Stepmother embodies greed and cruelty as the guardian of her biological daughter Lena and stepdaughter Anja. She imposes harsh household labor on Anja. Upon discovering the queen’s gold reward for galanthus flowers in winter, she forces Anja into a lethal blizzard to retrieve them, aware the task is naturally impossible and indifferent to Anja’s survival, motivated solely by claiming the reward for herself and Lena.

After supernatural intervention enables Anja’s success, Stepmother and Lena present the flowers to the queen while concealing Anja’s role. When the queen demands to see the flower location, they secretly follow Anja into the forest, seeking the source for further profit. Their unrelenting greed and mistreatment provoke the Twelve Months spirits, who transform them into dogs as punishment for their cruelty and selfishness. This curse permits reversion to human form only upon genuine personal reform.

Stepmother maintains consistent antagonism without development or redeeming qualities. Her relationship with Lena remains transactional, deteriorating into strained bickering after their transformation.