Over two thousand years ago, Nena was born during the age of the Older Gods. Rebels burned her village and slaughtered her family; only one child survived. Days later an elderly blacksmith renowned throughout the kingdom found her. As she grew, steel seemed eager to obey her hands, and her vitiligo markings glowed near the forge. She eventually reached the sanctuary of the Celestial Smith and learned the truth: she was the final descendant of Ogun, God of Metal, Craftsmanship, and the Forge. "You are not searching for power, child," the Smith told her. "You were born to become it."
In 1982, Nena Thompson was born in Michigan. After graduation she earned a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, completing Ranger School, Sapper School, and Combat Arms leadership training across multiple combat deployments. Her soldiers nicknamed her FoxX: intelligent, cunning, unpredictable, impossible to outwork. Her awakening came on leave, when contaminated water shut her body down and stopped her heart. For the first time in her second life, Nena Thompson died, and returned not as the woman she was, but as Melanin FoxX, the Warrior Maid of Blingium.