From Surgipelago, the Beach Surgery encyclopedia
Mr and Mrs McRae
Mr and Mrs McRae are an elderly couple residing in an apartment adjacent to the Bolton Street car park in Newcastle. They are encountered in Chapter 1 of Beach Surgery when Katita wheels an unconscious Leif across rooftop wires and unexpectedly enters their home.
Startled by the intrusion, the McRaes respond by deploying pendant-mounted exoskeletons colloquially called the Mighty Mechas[citation needed]. A brief engagement ensues, deliberately rendered in cartoon-like tone—a striking tonal shift within the chapter—though the couple's true intent (defense, alarm, territorial assertion, or something else entirely) is left unresolved. No evidence suggests hostile purpose; the exoskeletons may be decorative, recreational, or inherited.
Leif and Katita escape down a twelve-storey stairwell. The McRaes never reappear in the novel. No names beyond "Mr" and "Mrs McRae" are given; no ages, occupations, or personal history provided. Their function appears architectural—a surprise, a transition, a marker of Newcastle's ontological strangeness—rather than character development.
The McRaes have become recurring easter-egg cameos in franchise adaptations, often appearing in background frames with exoskeletons visible. The manga adaptation (2015 ) expands them into a full subplot involving their backstory and the origin of the Mighty Mechas. The anime series TV series devotes significant screen time to their family history[citation needed].