Bardock

"Frieza's taken our loyalty and paid us back in our own blood."

- Bardock - The Father of Goku

Bardock (バーダック, Bādakku) is a low-class Saiyan warrior and the father of Raditz and Goku (Kakarot). He makes his debut in the 1990 special, Bardock - The Father of Goku. His life before his appearance in the special is unknown, but he is shown to lead his own squad into battle, and they are very successful in accomplishing assignments. He is an adept fighter and a devoted Saiyan Army soldier under Frieza's Planet trade organization, until he realizes that Frieza plans the annihilation of the Saiyan race. Given to him by the last Kanassan warrior, was the ability to see into the future and it is through these visions that he sees the eventual Genocide of the Saiyans.

Appearance
Consistent with Raditz's quote in a chapter of the Dragon Ball manga, Bardock's appearance is very similar to Goku's. He has unkempt hair which partially stands on end and a scar on his left cheek. He wears black and green Battle Armor, and a green scouter on his left eye. Later on, he wears Tora's blood soaked armband as a headband when he fights Dodoria's Elite on Planet Meat.

In Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru's original character design, Bardock had a longer scar, his hair was more spiked (similar to Vegeta's hair), his Battle Armor was a lighter shade of green, and it had three or four flaps at the waist, and did not wear the long-legged jumpsuit he has in Akira Toriyama's final design.

Name
Bardock is one of three members of the team whose name was not completely changed from Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru's design. The other being Panbukin (Shugesh in the American dub) and Toma (Tora in American dub). Bardock's name, like all other Saiyan characters, is a pun on edible plant material, in this case the burdock herb (this pun is more apparent in the Dragon Ball manga, where the character's name is literally spelled Burdock). The word 'burdock' transliterated into katakana is badokku (バードック), but the character's name is written as Badakku (バーダック), changing the 'do' character to 'da'. This character change actually makes the kana sound more like "Bardock" to English speakers, making it difficult to accurately romanize the word to convey the pun. The word could be romanized as 'Burdock', 'Barduck', 'Badack' or any combination of these syllables. While Viz's English publications of the manga use the spelling 'Burdock', the FUNimation Dub of Bardock - The Father of Goku spell his name 'Bardock', and as well this is how Frieza pronounces his name while speaking aloud during the Frieza Saga of FUNimation Entertainment's Dragon Ball Z english dub.

Personality
Bardock displays personality traits fairly typical of Saiyans. He is somewhat cocky, loves fighting, and will kill in cold blood. He has a laid-back and fearless personality, as evidenced by him and his crew accepting missions that baffle even Frieza's elite soldiers, and his taking responsibility in confronting Frieza alone. He is a highly capable tactician in battle, able to perceive the situation at hand and act accordingly with it, as shown from his ability to out-maneuver Frieza's men. However, unlike a typical Saiyan, most having little care for comrades, Bardock deeply cares for the members of his team, and is enraged after finding them killed on planet Meat, particularly Tora during their last conversation.

Until the Kanassan's gift of foresight begins changing his life, Bardock thinks fairly little of himself being a father, and so he generally does not acknowledge his newborn son Kakarot except when the child is a topic of conversation among his platoon, and when he begins experiencing visions of an up-and-coming Kakarot. Bardock showed his bravery when he saw his impending doom. Instead of fleeing for his own life, he chose to stay behind and fight to the death.

Bardock's sons and team
The biological father of Kakarot (later known as Goku) and Raditz, Bardock is a low-class Saiyan mercenary who leads a small platoon comprised of four other Saiyan soldiers, Tora, Fasha, Shugesh and Borgos. Together, the five make a living by traveling to various planets where they decimate the defenses of these civilizations and prepare them for Frieza's planetary market.

Battle for Kanassa
After clearing a society on the Planet Kanassa, a weakened survivor emerges, catching Bardock off-guard, and instills in the Saiyan the ability of precognitive foresight. This ability, the Kanassan believes, will over time serve Bardock with vengeance for the crimes Saiyans commit in the name of Frieza. While in recovery after the platoon's return to planet Vegeta, Bardock is met with what he passes off as a delusion. In his vision, he witnesses the destruction of his home planet by the hand of Frieza. During this time, presiding doctors attest that Bardock's power level is approaching 10,000, and that at this rate he may surpass the strength of the Saiyan ruler, King Vegeta.

