Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series showed a lot of major characters, but none of them is as fierce and independent as Toph. The earth bending teacher of Aang, Toph, is considered to be one of the strongest earthbenders despite her disability. She not only developed her own unique style of earth bending but also used it to win a lot of underground fights.
She was one of the strongest members of Team Avatar, and proved it multiple times. Over the years, many fans have expressed their opinions about Toph, and they are not entirely positive. While she is still one of the most loved characters in the series, not all Avatar: The Last Airbender fans share the feeling.
Some fans have even given the reason behind their not loving Toph, and it is related to her personality and how she treats people around her. And these attributes are not limited to Avatar: The Last Airbender but are also seen in The Legend of Korra.
Toph’s Rough Personality in Avatar: The Last Airbender
When Toph is introduced in the narrative of Avatar: The Last Airbender, she is portrayed as a young, blind girl who has exceptional earth bending skills. She enters the Avatar series in the second season and shows her skills in an earth bending tournament, where Aang asks her to teach him the earth bending technique.
However, Toph had an alternate life. She was the daughter of Lao Beinfong, who is a known businessman in the Earth Kingdom. Toph’s parents saw her blindness as a disability and kept her hidden from the entire world. This is one of the main reasons why Toph could not develop social skills and talked rudely to everyone.
As she got proficient with earth bending, she recognized her power and developed a sense of arrogance about it. Although she is a wonderful person and a good character, her power and her cravings for independence made her a little rough, which, in hindsight, correlated with her earth bending skills.
Avatar Fans Are Not A Big Fan of Toph’s Behavior
A subreddit called r/TheLastAirbender discussed Toph’s behavior a few months ago and pointed out that she might be the least favorite member of Team Avatar and even gave some pretty valid reasons for it. According to Avatar fans, Toph is quite rude to every other member of the team, and she doesn’t appreciate Aang’s culture.
She used Aang’s staff as a nut cracker and completely ignored the importance the staff held in Aang’s life. She continuously fought with Katara and disrespected everyone without thinking about the consequences. She even had a distant relationship with her daughter. Both Lin and Suyin initially developed a sense of hatred for their mother.
Toph’s rude, arrogant, and ignorant nature stemmed from her upbringing and the surroundings that she survived in. Nevertheless, she was one of the most important characters of the series, and despite her favorite, Aang and the other members understood the good in her heart and kept a close friendship with her.
You can watch Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series on Netflix.