Madame Noir, known in some adaptations as Madame Hecuba, reigns as the narrative's primary antagonist. Emerging from a dark realm with her giant son, Tulip, she poisoned the cloud fairy realm's king and queen to usurp their throne. Her ambition centered on forcing Princess Margaret into marriage with Tulip, employing a daily hypnotic spell that masked Tulip as a handsome prince and veiled Noir's own malevolence behind a facade of benevolence.

To secure her rule, she transformed the castle's servants—including figures like a general and lady-in-waiting—into mice. Her ruthlessness extended to luring human children as sustenance. She deceived the boy Jack with drugged soup, intending to consume him while hiding this act from Tulip. Noir's ultimate scheme involved betraying the newlyweds, Margaret and Tulip, by turning them into mice and then eliminating them to rule alone.

Consistently manipulative and cruel, Noir directed verbal and physical abuse toward Tulip, fueling his resentment and causing him to destroy toy effigies of her. This abuse proved her undoing. When Jack disrupted the wedding, breaking Margaret's trance with a kiss, Noir commanded Tulip to crush both Jack and Margaret. Tulip rebelled, fatally crushing his mother instead. Her destruction shattered her enchantments, restoring the servants and freeing the kingdom.