The Pharaoh came out of nowhere in 1966 when New York City was being threatened by the giant monster Toxico. He was dressed as an Egyptian king and carried a powerful energy staff which endowed him with uberhuman strength, the ability to fly and to project the heat of the sun. He was one of the new generation of uberhumans, and along with the other original members of the Defenders of New York he managed to repel the beast and save Manhattan.

While the other members of the Defenders clung to their secret identities, the Pharaoh openly walked among the 'mortals' and seemed to have no need for money. He became the public face of America's super heroes and when he married the President's niece the wedding made international headlines. The Pharaoh travelled around the world protecting Earth from external and internal threats. He even ventured into space on occasion and into other dimensions.

He and his wife, Betty, had a daughter in 1977. Photographs of Nepatiabet were splashed across the pages of magazines worldwide and the little girl grew up in the public spotlight. She displayed her father's uberhuman strength from birth and everyone expected big things from her.

By 1980, the US Government was planning to launch a government-backed team of heroes called Sanction, and the international Sentinels had managed to supersede the Defenders in popularity and power. The Pharaoh and his team were despondent but they never expected to be the public's number one heroes forever. One of them suggested retirement and the rest is history.

The Pharaoh and his family remained in New York City, and the Pharaoh even maintained his heroic career, thwarting crime in the streets of Manhattan. Nepatiabet reached adolescence and started talking about following her father's footsteps. The Pharaoh was overjoyed and took her on his patrols. They were both instantly recognisable but the Pharaoh insisted that his daughter take on an alias, Lotus.

Maximum Force came to New York in 1995 and attacked the United Nations building. Pharaoh and Lotus were on the scene quickly and paired off against Undertow and Fusion. Owl Man was also on the scene, and it is his testimony which stands in the wake of what happened next. The Sentinels arrived via a teleportational device and came out blasting, taking Maximum Force (and the other heroes) by surprise. The two teams had clashed several times over the past year and the battles had resulted in the death of Sentinel, Bluebird. Most people understood that the Sentinels wanted revenge. In the confusion of the battle, Pharaoh was killed. Most people blamed Maximum Force, but Owl Man came forward in the following days and told the authorities that he had seen Plasma of the Sentinels blast Pharaoh. The media ran with the story and Plasma was later released from the Sentinels although no charges were brought.

Nepatiabet was shocked. She made a decision to avenge her father and tracked down Plasma to her home in Atlanta. At first Nepatiabet wanted answers and an apology, but the confrontation soon erupted into a battle and Plasma was smashed across her neighborhood. The former Sentinel didn't think she had been responsible for the death of Pharaoh and spent most of her time trying to talk down the grieving daughter. Once she had started, though, Nepatiabet unleashed her full anger and killed Plasma by punching her through a bank.

With blood on her hands, Nepatiabet realised that the world would now turn on her. She had visions of her being hunted down, put on trial for murder and locked away forever - or worse. The life of a super hero wasn't fair. Things shifted too quickly and actions could never be undone in the eyes of the public. She saw that while she was once considered the darling of America, she would now be branded as a killer and a menace.

Never being afraid to face danger, Nepatiabet decided that if the public wanted to condemn her then she would give them reason to do so. Her father had given everything to safeguard America and he had been killed, his killer let loose by bureaucracy and cover-up. Nepatiabet would live her life the way she wanted to and be damned anyone who got in her way.

At first she was content to move across America and down south to Mexico. She lived as carefree as she could with the occasional superhuman brawl. The Sentinels, however, seemed hesitant at first to track her down. She needed to think things through, they reasoned. Nepatiabet knew that the day would come when the Sentinels would come for her, so she decided to pre-empt their strike. Through her travels in Europe she made contact with Arctic Fox who had been having trouble with the Sentinels. The two met in Brussels and agreed to form a partnership. Arctic Fox had already worked with Avast in the past, so extending the invitation to Nepatiabet was a wise course of action.

The trio quickly became a team of five: First Strike.

True to their name they launched an attack on the European Union headquarters and held the president ransom for two million francs. The attack led to the formation of the Dawnstars, and the expected strike by the Sentinels. However, when the Sentinels made their move First Strike managed to repel them and land many of the world's finest heroes in hospital. Arctic Fox spirited the team away to safety via her dimensional portals. Since then the Sentinels have spent considerable time and energy in searching out the women of First Strike, but have so far failed to locate their base which is hidden deep underneath the lava flows of Iceland.

Nepatiabet, who now prefers the simpler 'Beth', is a seasoned super villain. She may have begun her career as a hero (or sidekick) but she has long since given up that line of work, now much preferring to live her life according to her own rules. She has cut off all ties with her past, including contact with her mother and extended family. All that she has now is First Strike, although she and Sukoshi have developed a very close bond - stronger than family.

Beth still hates the Sentinels and all super hero groups because of the hypocrisy she sees in them. She goes out of her way to splinter such groups, taking great pleasure in killing or (preferably) maiming team leaders in particular. Her hatred for super heroes does not extend to 'mortals' and she restrains herself when confronting police forces or bystanders. She hates hostage situations and now refuses to be a part of them, although she will always come to the aid of her girlfriend, Sukoshi. Arctic Fox realises this, and accepts Beth's decision, preferring to use her in other attacks, most notably frontal assaults on hero teams.

"You are about to understand the difference between hero and zero, cowboy."

Nepatiabet inherited some of her father's abilities, particularly uberhuman strength, reflexes and durability. She is able to bench press in excess of 15 tons and can outrun most cars, especially in built-up city areas. Since the death of her father she has also developed clairsentience: the ability to see over great distances, sometimes up to 25000km. When she utilises this ability she 'zones out' and is completely unaware of what is going on around her at the time. With some effort she is also able to see into the past. These powers have had an impact on Beth and many of the images remain in her mind for some time, often surfacing as nightmares.

From an early age, Beth was trained in Ninjitsu by the enigmatic Silhouette, who was once a member of the Defenders of New York under the name Shadow Girl (which she quickly discarded after the Toxico incident).

Like all members of First Strike she wears a communicator which has a standard channel and a encrypted one.

Nepatiabet is a tall and impressive woman, very much the daughter of the mythical Pharaoh. She has closely-cropped black hair which is sometimes worn flat while at other times spiked. Her costume consists of a black bodysuit with golden piping and an ankh at the nape of her collar. Nepatiabet has always been an attractive woman and was named the Hottest Super Villain Babe in 2004, 2005 and 2007.