Bardock is still out of commission when Frieza executes his selfish plan to resolve the paranoia he is experiencing. Following Frieza's orders, the capable soldiers Tora, Fasha, Shugesh and Borgos are instructed to clear the civilization of planet Meat. During their visit to the planet, the group encounters one of Frieza's most dangerous minions, Dodoria, and his elite, who betray them by Frieza's orders and make short work of Bardock's team.

Battle on Meat
When Bardock is informed that his team has accepted an offer on planet Meat, a still injured Bardock hurriedly makes preparations to pursue his friends, unaware of the dangers that await at his destination. Eventually once upon Meat, Bardock discovers his ravaged comrades, and to some fortune finds that Tora is alive but in critical condition. Vowing to avenge the four, Bardock removes Tora's armband, now soaked in blood, and dons it over his head (providing an emotional backstory for one of Bardock's most recognizable physical features). Bardock is suddenly assaulted by Dodoria's Elite, although for a low-class Saiyan, he is able to dominate over the elite-class fighters until Dodoria launches a Super Mouth Blast, overpowering Bardock and leaving him for dead.

Bardock barely survives this attack, and coming to terms with the fact that his visions are actual premonitions and not a case of delirium, he desperately struggles against time to return to Planet Vegeta and change the grim fate of his people. Upon his return to the planet, he immediately begins spreading the word of danger, but his panic (as well as the state of his condition) only leads bystanders to believe Bardock is overreacting after having finally met his match during a typical mission.

Confronting Frieza
Terrified at the reaction he has received, and the helplessness of his situation, Bardock in a frenzy takes to the skies where Frieza's spaceship is orbiting, in a last resort effort to throttle Frieza's plan to eradicate the Saiyans. As Bardock displays an abnormal ability to fend off hundreds of Frieza's soldiers, Frieza decides that the situation is growing out of hand. Frieza's decision is solidified by his perceived insolence of another Saiyan, King Vegeta, who has invaded Frieza's spaceship with his servants' in an attempt to rescue their prince, Vegeta (who at this time is nowhere near the ship, as he is carrying out orders on another planet). After killing King Vegeta and his royal guard, Frieza steps out into the orbit of planet Vegeta where he encounters Bardock, who insists that the Saiyans refuse to continue being oppressed and commanded by the tyrant.

Intending to wipe out the Saiyans anyway, Frieza doesn't see a problem with Bardock's allegation, and somewhat patiently listens to Bardock's speech, staking out the perfect opportunity to commence his genocide. This opening comes when Bardock attempts to kill Frieza using a Final Spirit Cannon, which Frieza retaliates with by laughing manically as he expands a charging Supernova.

Within moments, the Supernova is set free from Frieza's fingertip and careens through numerous bystander soldiers en route toward planet Vegeta; Bardock is among the first to be consumed by the ball of energy. As he is appearantly incinerated within the Supernova, Bardock has one final vision, that of his son Goku (born Kakarot) challenging and defeating Frieza, which brings a smile to his face. His regret, however, is that he never had a chance to hold his infant son in his arms before he was commissioned to Earth only days after being born.

Flashbacks
Because Bardock was primarily the creation of Toei Animation, it was only after the airing of The Father of Goku that Bardock would make an appearance in the manga, albeit a two-panel cameo appearance, in Frieza's flashback when he sees Goku, who reminds him of Bardock. This was followed by Bardock making cameo appearances in the mainstream Dragon Ball Z series, in the episodes "Fighting Power: One Million?", "The End of Vegeta" and "The Ultimate Battle", mostly during Frieza's flashbacks to the 'final confrontation' scene featured at the climax of The Father of Goku. He also appears in Cooler's flashback to the destruction of Planet Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge, during the planet's last seconds. The flashback was shown once again in Dragon Ball Kai's first episode, a trend which continued with the story mode of the video game Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi.

