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Split personalities/two minds one body/Jekyll & Hyde

I want to take my main character back in time, i was thinking to let him get into a accident and while in a comma his soul travels back to a certain period in time. Once there I want him to live the experiences of a specific character in history, but not altar what happens. Almost like he's on the outside looking in. Any thoughts on how I should do this? I was thinking maybe letting his soul enter the body of the character where he can actually know what they are thinking, feel their emotions, etc, but the character has no idea that this person's soul is in his/her body as the events play out.
 
The idea that I have seems okay, but i don't really like it. Any other suggestions would be great. Thanks in advance
 

Saigonnus

Auror
It could simply be an exercise in "remembering a past life". Perhaps he is the reincarned form of this person however long after the fact (assuming of course you have such a thing in your world) and while he in the coma, he remembers these events happening as they unfold; just like those vivid dreams you sometimes get, but only vaguely remembers even having the memories when he wakes up. Head trauma can do funny things to people; some people wake up fine after a horrific auto accident, others have tourette's or autism when they wake up, you never really know. I think it's entirely within the realm of what is possible, especially in a fantasy world.
 

Callan37

Acolyte
To me, this sounds a bit like the Assassin's Creed series. However, that might not be a bad thing. They toy around quite a bit with having someone from the present view history from the perspective of an ancestor that lived during the time. Perhaps looking at how they handle things could help you to formulate your own ideas.
 

bob1thousand

Minstrel
have you ever read the wrinkle in time series? it's my favorite book and in the third book something similar happens.
 
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