Erique Claudin

**Erique Claudin** is the main antagonist/anti-hero of Arthur Lubin's Phantom of the Opera.

## Character History

Erique Claudin has been a violinist for the Paris Opera House for 20 years now. He has secretly been paying for Christine DuBois'
 music lessons. One day, the owner of the Paris Opera House calls for a
meeting with Claudin as he thinks he is the one who has been causing the
 discord in the violin ensemble. Claudin explains that he has gotten
pain in the left fingers recently which affect his playing, and is
dismissed from the orchestra because of it.

Claudin has almost no money now. Claudin goes to Signor Ferretti,
 Christine's music teacher, and begs him to continue to instruct
Christine despite not getting payed, until Claudin gets a new secure
position. Ferretti refuses. Claudin tells him he has written a concerto,
 and asks him once again to consider teaching Christine free for a
while, and get paid for it later. Ferretti once again refuses. Erique is
 sure that Pleyel and Desjardins will publish it and give him a
substantial advance.

Claudin goes to Pleyel & Desjardins to let them have a look at it
 while he's in the waiting room. An employee of Pleyel who quits for the
 day comes out and Claudin asks him about his manuscript. The employee
claims that he doesn't know anything about it. Claudin sneaks in, intent
 on getting his script back. He interrupts Pleyel & his secretary
etching images. Pleyel orders his secretary to give Claudin his
concerto. She can't find it. Claudin gets mad and worried. Pleyel, now
tired of Claudin, tells him that an employee probably threw it in the
wastebasket where it belongs. Pleyel tells him good night and walk back
to his etchings. Claudin hears his music being played on piano. Franz
Liszt plays it while talking to an employee. The employee says he has
been trying to convice Pleyel for years to publish Claudin's work. Liszt
 responds that Pleyel will publish this. Unfortunately, Claudin cannot
hear their conversation, he hears only the music being played and
believes Pleyel is stealing his music, publishing it under his own name.
 Claudin, in a torrent of rage, chokes Pleyel to death. When Pleyel
falls to his demise on the floor, his secretary throws the acid, used
for the etchings on Claudin.

Claudin, with a lot of pain, and now hunted by the police, goes
into the sewers and makes his way to the Opera House. He gets a mask to
hide his disfigured face. He steals food when he has the opportunity. He
 also steals the master key, which opens all 2500 doors in the Paris
Opera House.

He starts his reign on terror on those who stand in the way of
Christine's career and those who stand in the way for his goals. His
first victim is Biancarolli.
 Aware that Christine is Biancarolli's stand-in, he drugs Biancarolli so
 Christine will stand in for the show's remainder. Later, Biancarolli is
 furious with what has happened. She believes that Anatole did it for
Christine. The opera house crew convinces her to forget about it as it
could hurt the Paris Opera House, as well as herself. Biancarolli agrees
 under certain conditions. She demands that if she is to forget that she
 was drugged tonight, then everyone should forget Christine's success
that night. They reluctantly accepts her decision with dismay from
Christine, but Anatole seems even more mad about it than Christine.
Erique who has found out about this is really annoyed with Biancarolli
now. Later, he shows up in her dressing room and kills her.

Anatole spots the Phantom running away and decides to run after him
which leaves him in a dangerous situation which has him losing his track
 on him.

Next concert Raoul decides to have another person take Christine's role.
 However Christine does show up because she couldn't stay away. Erique
decides to release another torrent of terror on the people and brings
down the large chandelier on the audience and cause panic and chaos to spread. As the audience and the crew flee, Erique lures Christine that he is
from the police and is delegating Raoul and takes her down to his lair,
pursued by Anatole, Raoul and the other police officers. Christine
realizes he's not from the police and wants to get away. Erique says
that they will have it wonderful down here. Christine will sing for him,
 and he will play. He also says that the people of the Opera House has corrupted her against him, that's why she's afraid. Liszt plays
Claudin's concerto and Erique who hears it plays along. The first song
is "Lullaby of the Bells" and Christine who heard it in Provence and
made her rendition of it can't understand how this Phantom could play it
 and claim it to be his. He urges her to sing and she does. But after a
while when she stands beside him she tears off his mask. She backs away in terror of the sight of Erique's deformed face. Raoul
and Anatole walks in too and Raoul accidentally fires a shot. While
Christine, Raoul and Anatole make their way out, Erique is buried under a
 pile of rocks. In the end however, the mask and the violin is placed in front of the rocks
 and some of the rocks were moving. Some believe this could indicate
that Erique put the music behind him and was going for a new beginning.