Avatar: The Last Airbender (known outside the United States as ‘The Legend of Aang’) is an American animated television series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. The series ran from 2005 until 2008 on the TV channel Nickelodeon and was later adapted into a feature film by director M. Night Shyamalan. The aesthetics of the program were heavily influenced by the style of Japanese animation (anime), but Avatar was equally notable for its well-developed plotlines and for drawing inspiration from artistic, cultural and historical influences from around the world, along with the animal kingdom and popular movies and books.

From season two onward, one the main characters in the series was Toph Beifong, a young girl who became a teacher to the main character Aang. The Beifongs are a wealthy and powerful family with connections to high levels of society, and their mansion in the town of Gaoling is an impressive complex of buildings and beautiful walled gardens. Although Toph largely gave up this life of luxury to travel with Aang and his entourage (among other reasons), her family name and knowledge of high society proved useful for the group on more than one occasion.