I prefer Erik because I personally like is character more, but Raoul isn't bad either. He certainly doesn't deserve all the bashing he gets. I'm an avid Erik lover and Raoul defender and proud.

I, however, do not like Gerik. No Phantom should be "hot".

Yeah. Raoul's main problem is he's grossly underinformed. Poor dear. But he and Christine definitely deserve one another. Put the two of them together and it might equal a whole brain cell between 'em.
All seriousness, though. Raoul did try, and he does love her. And he was willing to sacrifice quite a bit to be with her.
Erik still trumps him in style though. ;)

Haha, oh yes. Erik is quite the little...uh creative one.

My absolute FAVORITE thing is when people call Raoul a fop. I mean, before I was like, what the hell is a fop and why is Raoul one. When I learned the definition, I still didn't think it suited him at all. It's all very silly and petty.

Anyway, even though Erik is manipulative, insane, abusive in some ways, conniving, corspe-like fiend I still like him. I don't like it when people try to redeem him by saying he has a "heart of gold" or something of that nature. He is what he is and either take it or leave it.

Amen. I enjoy Erik with some bite to him, take that away and he simply becomes pathetic. Yes, he's homicidal. Yes, he fights dirty. And yes, he totally did threaten death and destruction on a 9/11 scale. (Yeah, before you get all offended he had enough gunpowder stored to decimate 1/4 of Paris and was planning on detonating at a moment when he knew damn skippy there was going to be a full house upstairs. Don't f*** with the grasshopper.)
But really, can ya blame the man? Well, obviously yes you can, but I mean, there were reasons for his behaviour. And we can see echos of that in society still, the kids who are driven to open fire in their schools because some bullies decided to make their lives a god damned hell, crimes of passion where people just SNAP because they can't deal with the pile of BS that keeps getting thrown their way. Erik's whole EXISTENCE was one experience after another that degraded, hurt, abused, and ostracized him. Why should he feel beholden to laws from a society that wants no part of him? I do maintain that he has a set of morals in his own mind. There are lines he will and won't cross, for example I do not believe he would commit rape. He sure as hell had the opportunity, but he didn't. So he HAS some code of ethics, it's just really warped. He is seriously a dangerous man, but that's kind of why we love him. Danger is appealing, especially when we have the illusion that we are in control of that danger. If you study his behavioral patterns, yeah, you're less likely to end up on his bad side and, subsequently, dead. But there's still no hard and fast guarantee that you won't just be in the wrong place when he's excessively pissed about something that has NOTHING to do with you.
...I think I lost track of my rant. I'm just going to stop now and go with a simple 'Erik is fascinating'. And hot. Which is a hell of a trick for a corpse!

"But really, can ya blame the man?"

LOL um yes, yes we can. I know you admitted that and went on to talk about his abusive background and that they are the reasons he became what he did, but Eric's past was not all doom and gloom. It's been a while since I read the book (about 6 months - so I'm a little rusty) but wasn't he held in high esteem at one point as a genius? Like a Shah or something? Ok people condemned him and were hateful towards him because of the face, (and that damaged him irrevocably no question in that) but all the things he did, the torture room, murder etc it's just not justifiable it never is. Even if the guy is doing it all out of love for a woman, (and in some eyes being willing to kill for someone is "romantic") well it's still not right, and shouldn't be a reason for him to succeed in his ventures.
While Raoul on the other hand, lovely, fantastic Raoul, is a genuine man who cares and loves for Christine, and would without hesitation give up his own life for her. Ok Raoul doesn't have that bad boy/mysterious image, but he's the man who would always be there standing strong for Christine, her protector whenever she needed him, and he would always put her needs first. Well I just I know who I'm rooting for.
Erik was only ever after his own ends. His values perhaps are too convoluted by now to lead any sort of normal life and have any sort of normal relationship. It's tragic, but that is Erik he's tragic, yet that is still no excuse for wreaking havoc on others lives - no matter how much lovely music ALW writes.

I pity Erik, I'm sorry for the way he had suffered, the way he continued to suffer even, but I cannot and will not ever condone him.

