sokka gives Toph a small piece of meteorite, which she can easily mold into myriad shapes. Later, she becomes proficient in Sandbending, even making a detailed sand sculpture of Ba Sing Se. In the Legend of Korra series, her daughter, Lin Bei Fong is the current leader of Republic City metalbender police, as Toph was the master of metalbending.
Read more about this topic: Toph Beifong