The daughter of the hell-lord Mephisto, the demon Mephista first came to the attention of Earth's heroes when she was dispatched by her father to claim the soul of the evil mystic Baron Mordo, which had been promised to both Mephisto and his rival Satannish. Since Mordo's soul was trapped in the heroic sorcerer Dr. Strange's sphere of containment, Mephista forced here way into Strange's sanctum. Unable to pierce the sphere, Mephista soon faced another threat when Satannish came for Mordo's soul. Temporarily allied with Dr. Strange, Mephista was outmatched by the elder demon, who escaped with the sphere. Mephista returned to Mephisto, who was angered over her failure. Mephista accompanied her father as he imprisoned Strange and pursued Satannish, though she had become infatuated with strange and secretly hoped that her father would not destroy the mortal. While Mephisto and Satannish battled, Mephista returned to Strange's sanctum in order to destroy Mordo's soulless body. Delayed by the empath Topaz and Strange's apprentice Rintrah, Mephista was overwhelmed when Strange returned. Trapped within the Crimson Ruby of Cyttork, Mephista was put into a magical sleep.