M'Kae was a human serving the Galactic Empire as a communications officer during the Galactic Civil War, which pitted the Empire against the Alliance to Restore the Republic. He was assigned to the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer known as the Avenger, where he worked in the crew pit on the starship's bridge.
In the year 3 ABY, the Avenger was part of Death Squadron and had the mission of destroying the Millennium Falcon as it tried to get away following the rebel defeat at the Battle of Hoth. While they were chasing the Falcon, the freighter vanished from the Avenger's sensors. M'Kae then told Captain Lorth Needa, the commander of the Avenger, that the Sith Lord Darth Vader wanted to know what progress they were making.
As a communications officer in the Imperial Navy, the human M'Kae was stationed in the crew pit on the bridge of the Avenger, an Imperial II-class Star Destroyer that was part of Death Squadron. During the Galactic Civil War in 3 ABY, which was a conflict against the Alliance to Restore the Republic, the Avenger was involved in the Battle of Hoth. Following the battle, the Avenger was one of the ships that pursued the Millennium Falcon, a YT-1300 light freighter that belonged to the rebels.
The Falcon avoided being captured by hiding in the Hoth asteroid field. It later encountered the Avenger when it tried to escape. After the Falcon's hyperdrive malfunctioned, Han Solo, the ship's captain, made a U-turn and flew straight toward the Avenger. Lorth Needa, who was the Star Destroyer's commander, ordered the ship's shields to be activated, and M'Kae then pressed a button on his console. The Falcon then flew very close past the bridge's viewports, causing M'Kae to look up from his work, while Needa and others who were closer to the viewport ducked down for safety.
Needa immediately gave the order to track the Falcon, but he was informed that it had disappeared from the Avenger's scanners. M'Kae then told the captain that Darth Vader, the Sith Lord, wanted an update on their progress in capturing the Falcon. Needa decided to report the failure to Vader in person, and as a result, he was executed by the Sith for his failure. Meanwhile, the Falcon had landed on the Avenger's command tower to avoid being detected by its scanners. It managed to escape without being noticed by the Imperials, although the bounty hunter Boba Fett did see it.
M'Kae had dark blond hair and light-colored skin.
M'Kae wore a light gray Imperial uniform that included a black belt, a communications headset, and a darker gray cap with an officer's disk.
M'Kae was a character created for Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, the 1980 film in the original trilogy. Mark Capri played him in the film. Capri filmed his scenes on the Star Destroyer bridge at Elstree Studios on Stage 5 sometime between April 24 and May 2, 1979. Although the script referred to the character as a "communications officer," he was not identified by name in the film. Capri can also be seen on the bridge of the Executor near the end of the film because footage from the bridge of the Avenger was reused. However, this article assumes that he is playing a different character in that scene. The character's name first appeared in the new Star Wars canon on a card in the 2019 Topps Star Wars Black & White: The Empire Strikes Back set of trading cards, which was released by The Topps Company, Inc.
In the Star Wars Legends continuity, M'Kae was featured in the novelization of the film written by Donald F. Glut, which was published before The Empire Strikes Back was released. The character's name was first used on a card in the Dagobah Limited expansion set of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game in 1997. According to a Star Wars CCG fan site, M'Kae's name was a tuckerization of Mark McKay, which was the stage name of radio personality Mark Tuttle.