Mary Phillips (Stormer) is the youngest of the Misfits, a Los Angeles-based girl group originally signed to Starlight Records by then-owner Eric Raymond. Eric staged a contest to get the Misfits publicity, however the "Battle of the Bands" turned into the first appearance of Jerrica Benton's band "Jem and the Holograms." When the contest was discovered to have been rigged, Producer Howard Sands offered a true contest—the Misfits and the Holograms would have six months in which to prepare, and the winner would win a mansion, new car, and most importantly, a movie contract.

The Battle of the Bands may have started the rivalry between the two bands, but the bands leaders, Pizzazz and Jem, kept it going over the course of three years. The Misfits fortunes rose and fell—they were the flagship act for Misfits Music, and then became merely another signed group when Misfits Music was bought out by Eric Raymond and half of it sold to Rory Llewellyn (Riot of the Stingers) and renamed and re-launched as Stinger Sound. They made a movie (which flopped), headlined concerts around the globe, have devoted fans (such as Constance "Clash" Montgomery), their debut album went gold. One of the long-standing Misfits pastimes over those three years was to make sure they got one step ahead of Jem and the Holograms. While stardom, wealth and fame were their goals, for Pizzazz and Jem, it was also a personal battle.

Stormer never seemed to take it all that personally. Focused on making music, she was at first timid, shy, and allowed Roxy and Pizzazz to bully her. Her greatest fear was to be kicked out of the group, because she truly believed she was nothing without them. Pizzazz and even Roxy had no qualms about exploiting that fear. However, Stormer slowly learned to stand her ground. When Eric Raymond suggests that they recruit a fourth Misfit, to try and upstage the Holograms' talent search, Stormer is very vocal about the idea, stating it would be a fuller sound, more complex music. She doesn't change her tune, even after Roxy tries to bully her out of it. She is the one who first hears Jetta and the rest of the Misfits follow her lead. However, Jetta quickly picks up on the Misfit pecking order, and joins in teasing and taunting Stormer on more then one occasion.

Stormer is the first Misfit to leave the band, albeit temporarily. After Pizzazz, Jetta, and Roxy belittle her and her music in a practice session, Stormer finally looses her cool and storms out. Although Pizzazz assumes the tantrum will blow over, both the Misfits and the Holograms are shocked when Stormer and Kimber (who had a similar blow-up with her band) begin playing at a local club called "The Scene." Over the course of more than a month, the two become close friends, and gander a following in the Los Angeles area. Taking advantage of the girls youth and naïveté, Eric Raymond dupes them into signing a recording contract with Kimber's half of Starlight Music as collateral. Jem and Pizzazz' attempts to force the duo apart only strengthen their bond, and when Kimber discovers Raymond is behind the contract, she never once accuses Stormer of being in on it. Although Stormer is temporarily fooled by Pizzazz offering her flashy gifts and money, mistaking them for honest appreciation, she quickly realises that only Kimber has ever offered her genuine friendship.

Stormer stands up to Eric Raymond, stands together with Kimber, and the two of them make and package their album with the help of Kimber's sister, Jerrica. Although once regarded as an enemy, the Holograms and Jerrica offer Stormer a position as a sixth Hologram. However, at Roxy and Jetta's urging, Pizzazz and the Misfits ask her back. Recognising that the Misfits need her more than Jerrica does, Stormer returns to the group. However, she insists that she be treated as a partner and that the other Misfits will have to listen to what she has to say as well. She and Kimber maintain their friendship.

Mary is very close to her older brother, Craig Phillips. Craig came back to the States from Europe, where he had been playing drums professionally for some time. When Craig meets Aja Leith, the Holograms' bass guitarist, it is love at first sight. Craig initially joins the Holograms' talent search for a new drummer merely as an excuse to spend more time with Aja. Craig had been unaware of both the Misfits rivalry with the Holograms, as well as Mary's tendency to be exploited and taken for granted by the Misfits and Eric Raymond. Wanting only the best for his baby sister, and firmly believing that she is far too good for them, Craig takes it upon himself to act on Mary's behalf, and warn the Misfits that if they ever threaten to throw Mary out of the group again, they will answer directly to him. However, Craig leaves Aja and returns to Europe when it becomes clear that they each have their secrets which would prevent them from being able to be together. However, nearly a year later, they are reunited in London, and he comes clean about the Phillips siblings. When Craig loses his temper, it's Stormer who begs him to talk to Aja, and straighten things out, because she can see how much Aja cares about her brother.

Of the Misfits, Stormer is closest to Roxy, and the only Misfit who knew that Roxy was illiterate. Roxy never joins in Pizzazz and Jetta's taunting of Stormer, and she is the first to suggest that the Misfits need her. When Roxy walks out on the group, it's Stormer and Jetta who trail her, to try and bring her back. And when Ba Nee finds her father, it's Stormer who brings the Misfits to Starlight mansion for the girl's farewell party, and is most likely the instigator of the Misfit-Hologram truce called for the occasion.

Love is not easy for Stormer, and she is flattered and swept off her feet when a hermit named Angus Bean asks her if she believes in love at first sight. Although Angus is never seen again, he is the only man other than Craig in Stormer's life. While Pizzazz had a fling with Sean Harrison, and shamelessly chases after Riot, and Roxy briefly had a thing for stuntman Jeff Wright, Stormer has no boyfriends or ex-boyfriends who make appearances in her life. The Misfits and Kimber are her only friends, and music is her only passion.

Although she spends a great deal of time at the Gabor mansion with the Misfits, Stormer lives in a small bungalow. When Craig comes to Los Angeles to visit her, he stays at her house. After her brief solo career, Stormer is treated as more than just an equal partner, but in many ways the heart and centre of the band. When Pizzazz falls head-over-heels for Riot, Roxy and Jetta join Stormer at her house until Pizzazz returns to them and asks to be let back into the group.