His nickname is owed to an injury sustained during a misfire of a stage-effect during a production. A fire-jet meant to provide ambience during a production of the popular Angel in Hell malfunctioned, engulfing the right side of Eric's body in flame. He survived the blast and was rushed to a hospital, but the burns he sustained could not be repaired. The hospital had the means to recreate his charred skin, but Eric did not have the money to pay for such a procedure, and forbid his friends at the theatre from giving him charity.

Now Eric wears a mask on the right side of his face, and though it is made of space-age polymers rather than the plastic and leather of the original Phantom's mask, it still has the same white death's-head appearance. Rather than use his limited funds to buy a skin-imitating mask that would look almost as bad as his actual scarring, he purchased the theatre-style mask to accept and even flaunt his disfigurement. He also always wears high-necked and long-sleeved shirts with a leather glove on his right hand. With his full "disguise" in place, only a little of his burn-scarred skin can be seen around his hairline and jawline.

Some mistake his subdued nature for melancholy, which couldn't be further from the truth. He is perfectly happy with the simplicity of his life, and wouldn't have it other way. For him, living in the Theatre's "attic" and being known only to its employees and regular patrons is the perfect life, and there is nothing about it he would wish changed.