Lin Beifong (北方琳, Běifāng Lín) is a fictional major character, voiced by Mindy Sterling, in Nickelodeon's animated television series The Legend of Korra, which aired from 2012 to 2014. She is part of the Avatar: The Last Airbender world. The character and the series, a sequel to Avatar: The Last Airbender, were created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Lin's mother, Toph Beifong, greatly aided the previous avatar, Aang, in his efforts to save the Earth Kingdom from destruction. Lin is the older of Toph's two daughters.
Character overview Lin Beifong is the Chief of Police of Republic City and the daughter of Toph Beifong, who once held the same position. Like her mother, Lin is able to both manipulate the classical element of earth, which is known as earthbending and its sub-ability to manipulate metal, which is termed metalbending. Like Toph, Lin also has the ability to sense movements around her through mechanoreception. She learned these techniques under the hard tutelage of her mother. Despite the fact that her mother was friends with the previous Avatar, Lin initially was decidedly antagonistic towards Avatar Korra, at one time interrogating the lead character. However, throughout the course of the series' run she warmed up to Korra. Lin has a longstanding friendship with Tenzin, who is a son of Aang and Katara. At one point when they were younger, the two characters were romantically involved. Tenzin offered Lin comfort and a higher level of trust was reached between the two. However, their romantic relationship ended, partially because Tenzin wanted children while Lin did not and partially because of Lin's abrasive nature. Tenzin ultimately married, while Lin remained unmarried. Much like her mother, Lin's personality is described as tough, uncompromising and blunt. Unlike Toph however, Lin can also be characterized as bitter, which primarily stemmed from her strained relationship with both her mother and her half-sister, Suyin Beifong. In the latter half of the series run, Lin reconciled with the two characters, becoming less resentful as the series progressed.
Creation and conception
While her mother was known during announcements for the series and established at the start of the series, the identity of her father was not revealed initially. Lin Beifong's character design was inspired by Han Young Ja, a longtime friend and colleague of Konietzko and DiMartino. Elements of her design also came from Marlene Dietrich as the creators wanted her "to have a tough and natural beauty" and her appearance was collaborated on by both Joaquim Dos Santos and series co-creator Michael DiMartino which DiMartino found to be "a fun process."
Appearances
The Legend of Korra television series
Book One: Air (2012) Lin spent the vast majority of Season One in Republic City. When Lin first met Korra, she made it clear that she held no favors for Korra. She interrogated the Avatar and when Tenzin arrived, Lin agreed to drop the charges against Korra, though made it clear that she wanted the Avatar "out of [her] city". Lin initially held a grudge against Tenzin over their breakup several years earlier, but agreed to “bury the hatchet” in their effort to secure a sporting event from a terrorist group, the Equalists. Despite maximum-level security, the Equalists were able to disrupt the event, overwhelming the police forces. Lin, with the help of Korra, was able to repel the terrorist group, though they were unable to capture the organization's leader, Amon. Korra had earned Lin's respect and trust in the process. After the Equalist attack, Lin received negative press for failing to capture Amon. Lin would lead an investigation that uncovered that industrialist Hiroshi Sato, Asami Sato's father, involvement with the Equalists. In an ensuing battle pitting Lin, Korra, Tenzin and members of the police force against the terrorist organization, a number of police officers were captured by the Equalists. The trio was able to avoid capture, but Lin elected to tender her resignation. When Tenzin encouraged her to not give up, Lin shared that she intended to capture Amon “outside of the law”. Later, with Tenzin needing to attend a council meeting, Lin watched over Tenzin's wife and children on Air Temple Island. Shortly, the Equalists invaded the island, incapacitating Lin in the process. Ironically, Lin was rescued by three of Tenzin's kids, Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo, who easily defeated the invaders. Upon Tenzin's return to the island, noticing that more Equalist airships were heading to Republic City Tenzin decided to take his family and flee Republic City on Tenzin's sky bison, Oogi. Lin accompanied the family. However, when it became apparent that Oogi would not outpace the airships, Lin made the decision to abandon Oogi and attack the fleet in midair in an effort to ensure the family's escape. In an impressive display of midair metalbending, Lin single-handedly destroyed a number of airships before she was captured by the terrorist organization, allowing Tenzin and his family to at least temporarily escape capture. Lin would lose her bending at the hands of Amon, who had the ability to take away bending, but would have it later restored by Korra.
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