History Characters / DragonBallBardock

Toriyama would later rewrite Bardock story in ''[[Manga/JacoTheGalacticPatrolman Dragon Ball Minus]]'', which was then adapted in ''Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly''. Like with Broly, we separate the different incarnations in different folders to help distinguish them.

[[BreakoutCharacter Bardock became popular with both Toriyama and the fans]], and he was given a cameo appearance during the Frieza saga, standing up to the tyrant, and being remembered by Frieza as "That Saiyan that stood to me". After this, Bardock got a role in more side stories, which the canonicity is heavily disputed and characterization [[DependingOnTheWriter depends on which writer is writing him.]]

* TookALevelInKindness: According to ''Minus'', he became quite the Family Man after marrying Gine. Put things into perspective, apparently, the typical Saiyan starts a family solely to reproduce.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bardock.png]]

* AdaptationalHeroism: In ''Bardock: The Father of Goku'', he only started caring about Goku just before his death. In ''Dragon Ball Minus'', he showed genuine love for baby Goku from the start, although Gine says it is a new trait Bardock developed.

[[caption-width-right:216:Bardock's cameo in the ''Dragon Ball Z'' manga]]

The incarnation introduced in ''Manga/JacoTheGalacticPatrolman'', and later ''Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly''.

[[caption-width-right:216:Bardock's cameo in ''Dragon Ball Z'']]

[[folder: In General]]

[[caption-width-right:216:Bardock cameo in ''Dragon Ball Z'']]

[[folder: Z-era version]]

-> ''This will change everything. The fate of Planet Vegeta. My own fate. Kakarot's fate. As well as yours [Frieza]! This ends now!

[[folder: Super-era version]]

--> ''Survive, no matter what.''

[[folder: Bardock in video games]]

Character subpage for Bardock, a character from the ''Anime/DragonBallZBardockTheFatherOfGoku'' animated special, his incarnation from ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' and the many videogames.

** Despite appearing only in a few pages in the original manga, Bardock got his own TV special and more scenes in the anime mostly because he is Goku's biological father, but then he started to earn a status of his own, apart from being just Goku's father Bardock got more exposition in games for the franchise, particularly ''Online'' by Netmarble and the ''Xenoverse'' games, where he has a side story and is brainwashed by Towa and Mira under the alias of The Masked Saiyan.

[[folder: Bardock in videogames]]
!!Tropes involving Bardock in videogames

* AdaptationalBadass: While he managed to go [[spoiler: Super Saiyan]] in ''[[Anime/DragonBallEpisodeOfBardock Episode of Bardock]]'', the videogames already gave it this ability, but not only that, in ''VideoGame/DragonBallXenoverse2'', he can go so far as [[spoiler: skip all the way to Super Saiyan 3 in a single fight]].

* CompositeCharacter: Bardock in videogames released in the 2010's tend to be the Z-incarnation of the character mostly, but there are mentions of Gine, meaning he is a combination of both versions.
* HeelFaceTurn: After escaping Mira and Towa's mind control as the Mask Saiyan, he joins the Time Patrol in ''Videogame/DragonBallHeroes'', sealing his arc in the video game series.

* PunchClockVillain: He may be a murderous {{Space Pirate|s}} who enjoys his work, but it is nothing personal. When he's not killing people, he's actually quite decent person. He's a loyal friend and even a family man in ''Minus''.

* SpacePirates: The leader of a small band of Saiyans who wipe planets for Frieza. Despite his laid-back, somewhat lazy demeanor, [[BloodKnight he truly enjoys his job]].

** For a mass-murdering space pirate, he's very laid back most of the time. And he has friends that he wanted to avenge.

[[folder: Bardock (Z-era version)]]

[[folder: Bardock (Super-era version)]]

[[folder: Bardock in videogames)]]

During a mission committing genocide for the Frieza empire, Bardock was given the power to see the fate of his race and tried to stop it but ended up failing in the end. He died happy when he realized his own son would be the one to take down Frieza.

