Vanessa "Nessie" Kapatelis mother Julia Kapatelis became pregnant while she and Vanessa's father David were exploring Scotland. As a joke David wanted to name their unborn child "Nessie" after the local Scotish creature the Loch Ness Monster. Though humored, Julia didn't agree but settled on "Vanessa" as a close substitute. Julia remained married to David until his death 22 years into their marriage when Vanessa was 5 years old. He died while exploring ruins in Egypt. Deciding to make a fresh start Julia took Vanessa to live in the U.S. where she eventually became the Dean for the Department of History and Geology at Harvard University.[1]

While living in the Beacon Hill section of Boston, Massachusetts, Vanessa grew up feeling like an awkward outsider in high school. During this time she had the chance to meet Wonder Woman when her mother took in the Amazon when she first arrived in the United States. At first, Vanessa was jealous of Wonder Woman's beauty, but after Diana rescued her from Decay[2] the two got to know each other better. Nessie started to love Wonder Woman as an elder sister and dreamed of fighting evil alongside Diana.