History Characters / ThePhantomOfTheOpera

* TheLoad: To the Persian.

The caretaker for Box Five, which is reserved by Erik. She knows Erik and is on good terms with him. She is fired when she tries to tell Richard and Moncharmin about "The Phantom".

* ThePrimaDonna: Both in occupation and personality.

* AffablyEvil: He may be a murdering psychopath, but the guy is nothing but polite to the very end.

* BeastAndBeauty: With Christine.

* BrokenAce: Erik is a genius in music, art and architecture, and possessing the most beautiful voice any man or woman on the face of the earth could ever possess, but due to his deformities and the way the world had treated him because of them, he cuts himself off from humanity, growing into a psychopathic murderer.

* CulturedBadass: He is a genius in art, science and music, and a skilled assassin as well.

* EntitledToHaveYou: Erik sees Christine's love for Raoul as a betrayal, since he's done so much for her.

** Christine expects the Phantom to rape her during her abductions, but he actually has the decency [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil not to do so]]. This after he has murdered a number of innocent people, especially via his penchant for hanging traps; declared that he ''owns'' Christine; and other not-so-nice things.
** He isn't proud of his part in 'the rosy hours of Mazenderan' aka killing people to amuse the little Sultana and teaching her to kill in turn; he's actually saddened when speaking of them.

* EvilMakesYouUgly: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]. He was born ugly and the world made him out and treated him like he was evil. He eventually became just that.

** To Raoul as the role of a lover. Raoul might be a bit weird and clumsy when it comes to protecting Christine and he can get jealous, but he genuinely values her happiness over his own and leaves her be when she desires so. The Phantom has her under constant surveillance and will kill anyone who tries to take her away from him, regardless of how much it traumatizes her. He even says that the only way she's allowed to leave him is if she kills herself, before having a [[HeelFaceTurn change of heart]] and [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy letting her go to be with Raoul]].
** To the Daroga as the role of a father. The Daroga doesn't hesitate to put himself in danger to help Christine and save her. He goes out of his way to try to inform the staff of the opera of the danger she's in and when he fails to gather a group he simply rushes in with Raoul. He also seems to be pretty supportive of Christine and Raoul's love. The Phantom forbade Christine to even speak to other men and takes her away when she disobeys him.

* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Due to his deformities, he prefers to hide in the shadows and the catwalks, catacombs and passages behind the Opera's walls. Even when tutoring Christine, he takes great pains not to be seen by her.

* InvincibleVillain: He is the primary antagonist and has an absolutely staggering array of skills. Over the course of his life Erik managed to pick up the skills of an opera singer, ventriloquist, mechanical engineer, architect, stage magician, and ninja. Indeed no one in the book ever manages to even come close to defeating him.

* IWasQuiteALooker: Many adaptations have Erik start out as a handsome man, but due to some accident, he is left horrifically disfigured, and what ever little amount of sanity he has left, vanishes with his good looks.
* JackOfAllTrades: As noted in BrokenAce. As a sort of karmic counterweight to his deformity, Erik has a lot of incredible skills; his music skills need no introduction, but he's also a gifted mechanic, ventriloquist, architect and even covert assassin.
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: Him murdering a man, kidnapping Christine, and threatening to kill her beloved Raoul--and in the original book, blow up the entire opera house--if she doesn't agree to marry him.

* PsychopathicManchild: The Persian and Erik himself lampshade Erik's attitude as childish despite his multiple talents, such as how he starts boasting about his skills whenever prompted like a proud kid. He is also not interested in sex but to have a beautiful wife and a life like any other guy. It's only when he actually triumphs that he realizes how impractical those dreams are.

* ScarpiaUltimatum: Threatens to blow up the opera house if Christine doesn't marry him and then threatens to drown Raoul if she doesn't promise him she won't kill herself.

* VillainousBreakdown: Among the most iconic examples in fiction. He drags Christine to his lair while ranting and raving about her perceived betrayal of him, spewing death threats between manic laughter, then forces her into a wedding dress and threatens her into marrying him, potentially killing Raoul if she refuses. In the book, he plans to blow up the Opera House and everyone inside, in the musical, he threatens to hang Raoul.