Being held in high regard for your ingenuity or brainpower isn't really a substitute for simple human contact. Trust me. People can think you have all of the talent in the world, and you can do and create wonders for them, and still they might think that you're not worth the trouble of speaking to. And that cleverness of his also is what almost got him killed in Persia, don't forget.
Erik is messed up, beyond all shadow of a doubt. But I find I cannot pity him so much as I can almost admire his strength. There are very few who would go through all of that, good and bad, and come out the other side sane. There are a lot of people that would collapse in on themselves and just stop caring and die. Erik survived. Which probably contributed greatly to making him the egocentric son of a bitch we all know and love. But I find it very difficult to become overly aggitated with smarmy gits like that when they can actually back up their bravado. And regardless of whatever problems the man has, he can certainly back up his talk. Probably one of those little things that make him sexy. Power is hot. Men who understand how to exploit power in ingenious manners are damn sexy. To some women at least.
And at the end of the day I will admit that I'm one of those phangirls who's probably just this end of being psychotic herself, so I feel the need to cut the man a bit of slack.
*briefly wonders how everything would have turned out if Erik had been given nice big doses of Prozac and anti-psychotics....*

Hm...Erik on Prozac and Anti-Psychotics? I don't think he'd be as much fun when he's not insane. He has "a heart of gold" that will cure himself without the psychotics, lol. I couldn't even type that last sentence without laughing.

I'm TOTALLY for Erik! I like that insane part on him; it adds to the excitement, lol! Yes, I also love how powerful he is!
I'm a total Raoul-hater. I'm sorry, but I don't think Erik deserved all the pain in losing Christine. I know he said she could go because he knew she loved Raoul, but I still feel he should've had a happy life with someone.

"I'm a total Raoul-hater. I'm sorry, but I don't think Erik deserved all the pain in losing Christine. I know he said she could go because he knew she loved Raoul, but I still feel he should've had a happy life with someone. "

You hate Raoul... because Erik didn't get a girl in the end? Sorry, hun, but that doesn't make any sense at all to me. Care to explain a bit more about why you hate Raoul?

I personally think he's adorabubble. In most versions. I still like Erik more, however. I'm really in the same boat as Phantomess, only wth more Raoul love. ;)

Its exactly kind hard to explain. I'm sorry if I offended anyone.

Not offended at all, but... there's tons of time. Really, do explain. Or do you not have valid reasons?

Is anyone else annoyed by all of the "Raoul is abusive", "Raoul is a fop", and "Roaul is gay" stuff out there? Because it's reaaaally starting to get on my nerves.

I don't think half the people who call him a fop even knows what that means. :S

It's a bit difficult to make valid arguments if ALL the versions are supposed to be taken in consideration.

Like the OP pointed out, the original Raoul had stalker tendencies. But hey, the ALW movie Raoul didn't.
And may I add:
-> The original Erik didn't evidently murder the drunken dude, whereas the ALW movie Erik did.

-> The original Erik was refered to as a monster by the Persian, but the ALW Erik was greatly sympathyzed by Madame Giry who seemed to replace the Persian.

It's funny, because to me the original Erik acted less monsterly than the ALW movie Erik. Yes, the original tied Christine to a chair and attempted to murder Raoul and the Persian, but come on, he also talked about being like a puppy and a lamb and God knows what if Christine only loved him! While the ALW movie Erik was highly dominating and absolute in his intentions and view, never implying he'd be any different at any point in the future, up until Christine kissed him.

So NO I don't consider either of those Eriks as monsters really. But just saying that relatively the ALW movie Erik seemed more so and yet was sympathyzed more than the original, by someone who knew him. :P

Buuuut.... Let me still say what I think.

I prefer ERIK in any case.
When I first saw the ALW film, I had absolutely no idea what the story was about or what was going to happen. I didn't know there was any Erik. But my immediate reaction to Raoul recognizing Christine during "Think of Me" was negative. I didn't like him at all.

