The brother in law of Matsya, the king of Virata. He was the son of the Suta king Kekaya. Kekaya and his wife Malavi had several children – Keechaka, 105 0f his brothers known as Upakeechakas, and a daughter named Sudeshna, as per Mahabharata Dakshinatyapattha. As per the same source, Keechaka and Upakeechakas were ansh avatars of the Bana, the eldest of the Kalakeyas. After Matsya married Sudeshna, Keechaka and the Upakeechakas began staying in Virata. Keechaka became the commander of the Virata army. He defeated Susharma, the king of trigarta, several times, as per Mahabharata Virataparva Chapters 25-30.

The Pandavas lived incognito in Virata, taking up different jobs. Draupadi worked as a maid to Sudeshna and her daughter Uttara. Ten months passed and then, one day, Keechaka saw Draupadi, and he became infatuated. He tried wooing her, but she slipped away. He finally asked Sudeshna to intercede. Sudeshna asked him to be ready on new moon day. On that day, Sudeshna asked Draupadi to fetch some food items from Keechaka. Draupadi reluctantly agreed and as soon as she reached there, Keechaka grabbed hold of her. She ran, but Keechaka followed her, and caught her by her hair, but a rakshasa who had been assigned to protect Draupadi made an entry then, and allowed her to escape. That night, Draupadi approached Bhima and tearfully appraised him of the events that had transpired. Bhima decided to kill Keechaka. He asked Draupadi to set up a rendezvous with Keechaka. Accordingly, Draupadi asked Keechaka to meet her in the dance hall that night and Bhima went there instead. Keechaka reached there at midnight and mistook the figure lying on the bed to be Draupadi. He tried to embrace ‘her’ and Bhima squeezed the life out of him. The next day, the news of Keechaka’s death spread. His siblings mourned him and heard the rumour that Sairandhri’s (Draupadi’s assumed name) gandharva husbands had killed him. They took the body to be cremated and wanted Draupadi to be burnt in it too. That night, Bhima heard Draupadi’s screams and came there in disguise. He killed the Upakeechakas and rescued Draupadi, as per Mahabharata Virataparva.