Episode of Bardock
In the 2011 spin-off manga Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock, Bardock survives after his battle against Frieza and wakes up in a bed on a planet that looks a lot like Planet Vegeta. He is being treated by two aliens: the village doctor Ipana and his son Berry. Bardock remarks that the medicine used to heal him is similar to the fluid in Rejuvenation Tanks and Ipana says that the name of the planet is Planet Plant, so Bardock starts to wonder if he is in the past. When two soldiers named Toobi and Kyabira arrive and declare that they are going to conquer the planet, Bardock confronts and kills them. The villagers come to thank him, but Bardock flies away to a cave. When Berry arrives at the cave with a basket of food, Bardock tells him to leave, but eventually eats the young alien's food and grows tolerant of him over time.

When the space tyrant Chilled comes to investigate Planet Plant, due to the death of Toobi and Kyabira, Berry tells Bardock that he has a bad feeling about him. When Chilled and his soldiers start terrorizing the planet, Berry begs Bardock to help the Plants. Remembering his friends' decimation on Planet Meat, Bardock accepts and saves Ipana from Chilled's men. When he sees Chilled, Bardock confuses him for Frieza and angrily attacks him with a punch to the face. Chilled kicks him and begins to crush him.

Chilled is about to deliver the finishing energy blast to Bardock when Berry rushes forward in an attempt to save him. However, Chilled throws the blast instead to him, wounding Berry. Bardock, upon seeing this, thought of Frieza and the death of his crew, became furious. He became a Super Saiyan. They began fighting once more, and Chilled tries to ki blast him to death, only to have it pushed back at him; the force of the blast sent the tyrant flying into space. The villagers cheer on Bardock and he smiles. It is revealed that Chilled survived after loosing the Beam Struggle, but he later died from his wounds in his spaceship. Chilled's knowledge about Super Saiyans was passed to his descendants (King Cold, Frieza and Cooler).

Techniques and special abilities

 * Divination – A psychic ability granted to Bardock by a Kanassan as a form of retribution for the misdeeds of he and the Saiyan race in general. This ability gives Bardock the gift of foresight, but he has limited control over what visions he receives and when they occur.
 * Flight – The ability to fly with the use of ki.
 * Ki Blast – The most basic form of energy wave.
 * Full Power Energy Wave – Basically a fully-powered Energy Wave shot from the palm. Is similar to the Kamehameha and Galick Gun in basic function. Bardock first used it to finish off Toolo, and later to kill the last two remaining members of Dodoria's Elite. This is one of Bardock's basic Energy Wave Blast 2 attacks in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.
 * Final Revenger – An attack used to defeat Dodoria's elites on Planet Meat. It is one of Bardock's Blast 2 attacks in the Budokai Tenkaichi series. Bardock knocks the opponent up into the air with powerful attacks and finally knocks them down to the ground.
 * Flash Spirit – This attack is used when Bardock fights the horde of soldiers on his way to attack Frieza. It is a punch, followed by a kick then an energy wave. It is named in Dragon Ball: Raging Blast where it is one of his Super Attacks.
 * I'll Never Forgive You! – Bardock rams into the opponents and hits them. He used this technique against Frieza's soldiers when they tried to stop him from attacking Frieza. Named in Raging Blast.
 * Final Spirit Cannon (Riot Javelin) – A whitish-blue sphere of ki that Bardock uses in an attempt to assassinate Frieza.
 * Last Riot Javelin – A bigger and more powerful version of the Riot Javelin. It is his Ultimate in Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit.
 * Heat Phalanx – A heated ki punch technique which appears in the Budokai video game series and the video game Burst Limit.
 * Spirit of Saiyans – A combination technique of ki-powered punches used by Bardock in the video games Budokai 3, Infinite World, Shin Budokai - Another Road and Burst Limit. this is likely Bardock's most powerful technique in the Budokai series.
 * Saiyan Soul – One of Bardock's Blast 1 in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.
 * Wild Sense – One of Bardock's Blast 1 in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.
 * Kamehameha – Bardock never uses this attack in Shin Budokai - Another Road, as he participates in a Family Kamehameha along with Goku, Gohan, Future Gohan and Goten, defeating Kid Buu and saving the Future.
 * Power Ball – A ball of Blutz ray, which simulates the effects of a full moon to allow a Saiyan with a tail to become a Great Ape. (Vegeta claims that Bardock was the inventor of this technique, however as this line was Ocean Group dub only, the canonicity of it is disputable at best).
 * Chou Makouhou – One of Great Ape Bardock's Blast 2 in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.
 * Super Explosive Wave – One of Great Ape Bardock's Blast 2 in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.
 * Giga Meteor Storm – A much more powerful version of the Chou Makouhou Barrage used by Bardock in his Great Ape form in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.
 * Explosive Wave – One of Great Ape Bardock's Blast 1 in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.
 * Howl – One of Great Ape Bardock's Blast 1 in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.

