Diversity in characters is often hard to come across. Not in the sense of seeing different portrayals of diverse characters, but writing them well. I will often find characters meant to show representation just awkwardly shoved into a story, often not contributing much to the storyline or generally overplaying or downplaying what makes them diverse. I’m sure you can see where I’m getting with this, but one of the best written characters that perfectly embodies the balance needed for a diverse protagonist is Toph Beifong.

It is established as soon as we meet Toph that what makes her diverse from other characters is her blindness. In some shows, a character with some sort of disability may mention having it but then never show how it affects their lives or adversely only stick to stereotypical conventions of said disability and never truly grow as a character. In Toph’s case, we as an audience are always aware of her disability, but are never truly underwhelmed or overwhelmed by it.

It is revealed that instead of her blindness holding her back from becoming a talented bender, it actually does the opposite. It allowed her to become more closely in tune with the earth around her, and learn to listen rather than use her bending mindlessly. Unsurprisingly, many of the people around her tend to underestimate her capabilities due to assumptions about her blindness. And again, instead of holding her back, that works in her favor in getting the upper hand and strategically defeating her opponents. To continue, not only does her blindness help her to become more strategic and masterful of bending, it significantly builds her character as a whole.

The best part about her character isn’t just that she’s strong from her disability, but that she can also be weak with it. I find that sometimes in shows, having a character with a disability that almost ignores their impairment leaves the character one-dimensional. Toph fully acknowledges her blindness on multiple accounts, as do the people around her, and yet it still doesn’t feel stagnant. As many times as it shows Toph being able to use her blindness to her advantage and overcome it, there are moments where it holds her back. When we are first introduced to her in the underground arena, Aang’s confrontation reveals that attacks that come from the air where it is hard to feel vibrations are hard for her to combat. Later on in the season during the episode Lake Laogai, Toph can’t contribute much to helping put up missing flyers for Appa. And the most prominent example of a moment of weakness lies in season 3, where Sokka and Toph are on the edge of the airships and she can’t tell what’s going on.

Revealing all aspects of a disability or diversity allows for a character to become dynamic and show that they aren’t just a character representing a group, but an actual person living it. It makes them more genuine, and makes for a more enjoyable watch. She isn’t her disability, but she is who she is because of it. Even multiple characters within Team Avatar have their moments where they forget she is blind, because she is equal in every right to everyone else on the team.

Honestly, this all goes to show how well thought out the characters in Avatar truly are. Each one has a distinct personality and traits to them that make sense and form well together, to where it doesn’t feel like a script but a real group of friends being together. Even though earth symbolically represents stubbornness and staying firm in position, ironically the characters throughout season 2 showed dramatic changes in growth and empowerment. 

That’s about it for this week’s blog! Toph is definitely one of my favorite characters, but honestly I’m biased towards many of the female characters that are present in the show. I definitely become more and more inspired by the Avatar franchise as I keep analyzing it and I hope these blog posts similarly inspire you! Have a great weekend!