Suspended animation
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Suspended animation or "Cryostasis" is the slowing of life processes by external means without termination. Breathing, heartbeat, and other involuntary functions may still occur, but they can only be detected by artificial means. Extreme cold is used to precipitate the slowing of an individual's functions.
- Captain America fell into the Arctic Ocean at the end of World War II and was miraculously preserved until the present day. His survival was attributed to the Super-Soldier Serum coursing through his veins.[1]
- Winter Soldier also fell into the Arctic Ocean, but was instead recovered by the Soviet Union. While he was clinically dead when they recovered him, because the freezing water preserved his body at or near death, they succeeded in resuscitating him. They subsequently brainwashed him into being their assassin, the Winter Soldier, and started freezing him between missions in the 1950s, both to keep him under control and to preserve his youth and strength for future missions.[2]
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- William Burnside and Jack Monroe, the Cap and Bucky of the 50s, were forcefully placed in suspension by the American government. Jack later went on to become the hero Nomad after being unfrozen, and was even the real Captain America's partner for a little while.[3] Nomad was placed back into suspended animation years later.[4]
- Vance Astro spent 1,000 years in suspended animation for a slower-than-light trip to Alpha Centauri. He was dismayed to find that Earth had invented hyperdrive and beaten him there by several centuries. The long time he spent in the tube had preserved his body, as he had a full-body suit to prevent his body from being exposed to the elements and aging.[5]
- Iron Man, after suffering massive neurological damage, faked his death and preserved his body via cryogenics.[6]
- Omega Red, who was cryogenically frozen after his superiors decided he was too dangerous to control.[7]
- Frankenstein's Monster was twice found encased in ice, first in 1898 and then the 1970s, leading up to his introduction to modern times.[8]