Raoul appeared to me as an annoying little fop, and boring. Even though later turned out to have a kind and brave heart, and probably made Christine happy. If I recall correctly, this wasn't any different in my eyes in the novel. In fact, I think in the novel he said/did something that made me genuinley dislike him even more. I just can't remember what it was. But then, I didn't like the novel Christine too much either.

While I have no doubt Raoul's love for her was genuine, I got the feeling it just was, and there was no proof at the time, that it would last in the romantic nature. (Apparently it did, but I said, 'at the time'.) As in, I got the impression that saving damsels in distress was in his nature, that he'd done the same to any girl and not just Christine even though there certainly was a special drive in her case because he loved her.

Erik, while insane and obsessive, was interesting, and in the end proved ultimately that he actually felt true love for Christine the same as Raoul. Maybe even stronger.

What he did to Christine, was wrong, but then again he WAS traumatized and insane and had all the understandable reasons to be so, and it could've been much worse. I mean, it was an insane, obsessive stalker on a young girl for many years yet he never harmed her during that time. He also gave her comfort by letting her think he was the Angel of Music and by teaching her to sing like an angel. And he didn't harm or use her in any way even when he easily could've when she was all enchanted and thought she was dreaming. And no, he didn't push her when she took of his mask there - she fell at the moment when they both got scared.

Erik is very genuine person in the novel, too. Only he seems to feel deeper than Raoul. He's unstabled, but it isn't his choice. And as I said, in the end he proved his love for Christine to be as true as Raoul's - and maybe even stronger than Raoul's because regardless of all the loneliness, desperation, hatred, insanity and obsession he felt and lived by, he was able to let her go - WITH Raoul. In the novel it didn't even take anything but to see "his living wife" in her eyes. And in the ALW movie, couple of genuine kisses. OH, and in the ALW movie, he obviously understood and felt bad, when Christine told him where the true distortion lies.

All that, I think is making it slightly possible that they could've had a good future, had Christine returned to him later. He still had a lot of humanity and love left in him, and he really loved her. And because he was VERY strong person, to let her go though she meant the world and life to him, while he had lived the kind of life he had.

But the novel Christine would've never returned to her - that ungrateful brat. I think I recall now that she said something really mean and ungrateful about Erik on the rooftop while I don't recall a situation where she'd have a reason to be scared of him. The ALW movie Christine was much more pleasent and stronger personality. It's been a while since I last saw any stage version, so I won't comment on them.

SUMMARY: Erik is far more interesting and deeper character than Raoul, and relatively seeing, he was as good to Christine as Raoul was. As in, much better than many others in his mental state might have been.

"while I don't recall a situation where she'd have a reason to be scared of him."
"'And, as I turned my head away, pleading for mercy, he drew it brutally back to him by my hair, which he clutched with his dead fingers.'"
"'Very well, then. Pull it off like the other one. Come on. Come on. Again, again. I want you to. Give me your hands. If they're not enough for you, I'll lend you mine, and we'll put them together to tear that mask off.' I rolled at his feet, but he seized my hands, Raoul...and pushed them onto the horror of his face. He scratched his flesh, that horrible dead flesh with my fingernails.
'Learn! Learn!' he shouted from the depths of a throat that panted like a bellows. 'Learn that I am made entirely of death. From head to toe. And that it's a cadaver that loves you, that adores you, and that will never leave you. Never, never. I'll enlarge the coffin, Christine. For later on, when we have come to the end of our loves.'"
So, yeah. That would freak me out about six ways from Sunday. Especially him grabbing my hands and ripping the skin from his face with my nails? That's disturbing. Seriously.
You also have to understand that nowadays we are ridiculously desensitized. To Christine, seeing someone who looked like Erik would have been an incredible shock to the system. It would still be bad today, but most people probably saw just as bad--if not worse--the last time they trudged out to that gorey picture. In a lot of ways, our modern society has made us better able to deal with things like that. Most of us would be shocked if we saw Erik's face, but I don't think many of us would go into outright hysterics because of it.
Therefore, I am going to say that Christine is allowed to be afraid of Erik. At least a little bit.

Holy hell. O_O NOW I recall that bit.

