It goes way deeper than this. Though the Phantom was beaten like he was, that doesn't mean he really had to go and kill some innocent people. I would understand if he only killed those specifically who hurt him, but we killed and was about to kill thousands of people who where not even involved with what he did. (Recall in the book when he nearly blew up half of Paris with more than enough gunpowder to supply a militery regement at the time for a couple of years.)
Bad past or not, he was a murderous mother hubbard who ruthlessly killed more than he should have. (Oh, and tried to force Christine to love him.)
Now where in history have I seen people do the same thing... have a bad past and decided to kill a few too many people because of it? Oh yeah, Hitler.

Yea I was just curious what people thought. I haven't read the book, so I didn't know about the Paris thing and all that. :)

I love the Phantom, I think he is a brilliant character.. But I think there is a big difference between feeling sorry for someone and thinking it's ok to murder people for no apparent reason..

And to break down the answer (Oh my gosh) just no, (i feel so bad for him) bad yes, so bad not so much, and that's because of his past, the fact he lost Christine, that was his own stupid fault, "hey pretty girl I just murdered someone for no reason, love me" (even if he made some wrong decisions) it goes a bit further than that, as HeitsiTsegin said murdering innocents, really that's not a passable offence. Wrong decisions; blackmailing Christine to love him, yeah wrong decision, but he is socially awkward, lives under an opera house and all that, doesn't get out much, that's forgivable. But murder, yeah not really a good excuse for that one.

But like I said amazing character, just a psychopath, which is probably what makes him a great character.

Actually Masked127, Erik's not a psychopath. He couldn't be because he loves Christine. Psychopaths don't love anybody but themselves (though they may pretend to for personal gain) from a psychopaths pov, he would gain nothing from his relationship with Christine, shes not rich, she has no power or influence, and she doesn't have an arsenal of weapons at her disposal. Madam Giry would be a more enticing prospect for him. She serves a purpose, she doesn't ask questions, she doesn't really want anything in return (money wise) and best yet she is very easy to manipulate. Though I just described their relationship, the point I'm making is shes more "useful" than Christine would be IF he were indeed a psychopath. Erik has an obsessive compulsive nature, and anti-social tendencies. Which he displays when he wants to kill the opera patrons through no fault (or knowledge) of their own. Or when he refers to people as "human beings" as if he wasn't. But then on the flip side he could be quite witty and social, though humor can be (and in his case is) a cover for personal pain. So why did he kill if he wasn't a psychopath or crazy? I think he had to be driven to do it, he had a boiling point if you will. Even if the victims themselves had nothing to do with pushing him over his boiling point it didn't matter, they where going to feel the wrath. And then later he would be fine again. Which says to me he had bouts of temporarily insanity, most likely brought on from his abusive past and his views of society. BUT it doesn't excuse him.

I feel bad for him because he was thrown in a cage and beaten in front of people for entertainment.
I mean at least that's what happened in the 2004 movie

you do feel bad, but his actions in the movie and musical were unforgiveable such as killing Buquet and Piangi.

I see those comments blaming Erik and i say... "UGH"
That's disgusting, really. He killed that monster in the circus when he was a child, because he wanted to defend himself, and Buquet was a harraser. I want maximum distance for this type of "people", blaming a victim of emocional and physicall abuse. The only truth is that Erik is NOT an "psycho", he's just a lonely and harmed soul. If you are this kind of person, who blame Erik and hate him, seriously, delete yourself from the humanity.

thank god that the majority voted for the second option, I am proud of the Phantom Fandom. Erik is not a monster, he's not a psycho, and he doesn't deserve to be blamed for ANYTHING. His TERRIBLE past DO execuse his ations: he didn't know WHAT to do, he didn't know how to control his feelings, and that's not his fault. It is inhuman to blame him or to call him a monster. It's already impossible not to make any mistakes and to know exactly what to do in real life, imagine for a man who has been abused all his life by a deformity and never experienced any kind of gesture! When I read comments cursing Erik, I feel sick. It is despicable.