Sekhmet and
Bast were feline Egyptian war gods respectively ruling Upper and Lower Egypt. The siblings contained both male and female forms and inherited the fiery power from their father
Ra, but Bast's power was life-giving while Sekhmet's power was destructive. Sekhmet once released such fury against mortal foes that Ra feared he would destroy the human race. When the Pharaohs rose to power, Bast fled, allowing Sekhmet to absorb lower Egypt. Moving his sect to Memphis, Sekhmet protected the Pharaohs in battle. With the Pharaohs' time fading, Bast became patron to the powerful Wakandan nation as the Panther God while Sekhmet, as the Lion God, had only a fringe cult. Jealous, Sekhmet absorbed Mr. Umbala, traveled to New York and abducted Wakandan monarch T'Challa, hoping to learn the Panther God's secrets. When T'Challa resisted, Sekhmet attacked the
Avengers with his totem-stick. Thor truck the stick with lightning, forcing Sekhmet's flight to another dimension. T'Challa eventually placed the totem-stick in his trophy room. Later, sensing Sekhmet's presence, Avengers associates
Mantis and the
Swordsman (Jacques DuQuesne) summoned him, feigned an alliance and hypnotized Sekhmet while off-guard. Iron Man trapped him in an
Adamantium cylinder which Thor sent to another dimension.