I can't believe I'd forgotten.

And I daresay that (forgotten that bit) is also why I recalled feeling angry at Christine's words at the rooftop 'cause seriously I would never dismiss something like that. o.O

But still, I keep thinking she did say at some point, something against Erik, that was uncalled for, and thus annoyed me. But it's been years since I read the book, so, my memory is obviously blurred with all the numerous other PotOs and Christines I've known since. :D

I can't really think of anything from the top of my head where Christine said something against Erik that was not warranted--at least in some form. He DID deceive her pretty badly, even if he had the best intentions in pretending to be her Angel. (Which is, admittedly, debatable. I like to think it was a mix of his more noble urges trying to reach out and help her while his baser instincts considered other ramifications of earning her trust and confidence.) Therefore, she's allowed to be angry with him. And he's psycho, so being rather afraid of him is also acceptable. In fact, the only thing that she did that got on my nerves was trying to sneak out the back without even leaving him a note or anything.
I can understand being afraid to say that she was leaving to his face, but at least have the decency to leave a letter after you slip out with your new fiancee. But, since I can't prove that she didn't plan on something like that, I can't really get too incensed.

Well, this is based mostly on the movie, but I've always liked Erik in most of the versions, (save for the Leroux and Kay novels, there, I mean, the guy's a murdering psychopath. I would much rather go with a guy who would not suddenly decide to turn mad at a moment's notice. And the 1998 version. That guy just. . rats.. wrong. He creeps me out on a thousand different levels.)
Now, in the movie/musical, I think Erik could possibly be redeemed if he and Christine had stayed together, I think Erik could've been changed. But in the end, she had to go with Raoul, who was sweet, kind, loving, and wasn't horribly obsessed with her.
(Sorry if this doesn't make sense, late and I'm a little tired.)

Erik is hot and interestingly weird. He is powerful in the Opera in his way and that`s attractive too. He`s the most nice bad guy I`ve ever known. When I watched the movie for the first time in the cinema with my friends we all hoped till the last minute ,Christine`ll remain with Erik and were terribly disappointed.
But when I watched the movie a few more times and read the book I changed my opinion a bit. For Christine Erik`s love was a great adventure but it should not be more and it did not.
Raoul is, I think, ideal for her, though there was less excitement in the relationship. He is a good guy but not that unusual like Erik and that`s why many prefer the latter.Anyway Raoul did not do anything so bad to deserve lots POTO fans abusing him on different fan clubs.Shame!
And about Erik again: if they remained with Christine no one knows which way his passion and obsession would go. Erik is quite unpredictable and a bit of a psycho, so maybe he could start abusing her after some time

You may think Erik was hot, but Christine didn't. (Also, relationships =/= physical attraction.)

I like Raoul better. I'm surprised that so many people not just like Erik more than him but they really hate him. I read the libertto for the Webber shows and cannot find anything about Raoul that makes him anything but noble, selfless, loving, brave and strong. Watching the clip of All I Ask of You, I am convinced that Christine and he are so much in love.

Raoul:
1.Christine loves Raoul. She chose him. She would have let Raoul go and remained with Erik if she loved Erik. I can find nothing that shows that Christine loves Erik. She just did not have romantic feelings for E. His face did not repluse her. She said so. And she also said that it was his mind that was the problem.

2.Raoul is handsome, brave, strong, gentle, calm, wants the best for Christine, would die for Christine, tells her not to worry about himself dying but think about what is best for her. Plus, he sings so sweetly!! All of this: Now I know why the Erik-lovers hate Raoul. It's frustrating when you have no good reason to chose E except that he's sexy. Although, that's a pretty compelling reason!

Erik:
1. Erik is his own worst enemy. It's his character that drives Chirstine away. He's a bully, an extortionist, a murderer. He should have been prosecuted and executed for the murders. He let Christine go when he realized that she loved Raoul so much that she would do anything to spare his life.

2. Apparently he's about 30 years older than Christine. Christine came to live at the opera when she was 7 years old. He was like her father when he started tutoring her. Eeew!