Transformations

 * Great Ape – As with all Saiyans with a tail, Bardock can transform into a Great Ape at the sight of a full moon (or another source of Blutz Waves). In this Transformation state his Power increases ten-folds. Bardock, like Elite Saiyan warriors, can remember everything in the transformation state and control it (stated by himself after the battle on Kanassa). Bardock transformed into it while on Planet Kanassa, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3.
 * Super Saiyan – In Dragon Ball Heroes and the manga spin-off Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock, Bardock has made his transformation into a Super Saiyan. As a Super Saiyan, Bardock resembles his son. His hair becomes more spikey, and eyes turn into a light green. His hair also turn to a shade of gold. His strength, like all Super Saiyans, increases to extreme levels.

Video game appearances
Bardock has been featured as a playable character in several Dragon Ball video games: Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3, Dragon Ball Z: Sagas, Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2 (support-type character), Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World, Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit, the Budokai Tenkaichi series, the Raging Blast series, Dragon Ball Kai: Ultimate Butōden, and Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi. Bardock is playable in Japanese only arcade games such as Dragon Ball Z: Bakuretsu Impact, Dragon Ball Z: W Bakuretsu Impact, Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Battlers, and Dragon Ball Heroes, the latter in which a playable Super Saiyan version of him also appears.

Bardock's alternate costume in Budokai 3 looks similar to Tora's outfit. In Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road, Bardock makes an appearance in Chapter 6, where he meets Pikkon, Gohan, and the Supreme Kai.

In the Budokai Tenkaichi games, if Bardock fights Dodoria, Zarbon or Cooler, he states "I'll take you down and then Frieza!". In Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi, Bardock's story is much the same in the anime, only this time, he defeats Frieza, and then has a chance to fight Goku. Before then, he thanks the Kanassons for giving him his power to see into the future. After the battle, if he wins, he is impressed with Goku's ability to fight, but comes to the conclusion taught he is not ready to fight Frieza just yet. If he loses, he pleads for Goku to defeat Frieza before vanishing, leaving Goku to wonder who he is. In the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 'What-If' story Fateful Brothers, it is revealed that Raditz has great respect for his father. In Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, if he fights Kid Goku, Bardock will say "K-Kakarot! Is that you?" to which Goku replies, "I'm not any Kaka- or whatever thing guy." In Budokai Tenkaichi 3 or the Raging Blast series, Goten replies "What's a Kakarot? Is that something you eat?" Also in the Budokai Tenkaichi series, Bardock is briefly reunited with his son, Goku, noting how strong Goku has become before they battle, and even assuring him that he will know who he is after they fight.

In Burst Limit, Bardock meets Goku and his friends, fights them, and is shocked to see that Goku has become a Super Saiyan. He promises Goku that they will fight again one day before vanishing. Goku can be Bardock's partner character in battle. He is quite willing to help Bardock win by giving him a Senzu Bean to replenish his strength, or knock the opponent away for Bardock if things get tough. If he fights impressively enough, an anstonished Goku will acknowledge Bardock as his father.

In Dragon Ball: Raging Blast, Bardock has a "What-If" story where he fights his grandsons (Gohan and Goten) in a vision before his death, apparently a dream. In the Raging Blast series, Bardock is one of the few characters who don't refer to Super Saiyan 3 Broly as "The Legendary Super Saiyan"; instead, he just refers to him as a monster. Also in the Raging Blast series, if Broly goes up against Bardock, he will refer to Bardock as "Kakarot" to which Bardock will reply that Kakarot is his son. Should he be pitted against Videl, she will ask him why he is dressed that way, believing him to be Goku, to which Bardock replies "Goku? Never heard of him. I'm Bardock!", suggesting that Bardock has never heard his son's Earth name. In Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2, Bardock is also mistaken as Goku by the Androids.

