Erik Destler







Trademark: Nikki ward



About




Full name: Erik Tobias Destler
Titles: The Phantom of the Opera
Nicknames: O.G., E.T.D, Opera Ghost
Born: 20th October 1835 in Boscherville, Rouen
Mother: Madeleine Dumont
Father: Charles Destler I
Siblings: None
Height: 1.88 M/ 6ft 2inches
Weight: 140 lbs / 10 stone
Eyes: Turquoise
Hair: Brown with darker streaks (naturally). Wears a dark wig most of the time.
Spouse: Undetermined
Children: 1 daughter, Angelique. Speculation as to a second living child.
Prized Possessions: His self-built pipe organ, and his laboratory

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 the child were a blissfully happy and unified couple. His father was the eldest son of a aristocratic Swedish- French family, and his mother, the youngest of two from a middle class French family. There was often speculation in his past 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. Madeleine had been a ‘loose woman’ in her college years and had over that time period contracted the disease, syphilis which was passed onto her son who was left with a heart condition, bad eyesight and most notably a horrific deformation on the right side of his face.

Despite this Erik’s father Charles was besotted by him 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. His mother however, found it impossible to bond with the child due a severe combination of Post-Natal Depression and mental stability (brought about by her disease). When Erik was just five months old she committed suicide. Because of this Erik never really knew his mother but despite this he led a blissfully ignorant first eight years of his life, in the company of his doting father, grandfather and aunt in Westcraven Manor, Hedemora, Sweden. But this ideal life was to be shattered in an instant when his father was shot dead in front of him by his Uncle Jean-Claude who had vowed to destroy the Destler family in vengeance for his sister’s death – not accepting that it had been her own choice. Terrified and threatened to follow in the fate of his father, the young Erik fled for his life into the woods of Hedemora just north of where he had been raised in West craven Manor. He was not free for long, when he was captured by a band of gypsies and forced for two years to expose his deformity to the world in a freak show 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.

One night when he was 1o years old, Javert his master came into his cage and tried to molest him, after a performance in Paris. In self defence, Erik turned the man’s own knife on him and killed him then fled the camp with the aid of a young girl named Miss. Antoinette Giry, who had seen the horrific treatment he had suffered at the hands of a vicious master and over- zealous crowd.

He spent two years with a friend of Antoinette’s called Jerome Réyer, until an accident involving Antoinette’s cousin, caused him to travel to leave France and head towards Italy. There he met the man who would later become his mentor and adopted father; Giovanni Phoenix I. Tragically, an intervention from Giovanni’s daughter Luciana, who developed a deep fascination with the mysterious boy, put and end to this and was her eventual demise. In an attempt to see his face she fell from a balustrade and plummeted three storeys to her death. After the loss of his pseudo father and mentor, Erik became stony and unfeeling in his temperament and took up a place in a Russian travelling fair, where he spent two more years perfecting his art.

Here, he was discovered by Nadir Khan, the daroga of Mezanderan, who summoned him to be entertainment to the shah’s mother in Persia. In Persia, Erik succumbed to teenage temptation and became heavily addicted to a habit of opium and morphine. It was this, paired with a constant rebuttal of authority that almost cost him his life. A clash with the shah’s vengeful side, caused him to become a convict in that country and he was forced to flee. Six months later he found him back in Paris, suffering from severe withdrawal. He was nursed back to health by Antoinette (and her husband Henri) who eventually found him a home beneath the Versailles Opera House.

There he resides as the theatre’s resident ghost, commanding the goings on and bending the managers to his every whim. Most important to him however, is the coaching and guidance of his precious protégée Christine Daaë, to whom he is only known as the Angel of Music. It is only in later years after the Great Fire that Erik and Christine find the true meaning of their feelings for each other, and that she discovers the real man behind the mask.

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.