[[center: [- [[Characters/DragonBall Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMainCharacters Main Characters]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGoku Son Goku]] ([[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesAToC A-C]], [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesDToH D-H]], [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesIToO I-O]], [[Characters/DragonBallSonGokuTropesPToZ P-Z]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallPiccolo Piccolo]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSonGohan Son Gohan]] | [[Characters/DragonBallVegeta Vegeta]] | [[Characters/DragonBallFutureTrunks Future Trunks]] | [[Characters/DragonBallAndroids17And18 Androids 17 and 18]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMajorSupportingCast Major Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSupportingCast Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/DragonBallZGTSupportingCast Z/GT Supporting Cast]] | [[Characters/DragonBallTournamentCharacters Tournament Characters]] | [[Characters/DragonBallOthers Other Characters | '''Bardock''']] ([[Characters/DragonBallSaiyans Saiyans]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallOriginalSeriesVillains Original Series Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallZVillains DBZ Villains]] ([[Characters/DragonBallFrieza Freeza/Frieza]] [[[Characters/DragonBallFriezasEmpire Frieza's Empire]]] | [[Characters/DragonBallCell Cell]] | [[Characters/DragonBallMajinBuu Majin Buu]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallZMovieVillains DBZ Movie Villains]] ([[Characters/DragonBallBroly Broly]] | [[Characters/DragonBallCooler Cooler]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallGTVillains GT Villains]] | [[Characters/DragonBallSuper Super]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse7 Universe 7]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse2 Universe 2]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse3 Universe 3]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse4 Universe 4]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse6 Universe 6]] ([[Characters/DragonBallUniverse6MajorCharacters Major Characters]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse9 Universe 9]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse10 Universe 10]] | [[Characters/DragonBallUniverse11 Universe 11]] ([[Characters/DragonBallJiren Jiren]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallZeno Zeno]] | [[Characters/DragonBallGokuBlack Goku Black]] | [[Characters/DragonBallZamasu Zamasu]] | [[Characters/DragonBallHeroes Heroes]] | [[Characters/DragonballHeroesVillains DBH Villains]] | [[Characters/JacoTheGalacticPatrolman Jaco the Galactic Patrolman]] | [[Characters/DragonBallXenoverse Xenoverse]] | [[Characters/DragonballFighterZ FighterZ]] ([[Characters/DragonBallAndroid21 Android 21]]) | [[Characters/DragonBallLegends Legends]]]]-]

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bardock_by_cruzazul_d5h7z39.png]]

Toriyama would later rewrite Bardock story in ''[[Manga/JacoTheGalacticPatrolman Dragon Ball Minus]]'', which was then adapted in ''Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly''.

** According to ''VideoGame/DragonBallOnline'', Mira went back in time, snatched Bardock just as he was being disintegrated by Frieza's Death Ball, and ends up brainwashing him to be one of his minions. Eventually he breaks free of it and presumably kills him in a kamikaze attack, although he himself survives somehow. This ''might'' be how he ended up in the past in ''[[Anime/DragonBallEpisodeOfBardock Episode of Bardock]]''.

* DependingOnTheWriter: His characterisation in Toriyama's 2014 one shot ''[[Manga/JacoTheGalacticPatrolman Dragon Ball Minus]]'' is wildly different to his original appearance in the 1990 ''Bardock: The Father of Goku'' TV special (which Toriyama had no involvement in except for character design), Naho Ooishi's 2011 ''[[Anime/DragonBallEpisodeOfBardock Episode of Bardock]]' had a characterisation closer to the TV special, but portrayed as more of a JerkWithAHeartOfGold than a NominalHero like he originally was.

** Even in ''Minus'' he was gone for three years after Goku was born. As soon as he got back, he launched Goku into space to escape Frieza.

In ''Minus'' this extends to his family. He is the one who suggests sending Goku away so he won't be killed by Frieza.

