22 Facts About Bardock

Bardock, Burdock in Viz Media's English manga translation, is a fictional character from the Dragon Ball media franchise.

Bardock has few overall manga and anime appearances within the series, though he plays a pivotal part as Goku's biological father in setting up the backstory of his son, originally known by the name Kakarot, as one of the last survivors of the Saiyan genocide by the intergalactic tyrant Frieza.

Bardock has been well received by commentators and viewers as a tragic figure.

Bardock's popularity has led to the character appearing in a variety of franchise media, including several video games as well as a starring role in the 2011 spin-off manga Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock and its subsequent animated adaptation.

Bardock considers Bardock to be one of the strongest low-class warriors, but below a mid-class warrior in power.

Bardock is dressed in battle armor similar to Frieza's armed forces; according to Nakatsuru, the armor's specific visual design is patterned after that of Toshiro Mifune's character in Seven Samurai at the insistence of Mitsuo Hashimoto, director of the television special.

Bardock said that he tends to avoid serious material in his work and he would have stuck to a lighter comedic tone had he authored Bardock's story himself, but complimented Toei's approach for giving a bit more emotional depth to the series' mythos.

Bardock is depicted in two panels during Goku's first confrontation with Frieza, when Frieza comments that Goku looks just like the Saiyan who resisted when he destroyed planet Vegeta, and the narrator informs the reader that he was Goku's father.

Bardock is voiced in Japanese by Masako Nozawa, who voices his son and the other male members of his family, except Raditz.

Thanks to his Saiyan biology, Bardock had super strength, speed, agility, reflexes, the ability to fly, with telepathy, telekinesis, generate energy from his very being called ki, produce energy blasts, absorb energy and energy blasts, control energy, sense energy around him and enhance his abilities by increasing his energy through force of will.

Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock by Naho Oishi is a what-if story which explores Bardock's miraculous survival from being obliterated by Frieza's attack.

Bardock is hurled into the distant past to a strange planet where he comes into conflict with Frieza's ancestor, Chilled, and eventually succeeds in achieving the Super Saiyan transformation.

In Dragon Ball Minus: The Departure of the Fated Child, a story included in the collected volume of Jaco the Galactic Patrolman which takes place months before the destruction of Planet Vegeta, Bardock believes that Frieza is up to something when they receive an order for all Saiyans to return home.

Gine, who makes her first series appearance, is convinced by Bardock to send their infant son, Kakarot, in a space pod to Earth, a planet far enough away to escape Frieza's interest, with a native population weak enough to pose no threat to Kakarot.

Bardock decides to send Goku to Earth so he can escape the impending destruction of their home planet, which leads to an emotional farewell where Gine implores the departing Goku to not forget them.

Bardock was able to defeat a Heeter named Gas and survive the battle to ensure the safety of Granolah and Monaito.

Back in the present day, Vegeta knew who Bardock was, and tells Goku that he was the latter's father, much to Granolah, Monaito and Goku's surprise.

Bardock has appeared in nearly 30 Dragon Ball video games, including substantial storyline roles in Dragon Ball Online as well as its spiritual successors Dragon Ball Xenoverse and Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2.

In March 2018 Bardock was introduced into Dragon Ball FighterZ along with Broly as the game's first DLC characters.

Jemima Sebastian from the Latin American edition of IGN commented that the destruction of the Saiyan homeworld is one of the most important and emotional moments in Dragon Ball history; she noted that fan interest in Bardock inspired a story arc in Dragon Ball Multiverse, a Dragon Ball fan fiction webcomic, where Frieza never destroyed planet Vegeta and Bardock is the central character and leader of a popular revolt against Frieza.

Bardock is ranked number 11 on IGN's list of "Top 13 Dragon Ball Z Characters"; Chris Carle said Bardock's impact in the series' overall story is quite large even though his major appearances are confined to the animated films and expanded literature.

Bardock came in 28th place on Complex's list "A Ranking of All the Characters on 'Dragon Ball Z"; Sheldon Pearce notes that the character exists as a means to shed more light on Goku's character.