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in the story i'm writing, there are different types of energy that can do different, but related things. Green energy is the closest to earth magic (think control over plants, but it can also be harnessed for healing and fighting purposes), while grey energy is kind of the "opposite" and controls Shadows, the souls of the dead who couldn't move on.

So say someone has access to both green and grey energy. They could harness the soul of a Shadow and return them to their body, while the Shadow controls it. Since the body would have decomposed by now but the skeleton is still intact, flesh and muscle is replaced with vines and roots (green energy) and illusions (grey energy). The reanimated Shadow can do most things humans can, but doesn't require food, drink, or sleep. It has all memories since in this world those are stored in the soul, which is the Shadow itself. The Shadow's soul keeps the illusions and plantlife intact.

Would this method of resurrection work? If not, what are the problems with it and how can I fix them so it makes sense?

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    $\begingroup$ It is all magic so it is not real. It can be anything. You describe it compellingly and it sounds cool! And you have a vision as to how it comes together. I would read that fiction! I hope there are undead trees. $\endgroup$
    – Willk
    Commented Nov 14, 2021 at 20:21
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    $\begingroup$ I suggest editing this question a bit. Magic is whatever the writer wants it to be, so asking if X could work is kind of nonsensical. If the writer says magic works, it works. I think a more sensible question would be "If this magic was real, what is one consequence it would have on the world?" This is clear and precise. Alternatively, you could write three rules the magic must adhere to. "My magic system adheres to rules 1, 2, and 3. Do these rules make sense or do they contradict each other?" $\endgroup$
    – Nyctophobia457
    Commented Nov 14, 2021 at 22:03

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"Would this method of resurrection work?"

It is unclear what sort of answer you expect to this question. For the current question one valid answer is:

It won't work since magic is not real

However I gather this is not what you want to hear. Clearly you are thinking of a fictional world where magic does exist.

Of course this is your world and you are free to use your imagination to decide whether anything is or is not possible. But then an equally valid answer is:

It works by magic. Duh!

So we have two very silly but also valid answers.

Typically the way to rule out answers like this is having a consistent magic system, with rules about who can cast which types of spells. Again this is not necessary to do, but it is necessary to make reasonable discussion possible.

One common type of question on this site is "My magic system works according to rules A,B,C and I want the universe to also contain D. How can this happen?"

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It depends on what YOU want in your world.

One possible issue I could imagine, is that the Shadow doesn't have control over the roots and vines, only the necromancer with green magic does.

Now if the Shadow IS the necromancer, that could potentially work.

Another issue could be that the energy for movement would have to come from somewhere - usually animals burn energy from food in their muscles (oversimplification), but we're using magical vines and roots for this. You could either say that these vines/roots are magical and hence don't require other energy, or that they do need to get energy from somewhere. Perhaps photosynthesis as with normal plants? This would mean that the being wouldn't be able to be very active at night due to limited energy storage.

These issues could all be avoided by saying "it's just how the green/grey magic works in this world" so this is a hard question to answer.

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