* WickedCultured: He has a taste for the finer things in life, and is incredibly well-mannered and well read, despite his tendencies to go into a mad rage and murder people when they get in his or Christine's way.
* {{Yandere}}: For Christine. He developed an unhealthy obsession with her and donated his time and life towards being with her. In the climax, he forces her to choose between being with him for the rest of her life or refuse him. Unfortunately, refusing him would result in the Opera House being blown up, killing everyone in there. His musical counterpart doesn't go that far, but he does threaten to [[MurderTheHypotenuse kill Raoul]] if she doesn't choose him.

A young Swedish soprano who becomes torn between her loyalty for her mentor Erik, and her love for her childhood friend Raoul de Chagny.

* BadLiar: She tries to distract Erik from killing Raoul and the daroga by asking him questions about the house, which of course doesn't work, and she is never quite able to convince Erik that nothing is going on between her and her "friend" Raoul. The [=MazM=] game adaptation even pokes fun at this by pointing out that while she is a good singer, her acting skills in the opera are highly criticized.

* BeastAndBeauty: With Erik in one of the most enduring examples of this trope in Gothic literature.

* ChildhoodFriendRomance: With Raoul.

* DamselInDistress: She spends most of the novel under Erik's power and helpless to act against him in fear that he'll hurt either her or someone else in the opera house. Taken to its full conclusion when Christine is kidnapped by Erik in the final act, requiring Raoul and the daroga to come to her rescue--though in a twist, she ultimately ends up freeing all of them with her compassion.

* GrewASpine: In the musical, she starts off as rather naïve, passive, and trusting, but once she catches on to what sort of person her "angel" really is, she's willing to tell him off, and only agrees to marry him when he threatens the lives of others. {{Averted}} in the book, where she's quickly revealed to have a massive spine.

* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: In the novel, as a kind and compassionate girl with blonde hair. Most productions of the musical make her brunette, though, like Sarah Brightman who originated the role. However, some productions go back to her original blonde hair.

* WrongGenreSavvy: Given her deeply pious nature, she initially believes Erik to be the Angel of Music, sent by God after requested by her father that He send them to teach her how to sing, which her father promised he would do for her, while on his death bed. It takes a while for her to realize that Erik is not the Angel he had claimed to be during their music lessons, but a violent StalkerWithACrush.

* SnipeHunt: {{Defied|Trope}}. Raoul nearly goes on one by Inspector Mifroid, who claims that Count Philippe de Chagny took Christine away and is headed to Brussels. However, he bumps into the Persian, who tells him that Christine is actually in the Phantom's captivity.

* AllLovingHero: He's a good-hearted man who wants nothing more than to help people, he doesn't even hesitate to help Raoul save Christine when he realizes what kind of danger she's in.

* HyperCompetentSidekick: Serves as one to Raoul, and saves him more than once throughout the story.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: He saved Erik from being executed by the Shah of Persia and for his troubles, he was banished and Erik repaid his kindness by committing murders.
* NoNameGiven: He is only called the Persian, or Daroga, which is his former job description -- a title of the members of the Shah's secret police. He's called Nadir Kahn in the Susan Kay novel, and this tends to be the name that fans go with in fan works. The game adaptation of the novel by [=MazM=] gives him the name Hatim.
* OnlySaneMan: Because he's the only one who knows who and what Erik truly is, he's the most levelheaded and rational about dealing with him, between the operagoers and Christine who fear him and Raoul who is blinded by rage. He also serves as a voice of reason for Erik as well, Christine only being able to leave the first time she was abducted because of him.

* SaveTheVillain: He rescued Erik from being executed by the Shah for knowing too much, which allowed Erik to travel until eventually settling in Paris. This led to him feeling responsible for his later evil deeds, however. He tries to use this fact as leverage to keep Erik from doing him harm.
* SnipeHunt: He defies the trope by intercepting Raoul as he is about to head to Brussels, knowing that Christine is in the Phantom's captivity rather than going to Brussels with Count Philippe like Mifroid claimed.

The new managers of the opera house. They believe "The Phantom" is just a rumour and don't listen to his demands, which causes a great conflict with Erik.

* UnwittingPawn: The Phantom dupes them into obeying his demands anyway by causing disasters that they can't anticipate and, in the books, even stealing their money for two straight chapters.

** In the book, she was just one of Erik's pawns whom he treated with considerably more kindness than he did the managers, thanks to her serving him so well as the concierge. In the Webber musical, she's the only one who knows about who he is and where he came from, instead of the Persian, and is responsible for him ending up in the opera house to begin with.

