Goku’s father is one of theDragon Ballfranchise’s most respected characters, despite his sparse appearances throughout the narrative. His impact on the story; however, puts him dead-centre in the origins of what soon became the undoing ofFrieza, the self-proclaimed Emperor of Space. With the developments in theDragon Ball Superstoryline, Bardock’s story has seen extensive changes from his introduction in the 1990 TV special titledDragon Ball Z: Bardock – The Father of Goku.
The changes have had interesting consequences forDragon Ballgoing forward, and in theDragon Ball Supermanga’s Granolah the Survivor Saga, Bardock’s story was given a bit more context, further removing it from the original. The differences are stark; however, it is undeniable that the character’s popularity comes from his initial presentation. So, what are the differences in Bardock’s story then and now, and how have theyinfluencedDragon Balllore?
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The Original Premise
Bardock is first introduced as a capable member of Frieza’s Saiyan forces, leading his successful battalion into missions to decimate planets to prepare them for sale on Frieza’s planetary market. While a low-class warrior, Bardock successfully leads Toma, Fasha, Shugesh and Borgos into combat on several occasions, proving to be a diligent subordinate until he comes to realize that Frieza intends to annihilate the Saiyan race. After a successful raid on planet Kanassa, Bardock is caught off-guard by a weakened survivor, who grants him his people’s signature ability: precognitive foresight.
The Kanassan does so believing that granting Bardock this ability will eventually serve as vengeance for the various crimes he and his troops will commit as members of Frieza’s army. While recovering on their way home, Bardock sees visions ofthe destruction of Planet Vegeta by Frieza; as well as the salvation of Earth due to Goku’s efforts, but he passes these off as delusions. While Bardock is still recovering, Frieza begins enacting his plan, sending Bardock’s troops to eliminate the defences of Planet Meat; however, after their successful invasion, Bardock’s colleagues are ambushed by the elite squadron of one of Frieza’s most ferocious subordinates: Dodoria.
Bardock, while not fully recovered, makes his way to Planet Meat after hearing about their whereabouts, arriving to find that only Toma is still alive, but in critical condition. He manages to tell Bardock about what happened, as well as Frieza’s plan to exterminate the Saiyans revealed to him by Dodoria. Bardock vows to avenge his friends as Toma dies in his arms, and takes his blood-soaked armband which is what becomes Bardock’s trademark red headband. Bardock is also ambushed by Dodoria’s squadron, but he manages to get the advantage before Dodoria nearly kills him. Left for dead, Bardock realizes that hisvisions aren’t delusions, but rather, precognitions. Heavily injured, Bardock heads back to Planet Vegeta to tell the other Saiyans what has happened, but they simply don’t believe Frieza would do that to them given how lucrative their work is. Bardock then heads to Frieza’s spaceship, where he fights through legions of Frieza’s forces while calling out the space tyrant, but with a single finger and a flick of the wrist, Frieza laughs maniacally everything is obliterated in the wake of his Supernova. As Bardock is vaporized, he sees one last vision: his youngest son, Kakarot, defeating Frieza on Namek, which leaves him smiling in the face of his demise.
The New Storyline
Dragon Ball Super: The Broly Moviewas the introduction to the reprised Bardock story, which was required in order to make Broly’s (and his survival) canonical. Bardock and his colleague, Leek, are shown in the midst of battle on an unknown planet when they receive orders via their scouters for all Saiyans to return to Planet Vegeta. Upon his return, Bardock sees Frieza’s spaceship hovering above the planet and deduces that something is afoot. He goes home to Gine, who tells him that Kakarot will be due to come out of his incubator soon because it had been about three years.
Bardock tells Gine about what he thinks is about to happen, including the fact that some of Frieza’s forces were asking around about the Super Saiyan legend. Fearing for his son’s life, Bardock opts to send him off-world to a peaceful planet known as Earth that he’d been scouting. If he was wrong about Frieza’s reasons for summoning the Saiyans to Planet Vegeta, then they would simply go over to Earth to retrieve their son. A month later,Frieza would go on to perpetrate the genocideof the Saiyans, with Bardock trying in vain to stop him, and King Vegeta trying (in vain) to assassinate Frieza, similarly to the original story.
Chronologically, this is placed after the Saiyans' destruction of Planet Cereal, in which Bardock spared the life of a young Cerelian and his mother because he imagined seeing his son Kakarot and wife Gine in the same situation. After lying about fully exterminating the planet, a member of the Heeter family; a group that were once in an unequal partnership with the Emperor of Space, finds the surviving Cerealians and murders the mother before Bardock can intervene. Bardock has his hands full fighting Gas, but he manages to surpass his limits and win, leaving his scouter behind. During theevents of the Granolah Saga, Goku would go on to fight the surviving Cerealian named Granolah, learn about his father’s kindness towards them and engage in a tense battle against Gas. Goku would also be given Bardock’s scouter, which was equipped with audio recordings from the fight with Gas. Hearing his father’s voice triggers a brief memory in Goku, back to his father placing his hand on the window of his incubator and telling him to be strong.
The Difference
In the original story, you have Bardock, the Saiyan warrior whose only interest was fighting and being good at his job as a planetary mercenary. The change to this original Bardock’s character would then be kicked-off by the last Kanassan, an individual who saw his own and the demise of the Saiyans long before Bardock’s arrival and granted Bardock the same gift/curse. With the fate of his people at stake, Bardock comes to understand how wrong he was to ignore his son because of his weakness, and part of the reason why Bardock can fight with such fervour despite being badly injured at that time is because he is spurred on by visions of Kakarot facing Frieza himself. In death, Bardock’s biggest regret is never having held baby Kakarot.InDragon Ball Super; however, Bardock is almost always a noble character on some level, with his kindness towards the Cerelians being proof of this being independent of Frieza’s betrayal.
Bardock’s relationship with Gine is also important as it shows Bardock’s uniqueness as a Saiyan who valued relationships and close-knit connection. His final stand against Frieza is less about protecting the future because he has seen how horrible it gets; to protecting the future because his son’s going to be in it. The Bardock inDragon Ball Superalmost gives a genetic aspect to Goku’s most important characteristic: his kindness, not to mention the fact that this new story has given the franchise a chance for Goku to delve even deeper into who he is, which has been a very important goal for the series going forward to flesh out characters in a way thatopens up the story to different realities.
