Why Cherik is concidered a more "docile/gentle Phantom"
(All of this is my own findings/ideas)
As we know, Cherik is considered one of the more gentler, good moral-ed phantoms- compared to- lets say Kerik.
This boils down to Cherik's childhood.
As we know, unlike many other phantoms, Cherik had a present parent figure (maybe not the best, but he was there) throughout his life. This key feature is CRUCIAL too how he learned to behave, because this gave him experience in for one on one interactions, teaching him conversation skills, (some) social cues and just generally how to interact with another human.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are Phantoms who were abandoned at an early age and ended up in the freak show, being beaten and treated like an animal, which lead to the thinking that "you must act like an animal to survive", and this background is usually connected with the more feral, more violent Eriks.
Another key feature to Cherik's development, (and although this is not specifically stated in the movie- I believe this from assumptions, research and possibly a bit of hc's), is Erik got much of his wordly knowledge from children's story books or fairy tales. We know canonically that Erik was told/had heard of fantasy stories from a young age because Erik's father explains to Christine in a scene that the first time Erik saw his reflection in the water, he thought it was a sea monster. Erik would have to have learned of sea monsters from some type of story, and with Gerard being quite an absent father- its most likely that Erik learned of these creatures from a book.
This also connects to his gentler behavior, as with his knowledge of the world coming from fairy tales, he knows that being a "Prince Charming" type figure is what achieves the princess or female love interest.
I MEAN COME ON LOOK HOW HE TAKES HER HAND WHERE ELSE COULD HE HAVE LEARNED THAT FROM???
This prince Charming ideology most likely added to his insecurities, as he is still as insecure about his looks as many other phantoms, even if not having been publicly hated or humiliated.
Cherik has many childish quialities (never fully growing out of that childlike mindset), (COUGH COUGH PETER PAN SYNDROM)- which is another reason he tends to gentler or shyer.
