capeandcowl Application
[PLAYER INFO]
NAME: Ubiquitous, Biq for short.
JOURNAL:ubiquitous_biq
AIM: theubiquitousbiq@aol.com
E-MAIL: invaliduserbot@gmail.com
RETURNING: Nope!
[CHARACTER INFO]
CHARACTER NAME: Erik (Le Fantǒme, The Opera Ghost, The Trap-Door Lover, The Angel of Doom)
FANDOM: The Phantom of the Opera
CHRONOLOGY: Soon after settling into the Opera, before Christine Daaé arrives, from the novel by Susan Kay.
CLASS: Soulless Villain - does not regard himself as a member of the human race, or tied to its moral code.
SUPERHERO NAME: Phantom
ALTER EGO: Erik, a reclusive and generally unknown master thief who may become a stage magician and illusionist if he comes out of his shell.
BACKGROUND:
Erik's mother, Madeleine, had a more or less perfect life. She was born to two rich parents, pursued a brief career as a singer and violin-player, and then fell madly in love with a master architect named Charles. The two went on a series of extravagant honeymoons until Madeleine's parents unexpectedly died of contracted disease. Suddenly forced to settle down, the couple moved in with her friend Marie Perrault, in a small town called Boscherville. Madeleine became pregnant, and shortly afterwards Charles was killed by a piece of falling masonry.
When the boy was born, he was so hideous that Madeleine couldn't come up with a name and the priest had to baptize the baby after himself. Madeleine decided to kill the newly-christened Erik, but at that moment he cried; it was a voice totally unlike the usual baby-cry, one which shimmered and mesmerized. She was abruptly rendered incapable of killing him; instead, she gave him its first piece of clothing.
A mask.
The boy grew up forbidden to take the mask off of his face or go outside. In fact, he never grew up with other humans at all; the only people he knew were Marie, Madeleine, and the priest, father Mansart. Of these, none of them actually loved him; the only affectionate figure in his life was his dog Sasha. Despite this, he quickly developed into a genius and prodigy; before he learned to walk, he was composing elaborate tunes on a string of bells and singing to himself wordlessly. Then, once he began being able to draw, he decorated the entire house with intricate designs for castles and palaces and labyrinths; when his pencil was taken away, he stole a pair of scissors and carved his genius into the walls.
Mansart tutored him, and in doing so brought him the first traces of human society. He made a few, weak attempts to emulate normal humans, which failed; when he asked his mother for a kiss, she grew violent and then showed him his face in the mirror. It was the first time he had ever seen such a thing, and he was so horrified by the strange mirage that he threw himself at the mirror and cut himself open with the shards. That traumatic event embedded the necessity of the mask in his mind; after that, any demands for him to remove his mask would be met with similar violence. They also began his morbid fascination with mirrors, as he actually believed that they could perform magic. Another time he attempted to take lessons from a master architect, but he scared off the man after he asked to see his face.
When Madeleine began to attract the attentions of a handsome doctor, he decided to keep her affections to himself by engineering a better son. He poured all of his child-ness, all of his innocence and selfishness and immaturity, into a wooden doll, and used ventriloquism to make it talk and complain as if it were a read baby. Madeleine, immediately under the power of his voice, grew to love the doll; she cared for it, pampering it as she had never pampered Erik. As the child pushed his immaturity and emotions into the doll, he himself became preternaturally refined and cold; he acted more like an arrogant adult than a growing kid. Eventually, Madeleine surrendered entirely to his illusions.
One day, while he was working intently on an artistic project, he absentmindedly put Sasha outside. By the time he realized what had happened, the villagers had attacked; he ran outside in a fury, pushing them to the ground, and then ran inside, covered in cuts and bruises and holding a dead Sasha in his hands. At least he had the comfort that she was in Heaven. The next day, the priest told him that only humans have souls.
Father Mansart barely had time to run out of the room before Erik killed him.