Dragon Ball Online
In Dragon Ball Online, Bardock is saved by Miira who went back in time right before Frieza's Supernova kills Bardock, and he is then possessed by Miira to be his servant. In one of the Time Machine Quests, the player has to battle this Evil Bardock. Bardock eventually returns to normal and betrays Miira and uses a kamikaze attack to seemingly kill Miira (although it is unknown whether he survived or not). Bardock later appears to have somehow survived the explosion as he is seen in a later Time Machine Quest taking place on Planet Namek.

Voice actors

 * Japanese Dub: Masako Nozawa
 * FUNimation Dub: Sonny Strait
 * Ocean Group dub: Paul Dobson
 * Latin American Dub: Mario Castañeda, Octavio Rojas (Dragon Ball Kai)
 * German Dub: Tommy Morgenstern (Frieza Saga), Björn Schalla (Bardock - The Father of Goku)
 * Portuguese Dub: Henrique Feist
 * Italian Dub: Marco Balzarotti (Bardock - The Father of Goku), Simone D'Andrea (Frieza Saga)
 * French Dub: Patrick Borg
 * Brazilian Dub: Wellington Lima

Trivia

 * In a chapter of the Dragon Ball manga, Raditz alludes to Bardock when commenting that Goku "[looks] just like [their] father".
 * Bardock claims that he can remember his actions in his Great Ape form.
 * In the Ocean Group dub of Dragon Ball Z, Bardock is described by Vegeta as having been "an average fighter, but a brilliant scientist," despite Bardock's ventures into sciences being absent from the manga and all subsequent dubs of the anime.
 * Bardock was alive during the Saiyan-Tuffle war, which took place from Age 720 to about Age 730, and likely fought in it.
 * Bardock has never mentioned his first son Raditz, although one of his earliest lines in response to what day his son was born ("I don't quite remember, it was long ago") may refer to Raditz, as he is significantly older than the then-day old Kakarot.
 * In a flashback during the Frieza Saga, it is shown that during Bardock's confrontation with Frieza, all of the men behind him were part of his army to defeat Frieza. However, in Bardock - The Father of Goku, it is shown that those are all actually Frieza's men, and Bardock fought his way through them to get to Frieza.
 * In the same flashback, Bardock is quoted as saying "I would rather be a free man in my grave than living as a puppet or a slave", word-for-word lyrics from Jimmy Cliff's 1972 hit 'The Harder They Come'.
 * Bardock was the first originally-filler character to later be included in a panel of the manga.
 * Bardock was mentioned by Paragus in the movie Dragon Ball Z: Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan when he recognized Goku as Bardock's son.
 * The first episode of Dragon Ball Z Kai shows a scene from the TV special, Bardock - The Father of Goku, in which Bardock is fighting thousands of Frieza's men and then confronts Frieza. For some reason, the scene is mirrored.
 * A commercial, advertising Dragon Ball Z Kai on Nicktoons, shows Bardock when he forms the blast about to attack Frieza. No blood is present, and most of Bardock's scar is missing from his face.
 * Bardock is one of the few Saiyans to have gone to outer space and breathe normally, while fighting Frieza and his men.
 * It is likely that Bardock was the most powerful lower-class Saiyan soldier of his time. Near the time of his death, Bardock was rumored to have a power level of nearly 10,000, which is said to rival that of King Vegeta.
 * This is backed by his ability to defeat Dodoria's Elite, despite being outnumbered 4-1, as well as surviving Dodoria's Mouth Energy Wave. Later on, the heavily-wounded Bardock fights through hundreds of Frieza's troops, on his own, in an effort to reach Frieza's ship. The power levels of the soldiers were not revealed.
 * When Bardock has his last vision of Goku about to fight Frieza, Goku was standing by Frieza in his 1st form, which Goku has only seen Frieza in his final form.
 * In the Episode of Bardock movie, when Bardock launches his Final Spirit Cannon, his armor is intact, but when he charges the attack, it is damaged.