Erik was not always known as the Phantom of the Opera. For the first years of his life he had no name at all.Forced to flee his home and his mother's murderous rage when he removes his mask, he suffers starvation and torture at the hands of strangers before falling in with a troupe of gypsies. Traveling with the gypsies and performing as The Living Corpse, he finds no friendship or safety? and his anger grows.After being persecuted for his hideous face across Europe, China and India, Erik is discovered in Russia by the mysterious Persian while performing magic and singing as no one else on earth can. He agrees to follow the Persian to Mazenderan to entertain the little Sultana, a child with a natural penchant for evil, and - no longer seeming to know the difference between good and evil - Erik becomes an assassin and gladiator for her father, the Sultan.Escaping Mazenderan and then Constantinople under death sentences, Erik returns to his home country of France. Angry, disillusioned and without hope, he makes his home in the cellars of the Paris Opera House, determined to hide from the world? until a young girl named Christine captures his attention.He is one of the most unforgettable characters in history - both loved and feared for the chaos he created in the Paris Opera House. Now, the story of his childhood is revealed.