That was the first of his bursts of anger, those states of mind in which he killed anything he could lay hands on and then forgot about. Realizing how dangerous he was, Erik ran away from his family and used his skeletal fingers as a thief before being captured by a band of Gypsies. He was caged and beaten, and forced to act as 'Le Morte Vivante' - the living dead, the crown jewel in the traveling freak show. When it was discovered how well he could sing and perform illusions, however, he discovered he had some leveraging power; he managed to earn himself his own tent and show, in which he did impossible things and then removed his mask and sang songs of power, songs that had never been heard before. The devil sang every night, and earned the gypsies a considerable amount of money. And so, Erik discovered his first great addiction. Power. He became a legend among the Gypsies - "Go to bed early, or Erik will come for you!" He actually began to enjoy it, until one day his master tried to rape him. Then, at the age of 12, he discovered his second addiction.
Murder.
He ran away once more, this time spending several years roaming the countryside of 19th-century France. He may have killed again; all we know of this period is that he grew to believe that he was the apprentice of Death himself. Eventually, while performing in a fair, he ran into an architect named Giovanni. He stayed with him for a while, growing better and better at architecture until eventually he commanded the entire team as a second-in-command to Giovanni. As he grew better at constructing walls in the real world, he gradually let down some of the barriers inside; Giovanni became a sort of father-figure, and he began to allow himself to experience emotion once more.
That was all shattered when Giovanni's daughter returned; she was immediately attracted by the aura of power and mystery that Erik had drawn up around him, but he was incapable of conceiving of anyone loving him. The tension grew greater and greater until, in a single climactic scene, she begged him to take the mask off. Giovanni commanded him too; resignedly, Erik took it off, fists trembling with the desire to hurt - someone, anyone. He did not have to wait long. Giovanni's daughter screamed and ran straight off of the edge of the building. Once more, Erik slipped off into the night.
Years later, he came to the attention of the Khanum of Persia, the Shah's mother. Nadir, the head darogah (policeman) was sent out to fetch him, leaving behind his ailing son. He eventually reached Erik, now an arrogant 20-year-old with an innately commanding and threatening presence. Erik condescended to be brought back with the darogah, but on his own conditions - which were frivolous and eccentric. Eventually, they arrived at the court, where he began to work for the Khanum. He sought out those who were purportedly rebels, and killed them with his deadly Punjab Lasso. He then designed her a torture chamber - a six-sided mirrored room with a heating lamp and a metal tree with a noose, which used Erik's magic with mirrors to devastating effect. He became the Khanum's personal favorite, and was feared throughout the land as an Angel of Doom. He also discovered a third addiction: morphine, which enabled him to control his dark moods.
He also designed a fantastic palace for the Shah, though his designs were scrapped at the ruler's whim, who demanded trap-doors and passageways so that the entire palace would be one giant playground. This he did, so proficiently that he became known as the Trap-Door Lover. So proficient was he, in fact, that the Shah decided no one would ever have a palace on par with his and so ordered Nadir to kill him. Instead, Nadir enabled him to slip, once again, into the darkness.
Several more years passed by, and he met up with Charles Garnier, the man who had won the competition to design a Paris Opera Theater. He enslaved him with his voice, becoming an unknown business partner in the construction of the Palais Garnier Opera House. He pumped out the water, formed a lake deep beneath the theater, and constructed a ridiculous amount of trap-doors and mirrors inside. Then, at last, he retired to his cavern, free from all human influences.
Unfortunately, he was still addicted to morphine and Garnier had several kids to put through college. He began to 'haunt' the Opera, using his knowledge of ventriloquism and illusion combined with his secret passageways. Then, one day, he demanded twenty thousand francs, which he used to fund his lavish lifestyle and the education of Garnier's children. He became known through the theater as the Opera Ghost. Alone and unfettered, he discovered that he was happy.
More or less.
PERSONALITY:
Erik is an architectural genius, and by far the greatest walls he has built are those in his own mind. On the surface, he is cold, arrogant, and polite, with a commanding and threatening presence that immediately puts him in charge. Deeper down, though, he is vulnerable, scared, and angry. That last will tend to come out in moments when the walls crack, causing him to attempt to kill anyone around him, then forget about the whole event as soon as his veil of politeness has been drawn across once more. He pretends that he requires no human contact, in fact regards himself as apart from the human race, but he is compulsively drawn to kind souls, whom he then warps and twists with his voice so that they will be who he wants them to be.
