In Gaston Leroux’s “The Phantom of the Opera,” the Phantom’s name is Erik. He is the mysterious, disfigured musician who lives beneath the Palais Garnier in Paris and manipulates events from the shadows. The novel presents him as both frightening antagonist and tragic, highly gifted outsider.
Erik is a composer, architect, engineer, and master of illusion. He uses secret passages, hidden rooms, and theatrical tricks to create the impression of a supernatural “Opera Ghost.” He becomes obsessed with Christine Daaé, a young singer whom he tutors while claiming to be her “Angel of Music.”
A common mix-up comes from adaptations. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical generally calls him simply the Phantom, while some film versions give him different surnames or altered backstories. In Leroux’s original 1909 novel, however, Erik is the central character’s name. Christine is the singer he loves, Raoul is her suitor, and Carlotta is a rival soprano—not the Phantom himself.