3. He's self-centered. Notice when things go wrong, his take on it is how terrible things are for him...no thought about others. Christine takes the mask off him and instead of wondering how she feels, he verbally bashes her. He would kill to be with his love, Raoul would die for his love. He gives her his trademark rose with black ribbon, even at her grave. It's a statement that it's from the Phantom. All about Erik. Raoul leaves her the monkey, something that Christine would like. He doesn't have to make a statement about himself; just wants to make Christine happy.

4.Erik had a very hard life because of his deformity. I can understand that he feels like the victim. Many criminals feel that way. That's how they justify their criminal acts. Does that make it OK? And he looks so good, sexy, virile. Strangely, he's not replusive, but actually pretty attractive. Surely he could have found love if he was more loving.

BTW, people are calling Raoul a fop (foolish man overly conerned with his appearance like the old Englishmen who wore wigs). Who wore the capes and the red costume, and the wig?

Someone said Raoul was annoying. Can you tell us when he was annoying? Was it when he told Christine that she had to be ready in 2 minutes for supper? Constrast that to Erik dragging Christine off against her will and holding her hostage.

I know all the Raoul haters will jump on me, but there's so much Raoul bashing. So mean! I wanted to stand up for him. The only thing he did wrong was to love and protect Christine and let Christine love him. I'm sorry that the LND changes him. Sad.

You have very good points, and I think that most people that have posted here would agree that Raoul is a good man and doesn't deserve the hell he gets. However, I do offer a few minor points of contention for your consideration.

Where you state that you can find no evidence that Christine had any romantic feelings for Erik, I think that statement may be debatable depending upon the version. The Kay novel makes it fairly clear that Christine has feelings for Erik, but is terrified of him (with good reason). It could also be argued that certain actresses and actors in the stage show portray the characters more romantically than others. I've seen Christines that seemed quite drawn to the Phantom and ones that looked like they would rather gnaw off their own arm then deal with that nutjob.
As to your second point in regards to Raoul, there were a few times in the novel where he tried to play the "poor pathetic me" card and ended up failing rather miserably. Granted, this was because he didn't know what the situation was and he didn't realize that he sounded like a perfect jerk to those of us who knew what was going on. There is also a single point in the ALW show where Raoul doesn't seem to care about Christine's opinion. In the second Notes, after he just defended Christine's right to refuse to sing Don Juan, he immediately flip-flops his position and tells her she has to. Once again, he has (what he thinks is) a good reason for this. But, honestly, his plan really didn't require Christine on stage. As evidenced during Il Muto, the Phantom is going to show up whether you meet his demands or not. There was also ample opportunity to take him down during the performance. Erik wasn't fooling anyone, I'm sure.

In regards to your points about Erik, most of them are spot-on. However, I do think that he probably could have easily pled insanity. The older man thing isn't an issue except in the 2004 movie. In none of the other versions does he even meet Christine until she's no longer jailbait.
I agree also that Erik is terribly self-centered, but I think that this might also stem back to his traumatic childhood and his own hermetic lifestyle. He craves attention. Even when that attention is not necessarily the good kind. Humans are social creatures by nature, not having the day to day contact that most of us take for granted can easily do nasty things to a person's mind. Even the Persian calls Erik childish in the novel for his desire to amaze and stupify for attention.

In ALW version Raoul does not kill Erik when wins their fight in the graveyard (After the song Wandering Child). Though he might easily be rid of him forever, given that Raoul had high social rank and actually nobody (except Christine and Mme Giry) knew about Erik`s existence to raise any sort of alarm. This is a very noble act.
Then Erik does not hesitate when he wants to strangle Raoul at the end and only Christine saves Raoul`s life.
Even though I like Erik more since he has that strange charm. it was not nice of him at all...

That's only in the movie and Polish versions, though. And Raoul looked like he was pretty damn ready to make himself a Phantom-kebab until Christine got his attention. Therefore, I would say that it could be argued that just as she ultimately stopped Erik from killing Raoul, she may very well have halted Raoul's stabbing of Erik. I still miss the fireballs.

