Michelle was born to Olivia Smith, a nurse, and Victor Rodriguez, a police officer. Due to her congenital condition of heightened brain activity (complex mental calculations, reading 500 words per minute), she was bullied at school. At age 15, she witnessed the death of the hero Steel Spider, followed by the death of her own father while he tried to stop the supervillain Lady Lacerta. Broken and shattered, the next evening she was bitten by a bio-modified spider (a mix of Steel Spider's blood and an enhanced lizard-preparation). The bite granted her spider-like abilities, regeneration of lost limbs, and an unconscious hyper-sensitivity to vibrations. Using her deep knowledge of engineering, chemistry, and physics, she modified motorcycle gear bought with pocket money, created Gold-steel thread from scrap, built web-shooters, and magnetic bracelets for wall-crawling. Thus, Eclipse Spider was born.