Lin Beifong

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

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.

In Season Two, Lin returned to Republic City, reinstated as Chief of Police. Impressed by Mako's outstanding work in busting local gangs, Lin hired Mako as an officer. Six months later, Lin and the Republic City Police force would investigate the bombing of the Southern Water Tribe Cultural Center. When Korra and Mako initially broke up (over issues related to the bombing) at the city police station, Lin, finding an overturned table, demanded to know what happened. Mako stated that he had broken up with the Avatar. Amused, she commented that he got off easy compared to her break up with Tenzin. A few days later, Lin traveled to Mako's apartment to investigate incriminating evidence in connection with the bombing of the cultural center. Mako adamantly denied any involvement in the bombing. However, when money and explosives were found in the apartment, she had Mako arrested. Lin and her fellow officers later provided security at the pro-bending arena during the premiere screening of a film starring Bolin. When Varrick, who bankrolled the motion picture, was outed as the mastermind of not only the attempted kidnapping of President Raiko at the event, but also the bombing of the cultural center, Lin promptly arrested him and freed Mako. Lin promoted Mako to detective, noting that the officer was the first to suspect Varrick behind the bombings.

The Legend of Korra comic series

In part one of Turf Wars, Lin is focused on taking down the triads with her triads task force. Lin, along with her task force, break up a fight between the Triple Threats and the Creeping Crystals. Two-Toed Ping is arrested and Lin and Mako then interrogate him and are able to find out the name of the new Triple Threats leader, Tokuga.

Lin returns in Ruins of the Empire, the story centering on Avatar Korra and her allies as they deal with the fallout of Kuvira's surrender in the Earth Kingdom, appearing as an attendant of Kuvira's trial in parts one and three, and ultimately paying witness to her niece's redemption, as Kuvira is granted the use of the Beifong name by Suyin.

Abilities

Heightened senses

By grounding herself barefoot, Lin can "see" and "feel" even the most minute seismic vibrations in the earth, be it the presence of trees or the march of ants several meters away. Lin has acquired an acute sense of hearing, enabling her to recognize people by their voices, discern a person's physical appearance by sound, and overhear distant conversations; and sense falsehood via the individual's subtle breathing patterns, heartbeat, and physical reactions.

Earthbending

Lin is highly skilled in Earthbending which utilizes chinese martial arts techniques of Hóng Quán and Chu Gar Nán Pài Tángláng. The series' creators consulted a professional martial artist in the design of the show's fighting style. Earthbending represents the element of substance, and is categorized as the most diverse and enduring of the "four bending arts". Earthbending is the geokinetic ability to manipulate earth, rock, sand, lava, and metals in all their various forms. Earthbending utilizes neutral jing, which involves waiting and listening for the right moment to act decisively. 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. Earthbending parallels Five Animals movements. Earthbending is at its strongest when the feet or hand are in direct contact with the ground, enabling earthbenders to transfer their kinetic energies into their bending for fast and powerful moves. This reliance on direct contact with the earth is a literal Achilles' heel; separating earthbenders from any contact with the earth renders them ineffective.

Reception

Reviewer David Levesley called Lin one of the series' "standout characters" and one of the show's "many examples of well-written women". Reviewer Alyssia Rosenberg thought Lin was a "real standout" of the first season for her character arc, feeling it embodied a "small trend" of "female action stars" sacrificing themselves. She compared the scene where Lin lost her bending abilities to Amon to that of a scene in the film Sucker Punch and praised the soundtrack for being "a powerful representation of the sudden absence that has made Lin much of who she is." Robert Kuang felt that out of the major characters, Lin remained "the most intriguing", which Kuang attributed to her limited screentime and parentage. Before the reveal of Kanto, the character's father was a source of great intrigue for a number of fans of the show. A few theorized that Sokka or perhaps Amon was the character's father. Reviewer Michael Mammano viewed Lin's outburst at her mother during the fourth season as being "emotional" and akin to that of an angry child. Reviewer, Oliver Sava praised the depiction of the "icy" relationship between the character and her mother, noting that it better explained how Lin became "the rigid, chilly person she is today." TV.com felt Lin was similar to Varrick, a character introduced later in the show's run, for starting out on "one-note" but later becoming "layered" and wrote that it made sense that Lin would 'finally patch things up with" Toph after ending her estrangement with her sister Suyin.

However, the character and her arc did draw some measure of criticism from media and fans. Reviewer Gina Luttrell characterized Lin as "psychotic" for relating to Korra after the latter violently expressed her outrage with Mako during their initial break-up. Additionally, the mother-daughter reunion between Lin and Toph was characterized as "rushed" by reviewer Joey Sack. Sack suggested that the creators needed another episode to fully "flesh out" the conflict between the longstanding two characters. Zach Blumenfeld of Paste felt that Lin did not bring something new to the "tough cop" archetype, but commended her story arc for "beautifully" portraying the loneliness that a career woman can face. Overall, Blumenfeld ranked Lin as the 14th best character from the Avatar franchise.