I LOVE both but i would have to go with Erik. :D He is so mysterious......He is an absolute genius and he has an interesting past.....All in all Erik (a.k.a the phantom :D) is my favorite

I would totally have to go with Erik! Though, I don't like bashing Raoul so much. I'll do it once in a while, I'll admit it, but, I don't do it to where it makes Raoul sounds like a villain because he's not. I just think he's too much of a sissy boy. I'm actually surprised that he didn't run away in the sword fight scene in the 2004 movie. Erik, on the other hand, is totally masculine. He's every woman's dream! *starts to hyperventilate at mention of Erik*

Ha ha, I wouldn't call Erik every woman's dream... but that's alright. But, musical ability really does make a man more attractive... doesn't it;)

While I do indulge in E/C, I have to say I've turned to a Raoul lover. I mean of course Erik is the best character, the most intriguing (after the ALW musical does revole around the phantom) but if I were Christine's posistion I would choose Raoul. I guess I like stability in a relationship. You never know when Erik will snap and let's face it, Erik is evil. No matter how sad his past is and no matter one believes that he has a reason to be the way he is, he is still evil. But he does make a intriguing, intresting character.... which is why I love him:)

But really, (here is my R/C side kicking in)what is with all this Raoul bashing? All the guy had done is love Christine and remenber he does not know the whole story for like half of the book/play/movie. If you hear of this man who is manipulating the girl you love, even if the love is just a friendship, you want to save her from it. (Even if you blindly step you way into the mess).

I find it kind of amusing that some E/C fics play role reversal. Raoul is acting like the overcontroling, evil man who would do anything to get Christine back and Erik is the sweethearted, loving man. I just find that ironic.

Anyways, that's my two cents.

Phantom: Tortured, wonderfully poetic (lyrics of the musical and the 2004movie, gorgeous red roses (2004 movie), talented and, in many versions, "sexy" but also violent and, oddly enough, shallow hypocrite (Kay, ALW, Gerik,).
Raoul: Loving, brave, I-will-die-for-you Vicomte. In the novel I had slight problem how young, blonde, physically perfect Christine and Raoul are the good guys, while Erik (old, physically imperfect) is the monster. Tragic monster, though.
Verdict: They both have their places in the story. Don´t try to switch them, fan fic writers!

ERIIIIK!!!!!

I believe that Raoul is better for Christine, even though I, personally,would prefer Erik. Erik was made for Christine but Christine was made for Raoul. I also believe that Christine loves both of them, but in different ways. She loves Raoul because of his ability to make her feel safe and that is a passionate love, an "I want to grow old with you" love. But Christine and Erik share a bond through a deep love of music that she does not share with Raoul. Through this bond she learns first to see the beauty of his music, then the beauty of him. He is also a connection to her father, he will always be her Angel of Music, and through this she is bound to him. This deep soulful union of love is an "I want you to be a part of my life and a piece of my heart will always remain with you" love. And in the 2004 movie, when Raoul and Christine are leaving on the boat, she looks back at Erik(one would only look back if they, even for a moment, thought they had made the wrong decision) and sings to Erik "share each day with me, each night, each morning..." And Erik loves Christine because she comlpetes him by representing what he doesn't, purity, innocence, light, and beauty. While Christine and Raoul are lovers, Christine and Erik are soulmates. Soulmates are not nessesarily destined to become lovers. It is said that soulmates are two people whose souls are part of one soul that was split at birth and the two halves will always find their way back to each other. Erik and Christine are of one soul. The other half of Erik's soul would be all it would take to change him forever and since he lost his other half, forever, when Christine left, he never made music again to strengthen their bond and all his beauty left with her. She had the ability to bring out the best in him.

I prefere Erik. He might be a psycho, but firstly he has all reasons to be (such as beeing refused etc.), secondly he IS the angel of music and thirdly he truly loves Christine. He fights for her but let her go at the end, because he realised she would have an happier and safer life with Raoul.
Furthermore Raoul is the true jerk here. I mean he doesn't believe Christine as she tells him about Erik. You have to keep in mind he heard a male voice in her chamber and that Christine disappeared for quite a time after that Futhermore he forces her sing so he can get rid of his rival, though it is clear she is scared to death.

