Toph Beifong - Character - Personality

Personality

Unlike the nurturing Katara, flighty Aang, or gruff, comical Sokka, Toph is fiercely independent, direct, frank, and belligerent. By her acute hearing and sense of touch, Toph has the ability to perceive people's lies by their heart rate; and as a result, when Zuko attempted to join the Avatar's group, she is the only one to trust him. Although a good judge of character and often logical, she is quick to anger, especially when she thinks herself insulted.

Although resentful of her parents and of authority overall, Toph welcomes the opportunity to see her mother again; and subsequently confides her reliance on Katara, who had treated her with greater respect than that to which she was accustomed. Later, Toph dictates a conciliatory letter to her parents.

As a rule, Toph is vocal of her opinions regardless of their subjects' status or age. Thanks to her time as a competitor and champion of the earthbending tournaments, she is practiced in taunting and insulting her opponents and on occasion her friends, particularly Sokka.

Inside this hardened exterior, Toph hides trace insecurities in regards to her blindness, as hinted in the episode "The Tales of Ba Sing Se". Being restricted by her parents on account of her disability, Toph resents condescension and often mistakes a friendly gesture for an act of pity for her blindness, until otherwise advised by Iroh. In episode "Sozin's Comet: Part I", she claimed that everyone else in party had gone on a 'life-changing field trip' with Zuko and wished to do so herself.

On several occasions Toph has been seen picking her nose, spitting, and belching loudly. She is also usually covered in dirt, supplying that which she names "a healthy coating of earth". Despite her uncouth habits, Toph is well-educated in the manners and bearings of high society, but merely prefers to ignore them.