REAL phantom of the opera?

Question

Leroux (however you spell it) said that the character in his book was real. he wasnt a phantom but he was a real person. would someone who really knows give me a straight answer

Answer 1

Eric is not real. Dia could be real

Think about this:

"The Phantom of the Opera is mostly about a girl named Christine Daae (DI-A), a ballet dancer at the Paris Opera House. She is the musical student of a man who most call the Opera Ghost but who she calls the Angel of Music. His real name is Eric, and he lives in the lake below the Opera House. He is teaching her how to sing. When the main female lead at the opera leaves, Christine is called upon to sing and does so beautifully.
But this does not bode will for her. A man, who she has known for some time, name Raoul, sees her sing and remembers her. He is romantically interested in her, but Eric will not allow it. Instead of letting them go off together, Eric kidnaps Christine in order to instruct her further. After unmasking him and revealing horrible deformities on his face, Christine runs away.
But now she is the enemy of the Phantom. She must run from him at all time when she is in the Opera House, which also makes Raoul afraid.
In desperation, after another performance by Christine, Eric kidnaps her again. He tries all manor of things to kill Raoul, who follows them down under the Opera House. Instead of doing so, however, he ends up making Christine and Raoul even more in love and even more desperate to escape.

Answer 2

Erik, (WITH A K!!!!!!) -_-; sorry, one of my biggest pet peeves is when people spell his name with a "c".... could have been real, the fact is no one really knows. Leroux writes in a way that would have you believe so, but there really is no physical evidence that supports it. It's just like any other legend....