What I always found romantic about Erik is he KILLS innocent people for Christine, he could be executed for that, but he LOVES HER SO MUCH he does it so she can get what SHE WANTS. (except in the 1990 version; Yeston and Kopit screwed their version up for TV. WHY?) This, of course scares her, so she goes with Roul. He is in the Navy and hasn't killed to HELP her YET. Yes, enemy Solders are innocent people MOST of the time.

I will always favor Erik over Raoul. Always. Why you ask? Because I believe Raoul to be abusive (okay yes, Erik was kinda crazy during Act 2 as well) but Raoul FORCED Christine to sing when she was utterly terrified too just so he could win. Also, if you've ever heard the songs in or seen Love Never Dies (it's the sequel and takes place ten years later) there's a part where their son runs off and Raoul says "why must we always chase after him? When I get my hands on him.." then Christine says "NO! I'll go.. " then later we have What sound to be Raoul choking Christine. ALSO, can we mention that he also turns an alcoholic and wastes all their money on alcohol? Yeah Erik wouldn't have ever done that to her. He did messed up things, yes, but he always had Christine's best interests at heart. He killed people who threatened her. He did everything he could to make life good for her. Yes he got mad at her a couple of times (does it count as yelling if they're singing?) but he would immediately calm down if he saw she was scared. For example, in "Down Once More/Track Down This Murderer" when he sings 'why should I make her pay for the sins which are yours?' Or when his mood immediately changed he was making her choose between him and Raoul and she said she basically hated him when she used to mourn for him, he immediately began to beg her to forgive him. That's why I will always choose Erik over Raoul. Always.

erik

Although I LOVE erik/phantom as a character I have no doubt in my mind that Raoul was the better choice for Christine. Raoul loves her as they had spent lots of time together as children, he tries to protect her(even putting himself in danger to do so), Raoul does EVERYTHING for christine while the Phantom does it only for himself. Christine is in love with Raoul and Erik even expressed sadness and anger when he realized she loved raoul over him after 'All I ask of you'.
Erik as a character is Evil and he is the Antagonist of the story. Raoul would never trap christine or force her into something. Erik also inflicted so much pain onto christine which is another reason she would choice Raoul. And after 'Point of no return' the phantom has the audacity to not only say he loves christine but he uses the same words Raoul used.
During 'wandering child' Christine says "angel of father, friend OR phantom!" Meaning that she does not feel for him as a friend which is also shown with all the fear she has in his presence.
Raoul will keep christine safe and will even die to keep her safe which is shown in his words during the 'final lair scene' when christine must choose between her freedom or her love when he says "don't throw your life away for my sake" Raoul is willing to die so she can be free. Erik had put her in this position of choosing. Raoul would NEVER do this to her.
I don't care that in the end Erik let christine and raoul go but that still doesn't excuse the murders,kidnapping, abuse, and black mail he had put on christine.



(I also try to forget Love Never Dies is a thing. So my reasons above are based on the first movie and stage productions.)

I like Erik as a character.But I love Raoul through and through.
He is so brave and heroic ,especially in the musical.I know
some like to call him a sissy or a coward but I just don't see it.
He is like the perfect foil to the phantom at every step of the
Way.
He is the only person who is never intimidated by the phantom
in the musical.
He witnesses a murder and receives threatening notes but he
brushes it all off.I feel that despite not knowing the phantom's
sad backstory,
he is the only person for the majority of the musical who sees
the Phantom as just a man who can be defeated and not an
all powerful ghost as everyone else including Christine do.
Raoulis the only one who tells Christine to grow up and tries
to disillusion her about the childish fantasy she's living.
He even gets fire hurled in his face and doesn't even blink.He
almost gets strangled to death but the only thing on his mind
is to convince Christine to let him die which requires so much
courage and even after being released he doesn't waver to
protect Christine and shield her.

Besides he is just so sweet in "All I ask of you" that I can't help
But love him.