Regaining a Body?

This is more of a thought exercise than anything else, but I wanted to see what it would bear.

I had a half-baked idea about a mercenary's soul being trapped in a golem after she angered a particularly powerful magic-user. Her body was then put in a sort of suspended animation. This goes on for...say, five years.

So upside she's powerful, heavy and nigh-invulnerable. Downside is that her meat-suit has been put in storage by an irate mage and she's trapped inside the iron body without a way to return to normal.

By some twist of luck and a lot of help she manages to regain her body and re-possess it, so to speak. What sort of problems or readjustments would face a person separated from their physical form for five years?

edited 27th Jan '16 9:17:47 AM by Swordofknowledge

A lot of it depends on what the golem body is able or unable to do compared to a human. A golem would probably not be able to eat, for example. Upon returning to her regular body, she would need to adjust back to not only being able to eat, but needing to. Can the golem body sleep? If not, there's another biological need to adjust back to. Even basic functions like breathing would require attention.

Sensory issues would probably also arise. Does the golem body have a sense of smell or touch? If not, that would be a huge adjustment, particularly in regards to touch. She'd need to remember to avoid things that cause physical pain. I'm assuming the golem is also physically stronger than a human, so she probably would have learned to be more careful with things. That would have to be unlearned upon returning to her real body.

Is the golem about the same size as a human, or is it bigger? If it's bigger, then your character would've adjusted to maneuvering differently in buildings or around people. She would have to get used to being smaller. Additionally, if your character is a mercenary, I'm assuming she sees combat on a fairly regular basis. Fighting with an artificial body would probably allow one to take more damage and not worry about getting tired. Upon returning to her real body, she'd need to keep in mind that an organic body can't take as much punishment as the golem, and adjust her fighting style accordingly.

There's probably more to think about besides that, but those seem like some of the most important factors.

Thanks, that was really informative.

The premise sounds really Fullmetal Alchemist.

Well, not exactly because Alphonse has more problems like malnutrition and losing body mass. However I assume that golems and medieval armors don't have fluids in their ears so balancing when switching bodies is difficult.

edited 4th Mar '16 1:36:47 PM by flameboy21th