* TheBully: In the novel, she already has a reputation for being a brilliant but 'heartless and soulless' soprano, who at the first opportunity resolves to smother Christine's career by all means possible. She persuades powerful friends to flatter the managers into denying Christine opportunities for any career advancement, forces newspapers to stop publishing anything positive about Christine, spreads malicious rumors about Christine and goes out of her way to make everyday life in the Opera House difficult for Christine. She even weaponizes her devoted fanbase to fill the audience for the night's performance and 'silence' Christine's conspirators (fans) if they show up. [[AllForNothing It does nothing to stop Christine's popularity.]]
* DeathByAdaptation: Many adaptations have Erik kill Carlotta, usually to get her out of the way of Christine's success, or as vengeance for a cruelty against Christine.

* SmallNameBigEgo: Suffers from a bad case of this in the book, where she has massive self-importance. She assumes that Christine is the head of a conspiracy trying to destroy her fame and fortune, just because she's La Carlotta, head soprano:

* VillainyFreeVillain: It's easy to miss on a first viewing of the musical since she's a spoiled and bad-tempered bully, but Carlotta doesn't ''really'' do anything wrong. She just wants to continue to do the job she loves and isn't happy that the Opera Ghost has decided to replace her with threats and sabotage. In the novel, she's much more villainous, but ultimately a minor annoyance compared with the Phantom.

* NightmareFetishist: In Susan Kay's novel, Meg cheerily tells Christine of even more ghastly sights in the Opera House that the Opera Ghost is supposedly responsible for. Erik is many things, but he can't make disembodied hands crawl across the stage or flood the dressing rooms with blood on a regular basis, and remarks that Meg should be writing Gothic novels instead of dancing. There's shades of this trope in the original book, where Meg reacts rather casually to Buquet's death.
* RagsToRoyalty: Erik predicts that she'll become a Baroness to the delight of her mother. By the opening of the book, Meg has become the Baroness de Castelot-Barbezac.

* SympathyForTheDevil: Concludes the story by letting the readers know his belief that Erik may have been a monster, not only of his own volition, but due to how society treated him. He also makes it clear had the world not shunned Erik the way they did because of his deformities, he most certainly could have been one of the great celebrated minds of the century.

%%** TheVoice

* {{Revenge}}: When the opera refuses his demands that they make Christine the Prima Donna of "Faust", choosing La Carlotta instead, he causes Carlotta to croak in the middle of his performance, and drops the Chandelier on the audience,

%%* TheChessmaster

%%* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen

%%* TheKidnapper

%%* WickedCultured

* SympathyForTheDevil: Concludes the story by letting the readers know his belief that Erik may have been a monster, not of his own volition, but due to how society treated him. He also makes it clear had the world not shunned Erik the way they did because of his deformities, he most certainly could have been one of the great celebrated minds of the century.

* ThenLetMeEvil: Being born ugly and deformed caused his parents and society to treat him like a monster. All the abuse and torment caused him to despise the world and eventually become a murderous, stalking, and vengeful villain.

* KnightInShiningArmor: Offers to whisk Christine away from the phantom and keep her safe. When she's kidnapped he rushes to her rescue... and is captured and has to be saved by her.

* SnipeHunt: He nearly goes on one by Inspector Mifroid, who claims that Count Philippe de Chagny took Christine away and are headed to Brussels. However, he bumps into the Persian, who tells him that Christine is actually in the Phantom's captivity.

* {{Unwitting Pawn}}s: The Phantom dupes them into obeying his demands anyway by causing disasters that they can't anticipate and in the books, even stealing their money for two straight chapters.

** In the book, she was just one of Erik's pawns whom he treated with considerably more kindness than he did the managers thanks to her serving him so well as concierge. In the Webber musical, she's the only one who knows about who he is and where he came from, instead of the Persian, and is responsible for him ending up in the opera house to begin with.

* VillainyFreeVillain: It's easy to miss on a first viewing of the musical since she's a spoiled and bad-tempered bully, but Carlotta doesn't ''really'' do anything wrong. She just wants to continue to do the job she loves and isn't happy that the Opera Ghost has decided to replace her with threats and sabotage. In the novel, she's much more villainous, but ultimately a minor annoyance compared to the Phantom.

