The Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom of the Opera is the mysterious denizen of the Paris Opera House's deepest subbasement. It is also the name of the many, many iterations of his story.

The Original Novel
The French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux was first published in serial form between 1909 and 1910. It was translated to English in 1911 and has since been adapted into multiple books and films as well as the popular musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

The original novel is sadly ignored by most fanbrats. Thus, they miss certain important details such as the fact that the Phantom's name is Erik, that his eyes are yellow, and that he wears a full black mask. Oh, and he's really, really, I mean damn-I've-seen-better-looking-corpses UGLY.

This does not stop them from finding him Teh hawTt.

Also overlooked is the character of the Persian, who was replaced by Madame Giry in the ALW musical and film.

Phantom
Written by Susan Kay and published in 1991. Phantom is a re-telling of Erik's life from the points of view of various people. It begins with his mother's POV, switches to Erik's when he runs away from home, then to master stonemason Giovanni's, then to the Persian's (here named Nadir Khan), back to Erik, then Christine, and finally to Raoul.

From this adaptation comes Erik's cat, Ayesha.

Maskerade
Written by Terry Pratchett and published in 1995. Maskerade is a Discworld novel that parodies the story.

The Musical
In 1986, Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical adaptation of the novel opened in London's West End, starring Michael Crawford as the Phantom, Sarah Brightman as Christine Daaé, and Steve Barton as Raoul. The musical score was composed by Webber with lyrics by Charles Hart with contributions from Richard Stilgoe.

Webber's musical follows the story of Leroux's novel relatively faithfully as it pertains to Christine, the Phantom (who goes unnamed), and Raoul. Webber's version focuses more on the romance of the story than the mystery, but at least this way the Phantom retains his humanity and gets his redemption in the end. Some names are changed (perhaps to make them easier to sing) and some, like Raoul's older brother and the Persian, are written out altogether.

Films
The novel has been adapted into many films, some fairly good, some fairly awful. Among the best-known is the 1925 silent film, starring Lon Chaney as the Phantom. This version is essentially a horror film.

Most recently, in 2004, Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical was adapted as a film. It has received mixed reviews. Some love it for its brilliant photography and effects, but some people, especially those with a background in music, hate it. Common complaints are:

and
 * The actors can't sing;
 * The Phantom is too pretty;
 * Where did the canon go?