Titles: Professor of Science, Doctor of Musical Arts, MENSA Member, Governor and Head of the Science Department at St. Cecilia’s University, Owner of the Opera Populaire du Versailles, Co-Founder of the Phantom Phoenix Theatre Company, Dark Elemental.
Nicknames: Le Prof, The Boss, The Brain, Dr. Frankendestler, O.G. , ETD
Born: 20th October 1835, in St. Martin de Boscherville, Rouen
Mother: Madeleine Dumont- Destler
Father: Charles Destler
Siblings: None
Height: 1.88M / 6”2’
Weight: 154 lbs
Eyes: Turquoise
Hair: Off-Brown Colour, Limp, Greasy in a pseudo-composor hairstyle
Spouse: Christine Destler
Children: 6 daughters: Angelique, Ember (surrogate), Arella, Elysia, Charlotte and Victoria. 4 sons: Charles (deceased), Emmanuel, Emil and Isak.
Prized Possessions: His self-built pipe organ, his father’s Stradivarius violin, a locket with a miniature of his grandparents in it, and a silver pocket watch given to him by Giovanni Uccello-Difiama.
Brief History
Erik was born on the 20th October 1835 to Madeleine Dumont and Charles Destler, a young couple who up until the birth of their child were a blissfully happy and unified couple. His father was the eldest son of a noble Finnish family and his mother the youngest of two from a middle class French family. There was often speculation as to his mother’s activities before marrying his father and it was not until the long and difficult birth that almost took his mother’s life that the truth about her turbulent past came to the fray. When Madeleine was sixteen years old she was raped by a local yeoman who cornered her in a barn and molested her. It was from this that she contracted the disease syphilis which was passed onto her son in the womb and which left him with a heart condition, bad eyesight and most notably a severe deformation on the right side of his face. Tragically, due to complications with the birth and a medical upset, Madeleine died in childbirth, her dying wish being that she was sacrificed for the sake of her son. Despite this Charles was besotted by his son and made a vow to protect him from the harsh reality of his difference by fashioning a mask that would hide his face from him in the mirror. Because of her death, Erik never knew his mother but despite this he led a blissfully ignorant first eight years of his life in the company of his doting father, grandparents and aunt in Westcraven Manor, Turku, Finland.
But this ideal life was to be shattered in an instant when his father was murdered right before his eyes by his Uncle Jean-Claude who had vowed to destroy the Destler family in vengeance for his sister’s death. Terrified and threatened to follow in the fate of his father, the young Erik fled for his life into the woods of Turku just north of the manor. He was not free for long however when he was captured by a band of gypsies and forced for two years to expose his deformity to the world in a travelling fair led by a cruel master. This constant exposure made Erik develop into a young man very prematurely and caused him by sheer necessity to shed a lot of the values and morals that had been taught to him by his family.
Over the next few years Erik would go from circus slave (until he was rescued by a young girl by the name of Antoinette Giry) to reclusive hermit to nomad to drug addict until his return to Paris in 1855, a dishevelled and very ill young man at the age of twenty. During the next fifteen after his recovery, Erik would play many roles to many people; Angel, Phantom and Master but to name a few. Soon his infatuation with young soprano and chorus girl Christine Daaë whom he had be giving secret lessons to in the guise of a Divine spirit, would come to fruition and he found himself falling in love. At first Christine was terrified by this and recoiled from him, but time maturity made her discover feelings she never knew she could possess. Their relationship was conducted in secret while Erik composed under the nom-de-plum of Ernst Chalumeau and Christine sang in the secret operas conducted during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. But their love was to be ill fated, when in 1871 just one week after their marriage Christine would die in childbirth.
After her death, a broken-hearted Erik (now wholly alone in the world) withdrew himself from what little association he had in society, shut the portcullis of his home and left Paris for twenty years with his faithful servant Latimer as his only companion. In 1899, he returned to Paris, hoping to find it and he changed but horror was to strike him when he discovered he had not aged at all… Unable to explain the anomaly he returned to his home in order to will death upon himself so that he may rest with his beloved. This suffering continued for 141 years.
In 2014, Erik was still alive though the theatre was a ruin and he utterly alone. It was in this year that he would meet Bradley Phoenix and co. and his life would be changed for the better when they reunited him with his fallen love. He is now happily married and more comfortable in himself in a society which is more acceptant of the physically deformed. He is a Professor of Science and Musicology, and a loving father and husband. Though 200 plus years old, he has learned to throw off the shadows of his past to some extent and has allowed himself to grow as a person.
Character Personality
By nature, Erik can be quite the temperamental sort and is known for throwing atrocious tantrums when tested. Deep down, despite his dynamic personality, Erik is incredibly soft hearted and full of love longing to be released but which is often overshadowed by his dark and turbulent past. Because of this, he does not love often but when he does he loves deeply and passionately. He is known for his kind heart, and gentle nature but if you break his trust you may find he will not be so kind. He is rather pompous and something of a narcissist in regards to his natural genius. He does not take ridicule well, and is known for puffing himself like a balloon when indignant or insulted. He is not generally dangerous unless challenged, but there have been times when his addiction to morphine has cause him to do things, which he regrets.