He has a soft spot for children, and acts almost like a normal (if charismatic) human being around them; he becomes humorous, attentive, and endlessly entertaining with his wide array of tricks. He also has a soft spot for those who seem innocent - he will find himself becoming very protective of such people. Everyone else is treated as a tool; he will kill, manipulate, or befriend them if it is useful, and for no reason greater than that. Whenever he develops a new architectural or musical project, his entire universe will contract down to a single point; he will not eat, sleep, or drink until he has made significant progress or passed out multiple times. As such, his times of genius also tend to be times of greatest instability.
He must be in control at all times; if he is not, he will fly into one of his murderous rages. He desires power above all things, and will use all of the tools at his disposal to keep it. He also becomes very unstable if his mask is removed, or if one of his emotional bonds are broken. He tends to be The Bad Guy, because The Good Guys generally don't want him to be in charge, but he will fight against The Other Bad Guys just as much because they also don't want him in charge. In other words, he's The Bad Guy in terms of being a totally soulless monster, but that doesn't mean anything about whose side he is on.
POWERS:
The Trapdoor-Lover (non-canon)
Erik has always been skilled at architecture; designs he made as a boy won a competition against the entire rest of France. He has spent several decades of his life devoted to endless architecture, which means that he is by now familiar with almost all construction materials, and can quickly assess the weaknesses of a structure and how to improve it. He also has an almost supernatural skill in building gadgets and trap-doors, which he loves doing more than anything else. His skill with gadgets will be useful, as he will need to adapt quickly to the mechanical apparatuses that fill the City. However, he will soon find his skill in trap-doors unnecessary; they have become, as it were, inbuilt.
Modern science has demonstrated that a sufficiently small particle, if not observed, can actually be in two places at once. This is now also true for Erik. As long as no one can see him, he can teleport somewhere else - provided no one will see him there, either. As such, he tends to stick to shadows and thinly populated areas. If backed into a corner, he can conceal himself behind his cloak, and thus teleport because no one can actually see him, but then he will have to leave his cloak behind him, and won’t have a get-out-of-jail-free card until he acquires another one. As such, he probably won’t use this method unless seconds away from death.
Angel of Music (canon)
Erik’s other skill lies in music, both vocal and instrumental. He has always been experienced with almost all instruments, and can quickly learn any new one. He is quite adept at composing music, and his masterpiece, Don Juan Triumphant, has been described as “one long, awful, magnificent sob” that nevertheless “ expressed... every suffering of which humankind is capable.” He can put emotion into any instrument, making it a certain level of hypnotic depending on how well he can play it. And he can play no instrument better than his voice.
Erik’s voice is quite simply mesmerizing. True to the way hypnotism works, he can’t actually force anyone to do something they don’t want to do. However, he can tempt them to do things they didn’t realize they wanted to do, finding their inner desires and then teasing them out, bringing their darkness to the surface until they are his total, if insane, puppet. Through no desire of his own, this gradually happens to anyone he loves.
Death’s Apprentice (canon-ish)
Whether it is true or merely the product of a deranged imagination, Erik believes himself to be apprenticed to Death itself. (Death, at the time, was synonymous with the Devil.) He is nearly invincible with his Punjab Lasso, a terrible weapon made from catgut that functions as an insta-kill - unless the target has their “hand at the level of their eye,” which renders it into a harmless toy because it can easily be loosened. He is also adept at most poisons and their cures (and therefore medicine), but dislikes using them because he finds them crude.
Illusion was regarded as the Devil’s work, and Erik has learned a thing or two from him. He excels at all forms of it, and has an almost supernatural skill in ventriloquism. He can also put his nimble fingers to good use as a pickpocket, another thing that he excels in. He has, at one point, stolen an envelope pinned to the inner pocket of a man watched carefully by another man, both of whom were in a locked room.
These skills he gained by training, and are not actually paranormal, but he shall eventually find when in some altered state of mind that the ‘Porter has made his apprenticeship a little more... manifest. There is a scene in the movie where an entire roomful of candles goes immediately dark, which could just be the product of a few place gadgets. However, he will now be able to extinguish light through sheer force of will; candles will present little problem, as they are always on the verge of going out anyways, but electrical lights will require immense concentration and make him unstable. Furthermore, because the Devil is the lord of trickery and magic, he will be able to create minor visual illusions, with the provision that he must use his voice to hypnotize them as well. It is significantly easier if mirrors are involved.
