Avatar: The Last Airbender introduces viewers to a variety of unique characters with their own special power sets. While the hit animated series has a core magic system revolving around four core elements, it often featured new and inventive techniques such as Toph’s metalbending.
In the series, Toph is credited with inventing the technique of metalbending, which was otherwise thought to be impossible. Moreover, Toph goes on to master metalbending further proving her strong acumen for the previously unattainable power. A key detail about Toph introduced earlier on in the series is crucial in understanding how she discovered metalbending and why it is connected to her biggest weakness.
Toph Invented the Near-Impossible Metalbending Technique in Avatar: The Last Airbender
In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Toph Beifong is an ally of Aang from the tribe of Earthbenders. While Toph becomes a strong earthbender, she like many others from her tribe believes that metalbending is impossible. Metal is still a purified form of earth, which is the primary core competency of the earthbenders. Therefore, it is at least theoretically possible to bend it.
However, because the composition of metal changes after purification it cannot be easily manipulated by benders. Hence, metalbending is considered nearly impossible to execute practically. Even the masters of earthbending such as King Bumi were incapable of bending metal.
During the Hundred Year War, metal cages were often used to trap earthbenders because of their inability to manipulate metal. When Toph finds herself trapped inside a metal prison, she is able to break out of it by becoming the first person to harness the power of metalbending. Thus, Toph becomes the first person to wield the nearly impossible technique.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Set Up Toph’s Metalbending Through Her Biggest Weakness
Despite Toph’s invention of metalbending, Avatar: The Last Airbender does not dive deep into the specifics of how she was able to manipulate metal. However, one of Toph’s biggest weaknesses provides the answer to her seemingly sudden discovery of metalbending powers.
Toph was born blind. As a result, her blindness was considered a weakness. Nonetheless, Toph develops her own method of earthbending and becomes proficient in it. By relying on her other senses she develops the power of seismic sense, which allows her to detect traces of earthly components such as rock and soil around her.
Through her years of practice and reliance on her seismic sense, Toph was able to find the constituents of Earth in metal, which as previously mentioned is simply a purified form of Earth. As a result, Toph’s blindness, which was her biggest weakness, actually allowed her to hone earthbending skills to the point that she could manipulate even metal.
Ultimately, metalbending becomes Toph’s legacy as she spreads the technique to her students and it becomes quite prominently used by the time of the spin-off series The Legend of Korra. In the series, Korra becomes the first Avatar to master metalbending. She is also hailed as a hero in Republic City, truly cementing Toph as one of the greatest masters of earthbending.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is streaming on Netflix and Paramount+.