* DecoyProtagonist: A tall and confident ballerina who is prepared to stab a ghost. Then she turns out to be a minor character and we're introduced to Christine in the second chapter.

* StatuesqueStunner: Described as very tall for a ballerina and is a renowned beauty. In some translations, she's described as having a waist supple as a willow branch.

No not the actual author but his in-universe [[AuthorAvatar avatar]], who narrates the story through his journalistic reports.

* SympathyForTheDevil: Concludes the story by letting the readers know his belief that Erik may have been a monster, but not for his own volition, but due to how he had been treated by society. He also makes it clear had the world not shunned Erik the way they did because of his deformities, he most certainly could have been one of the great celebrated minds of the century.

* AbusiveParents: His mother couldn't stand to touch or bare the sight of him, so she made him wear his famous mask.

The new managers of the opera house. They believe "The Phantom" it's just a rumour and don't listen to his demands, which causes a great conflict with Erik.

* RedOniBlueOni: Richard and Moncharmin, in that order, the former who's often loud and the first to raise his voice, the latter being the calm one who advises Richard.

* StockholmSyndrome: {{Lampshaded}} with NoMatterHowMuchIBeg, her immense sympathy for Erik and the fact that he usually acts so respectfully towards her while she's with him leads her to care about him and she can't bring herself to hate him, though she also notes he still inspires her with horror.

* VillainyFreeVillain: It's easy to miss on a first viewing of the musical since she's a spoiled and bad-tempered bully, but Carlotta doesn't ''really'' do anything wrong. She just wants to continue to do the job she loves and isn't happy that the Opera Ghost has decided to replace her. In the novel, she's much more villainous, but ultimately a minor annoyance compared to the Phantom.

** The game adaptation of the novel by [=MazM=] depicts him as being far more abusive and cruel to Christine, as well as [[spoiler:adding a new character, a woman he met and was rejected by in Turkey, that he's revealed to have kidnapped and kept prisoner under the opera house for a decade before the game starts.]] In this adaptation, his HeelFaceTurn at the end of the novel is replaced with [[spoiler:Christine and said woman escaping after giving him a BreakingSpeech, and he dies hating her for it.]]

** To Raoul as the role of a lover. Raoul might be a bit weird and clumsy when it comes to protecting Christine and he can get jealous, but he genuinely values her happiness over his own and leaves her be when she desires so. The Phantom has her under constant surveillance and will kill anyone who tries to take her away from him, regardless of how much it traumatizes her. He even says that the only way she's allowed to leave him is if she kills herself, before having a [[HeelFaceTurn change of heart]] and [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy letting her go to be with Raoul.]]

* LargeHam: He is very much a drama king in every adaptation, his behavior often ranging from soft and polite to wildly screaming and raving in large monologues.

* CompositeCharacter: In the musical, she is this for herself and the Persian. She becomes Erik's SecretKeeper with knowledge of his origin story and boobytraps and also takes on the role of aiding Raoul at the climax.

* HeadTurningBeauty: Very beautiful and with striking eyes.

* DecoyProtagonist: A tall and confident ballerina who is less afraid of the Ghost than others. Then she turns out to be a minor character and we're introduced to Christine in the second chapter.

* WhatBeautifulEyes: One of her most defining physical characteristics and part of her beauty.

%%* TheIngenue

* InterruptedSuicide: After her abduction at the climax, The Phantom stops her from killing herself and ties her up.

%%* TheCutie: Christine is kind to everyone.

* GrewASpine: She starts off as rather naïve, passive, and trusting, but once she catches on to what sort of person her "angel" really is, she's willing to tell him off, and only agrees to marry him when he threatens the lives of others.

* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: In the novel. Most productions of the musical make her brunette, though, like Sarah Brightman who originated the role. However, some productions go back to her original blonde hair.

* LoveMakesYouCrazy/LoveMakesYouEvil: While the constant isolation and rejection from society didn't do Erik any favors, he's noted as going "mad" with his love for Christine, which makes him even worse than before to a point that he's willing to blow up the whole opera house and everyone inside just to get her to marry him. His obsessive stalking of Christine and his increasing violence utterly terrifies her.

%%* EvilGenius

* BrainlessBeauty: For all her beauty, she is described as rather lacking in brains due to being fiercely superstitious, not that anyone held it against her - she was a fantastic ballerina and very good at her job.