[CHARACTER SAMPLES]
COMMUNITY POST (FIRST PERSON) SAMPLE:
[Video]
[As the camera is turned on, a hand draws away; it is revealed to be the hand of a small, unassuming man with a blank expression. He stands up, and goes to stand next to a figure swathed in black, whose face is an unpitying white mask. This one's voice is beautiful, but dangerous; it sounds as if he is barely controlling his anger.]
Messeurs.
You continue to deny me my morphine. Of all of my possessions, it is the one that I have not yet recovered. I know that you have it, and you will give it back to me. Now.
[With quick, lithe steps he sweeps over to the camera and kneels down, his two sunken eyes blazing through the mask into the camera. The pupils are wide and dilated, and reflect the light like a cat. He hisses -]
I will take it back! I hope you understand me. The Angel of Doom is watching, messeurs. Angels are not known for their patience!
[Suddenly shaking, he springs to his feet and strides over to the man. He whirls about again to face the camera, and his voice is suddenly possessed with a horrible darkness.]
The good monsieur Cooper is here to give us a little demonstration of consequences. Aren't you, sir?
[The unassuming man gives a small, terrified nod. Before his head finishes rising back up, a noose of catgut has whipped out of nowhere and lashed out from Erik's gloved hand, coiling around the man's neck. His eyes bulge out; he sinks to his knees, gasping for air as the Phantom's eery laughter fills the air. The laughter isn't scary at all, though, when compared to his behavior - he doesn't clutch his neck, or cry out for aid. He quietly, resignedly, motionlessly, dies a gruesome death.]
[There is a pause as Erik closes his eyes and relishes in the feeling, then slowly rises from beside the corpse. His pupils shrink back to their usual size; his voice is beautiful and mesmerizing once more.]
You have three days.
[The camera goes black.]
LOGS POST (THIRD PERSON) SAMPLE:
A candle crunched under his foot. That was the final proof.
A month ago, his foot would have passed through the candle as if it wasn’t there. A month ago, he had been a ghost. Ghosts couldn’t touch, or be touched. They couldn’t be harmed. Now, he was human once more. He could be hurt. Erik could, as the hordes marching upon his lair intended to prove, be killed. Well, let them come. He could make anything disappear - except, in the end, himself. They would find him.
But they would not find Erik.
He bent down and picked up the candlestick, brushing the fragments of wax off its dusty surface. His boots echoed hollowly against the stone staircase; he knew where he had to go. “And where was that face?” scolds his mother. “In the mirror,” Erik sobs. “Inside...” The candlestick smashed into the glass, shattering it as Christine had shattered his soul. In Latin, the word for soul is the same as the word for mind. Better not to think of Christine. Better to forget her. Better not to think. A flash of porcelain-white echoed in the darkness; a sigh of relief slipped unbidden from his lips. Long, thin fingers reached down and stroked the mask’s surface.
The Phantom put on its face.
It was standing in a small alcove, tucked behind the remains of a mirror and an elegant scarlet curtain with gold embroidery. Gracefully stepping over the remains of the glass, the fallen angel walked up to its stone throne and pulled its cloak around its pallid flesh; the darkness lay against its body with a comforting presence. Now, at last, the flickering light of torches began to reflect across the light of the lake; they were coming, and made no attempt to hide their presence. How -
A moment of horrible dizziness; the cave swam, spun, experimented with kaleidoscopy, and enjoyed a brief stint as a sort of furry balloon before giving up and resolving into a rather unimpressive, sterile room. He couldn’t make any clear details out, because the room was still swimming; he heard a voice speak, felt something cold press into his hand, and found himself walking out into a rather alarmingly bright sun. His senses fed him all sorts of information, which he studiously ignored. Now was not the time.
In his hand, he discovered a strange little pane of glass with something behind it. That something said “dksla;” and he discovered his fingers on dots marked ‘a’ and ‘;’. A few moments of experimentation provided with with the key to its mystery - a simple riddle, clearly meant to be solved. He felt his fingers move over the keys with a machine-like precision, falling into the old patterns. Better not to think.
“Messieurs...”
FINAL NOTES ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER:
His face is A FRIGGIN SKULL. He has a ton of skill with make-up, though, and a collection of fake noses, and a wig. Unfortunately, even with his many improvements the left side of his face still looks pretty nasty, so he tends to wear a mask over it.