Madame St. Paul

Madame St. Paul (マダムサンポール) is the head maid and bridal instructor to the Chardin Family who oversees Ranma's training so that she may be suitable to become Picolet Chardin II's bride.

Similar to how Picolet's name is taken from a Japanese diaper type product, Madame St. Paul's name is a reference to "San Po-ru" floor cleaner.

Overview
Madame St. Paul is one of many practitioners of Martial Arts Dining and as such is able to stretch her mouth to at least just below her waist, typically after hearing/seeing something which she views as shocking. Given her high position amongst the servants of the Chardin Family, Madame St. Paul is extremely strict, particularly towards Ranma whilst she receives her bridal training.

In both the anime and manga, Madame St. Paul appears as a rather tall woman, standing several heads higher than both Akane and Ranma's female form. She appears to be roughly in either her late 30's to mid 40's and is always seen wearing rounded glasses along with a dark Victorian-style dress (colored in the anime). Her hair is also styled to resemble that of a cooked chicken or turkey.

Martial Arts Dining
Shortly upon arriving at Chateau Chardin, Ranma is attacked by Madame St. Paul, leaving Picolet to explain her role as the person who trains all of his potential bride's-to-be. After seeing how Ranma is incapable of using her tongue to grab food like herself and Picolet, Madame St. Paul begins Ranma's bridal training by placing her in an Iron Corset until she can display the elegance required to enter the Chardin Family. Despite all the training seeming ineffective initially, Madame St. Paul soon agrees to continue Ranma's training after observing her succeeding in eating a bread roll in midair without the use of her hands.

Unfortunately Ranma soon falls back into using her hands to try and eat, forcing Madame St. Paul to continue being strict with her. Later that day, however, St. Paul learns from Picolet that Ranma has learnt of the "Parlay du Foie Gras", forcing them to advance the date of the wedding in order to prevent Ranma for learning the technique's secret. However, after three days, Madame St. Paul notices that Ranma's hands aren't getting quicker, if anything they are slowing down, which reinforces her suspicion that Ranma is attempting the Parlay du Foie Gras.

When the day before the wedding arrives, Ranma (who has now mastered the Parlay du Foie Gras) declares to Picolet that she refuses to marry him, prompting Madame St. Paul to reveal that it traditional for the bride-to-be to prove herself in a dinner party, a challenge which Ranma accepts to participate in. St. Paul, meanwhile, takes Picolet away, where she begins teaching him a technique to counter the Parlay du Foie Gras.

Once the fight between Ranma and Picolet begins Madame St. Paul acts as the announcer and referee. Despite St. Paul's multiple attempts at cheating to give Picolet an advantage, Ranma ultimate wins the match, thus stopping the wedding between Ranma and Picolet.

Relationships
St. Paul has a very good relationship with her employer, Picolet, with her being his main source of advice should he require it. Inversely, St. Paul also cares greatly for Picolet's well being, as shown in her second anime appearance where she contacted Ranma in the hope that she would be able to figure out what was causing Picolet's recent spate of strange behaviour.

Non-canon Appearances
Madame St. Paul is mentioned in the alternate version of Lambada Ranma, she also has her own song with Picolet on the Fighting Songs Karuta album, Tres Bien de Gozaimasu. She also appears briefly in form in the OVA opening, Where Do We Go From Here (You and Me).

Trivia

 * In the manga, Picolet was the one whose jaw dropped after seeing Ranma win the match, but in the anime, it was Madame whose jaw dropped.

Quotes

 * Elegance! Elegance! Elegance! Elegance! - St. Paul's catchphrase whenever Ranma fails during her bridal training.