[3] Toph is recognized as a prodigy[4] of earthbending, which is the ability to telekinetically manipulate, reshape and control stone, sand, dirt, and, later, metal.

Because she was born blind, and her parents believed that her condition limited her capacity to learn and use the skill safely, they had a tutor teach her only basic earthbending.

She travels with the protagonist Aang as his earthbending teacher, shown to have an abrasive, conceited and sometimes stubborn personality which leads to clashes with her peers.

[5] As the series progressed and the time came closer to introduce an earthbender who would join the main characters, head writer Aaron Ehasz suggested that they create contrast by designing a little girl who is able to defeat strong, adult earthbenders; some of the staff found this humorous, but it was initially rejected by Avatar co-creator Bryan Konietzko.

[8] Toph was favored by the creators to return in The Legend of Korra after the appearances of both Katara and Zuko, DiMartino writing that it "never quite made sense" for there to be a trip to the swamp, where she was located, during the third season.

Her design became a subject of difficulty for the staff, who wanted her to return to the size of her twelve-year-old self from the original series despite flashbacks in the earlier part of The Legend of Korra showing her as having grown in height.

As she explained to Aang and his companions, she does this intentionally as a rebellion against the principles of refined culture that her aristocratic parents attempted to make her conform to.

[12] In her advanced age, despite retaining much of her strength as an earthbender, Toph refuses to take part in prolonged conflicts, admitting that she is too old and lacks the energy for such endeavors.

Toph fought frequently in Earth Rumble, an earthbending lei tai tournament resembling professional wrestling, under the alias "Blind Bandit".

[17] Toph successfully begins Aang's training of earthbending and slows the descent of Wan Shi Tong's Library, where the group learns the date of the next Day of Black Sun and inadvertently gains an advantage over the Fire Nation, as it sinks, though fails to prevent Appa from being kidnapped by sandbenders.

[18] Due to Appa being the group's transportation, they are forced to travel on foot, journeying through Serpent's Pass and preventing a drill from entering Ba Sing Se.

Now in the city, she infiltrates the Earth Kingdom Royal Palace, meeting Dai Li,[19] bonds with Katara,[20] encounters Jet and reunites with Appa.

After the events of the Book 2 finale, Toph, alongside Sokka, Katara and the Southern Water Tribe, captured a Fire Nation ship.

In The Legend of Korra, Toph is revealed to have founded Republic City's police force and taught the art of metalbending to her students.

Although upset with her daughters for putting her in a tough situation, Toph was forced to look the other way and tear up the police report because of the controversy it would cause before sending Suyin away to live with her grandparents; Lin did not take this kindly.

Toph, feeling guilt over her questionable actions, retired the following year with Lin eventually succeeding her as Republic City's Chief of Police by the time of the first season.

In the episodes "The Coronation" and "The Calling", she assists Korra by removing the remnant liquid-metal poison placed in her body by the Red Lotus through helping her overcome her fears brought about by her past adversaries.

Toph returns in the tenth episode, "Operation: Beifong", to aid Lin, her granddaughter Opal and Bolin, in freeing Suyin and her family from Kuvira's Earth Empire forces.

[33] After taking residence in the Foggy Swamp, Toph claimed her heightened senses has expanded to the point of being fine-tuned via the spirit vines with events around the world.

"Toph is highly skilled in earthbending which utilizes Chinese martial arts techniques of Hóng Quán and Chu Gar Nán Pài Tángláng.

Earthbending involves enduring attacks until the right opportunity to counterattack reveals itself, emphasizes "heavily rooted stances and strong blows that evoke the mass and power of earth", and demands precise stepping footwork to maintain constant contact with the ground.

[43] The primary concepts in Earthbending (i.e. listening, reacting, balancing attacks and defense) and drawing power from a stable lower body are referred to in the practice of neutral jing.

By practicing with a partner in this manner, a practitioner learns to "read" the slight movements of their opponent's arms to detect their next attack and subsequently move accordingly to neutralize it.

[44] She practices and hones her initially unique skill throughout the rest of the series, later teaching it to other earthbenders prior to the events of the Legend of Korra.

Reviewer Michael Mammano loved that while Toph "never loses her rough edge, she's always been deftly humanized", feeling her relationships with her daughters would matter to her and thought it was "incredibly refreshing and feminist" that she had two children with different men because nowhere in the narrative was Toph "questioned or shamed for having children out of wedlock", adding: "She has been canonically confirmed as a woman who had a sex life that was on her terms."

Mammano braced for her to die in The Legend of Korra episode "Operation: Beifong", though she survived and felt that as her final appearance in the series, "it was a great send-off, especially given her parting words.