* AdaptationalBadass: In the ''[[Anime/DragonBallEpisodeOfBardock Episode of Bardock]]'' spinoff, he [[spoiler: beats Chilled right after becoming a Super Saiyan]].

* AlmightyJanitor: Despite being nearly as strong as King Vegeta by the time of his death, Bardock did not hold a ranking of high prestige within Saiyan society. In the English dub, he has some issues about this and part of the reason he takes near suicide missions is to prove his worth.
* AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Despite being a lower class warrior, he led his own team and was the strongest of them all, being able to easily kill warriors that slaughtered his entire crew.
* BrassBalls: Fighting Dodoria's henchmen and taking on ''Frieza'' definitely count as this.
* BlessedWithSuck: On the planet they've just purged, an alien in his last moments gives Bardock psychic powers so that he could foresee his own planet's destruction. [[spoiler:On the other hand this power is what allows Bardock to see Frieza's destruction at the hands of his son; giving him some peace of mind before he is engulfed by Frieza's attack.]]

* CassandraTruth: None of the other Saiyans believed that Frieza would destroy them. Although in ''Dragon Ball Minus'', more Saiyans show their disdain for Freeza that Vegeta and Zarbon talked about, even if they don't think he'd go quite that far.

* {{Determinator}}: Blasts his way through hundreds of henchmen to get to Frieza. This fact is acknowledged in a rare VillainRespect moment, several years later, when he instantly recalls Bardock when he sees Goku due to the uncanny resemblance, thus being possibly the only Saiyan, let alone person among the countless races that left an impact.
* DoomedByCanon: No one in the series at that point could take on Frieza in his first form, let alone his second and third form -- the former being in extremely rare cases and the latter to which he never revealed before to anyone -- or even his fourth and final, which only his family are privy to.
* DubInducedPlotHole: For some inexplicable reason, the Ocean Group dub has Vegeta claim that Bardock was an "average fighter but a brilliant scientist" and the creation of the moon-mimicking Power Ball is credited to him. Best guess is that, while the special first aired six years ago, it hadn't been shown to Ocean yet; it would also explain why, in his brief scene in the series proper, Bardock addresses the mooks he just plowed through (which wasn't shown in the flashback) as his own allies.
* DubText: The English dub added a ''lot'' of character alterations not present in the original Japanese, mainly "regret" at being "forced" to commit mass murder.
* DyingCurse: How he got his physic powers. He was cursed to see a future that he couldn't prevent, [[LaserGuidedKarma much like the people he murdered the night before]].
* EvilVersusEvil: Despite his sympatic motives and love for his family and crew, he was still a Saiyan who slaughtered millions.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: In spite of knowing full-well the futility of trying to do so, Bardock still held his arms out to catch Frieza's apocalyptic meteor, in a last ditched effort to save his people.

* GoOutWithASmile: Upon seeing that his son would be the one to beat Frieza.
* HeelFaceTurn: Can be considered a heel until he learns that Frieza betrayed his friends and plans to destroy Planet Vegeta. Even then he's still a NobleDemon. [[spoiler: He completes his face turn in ''[[Anime/DragonBallEpisodeOfBardock Episode of Bardock]]'']].

* InexplicablyAwesome: Despite being born and classified as a lower-class Saiyan, he had a power level around 10,000 before he died. For reference, Goku didn't get that high until he trained with King Kai and he was still only around 8 to 9,000 without the Kaioken. That also makes him much stronger than Nappa, an elite soldier. In fact, he's about as strong as King Vegeta, which makes for some {{foreshadowing}} of their sons' future relationship. Some of this is explained as Bardock regularly coming back from his missions half-dead. But even then the doctors are still baffled as to why Bardock is so powerful given his birth.

* {{Leitmotif}}: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm77VCkf_do Solid State Scouter]]

* MoralMyopia: In the TV special, Bardock is furious that his crew is betrayed and murdered by Frieza's men and goes on a bloody rampage to avenge them. Although noble and understandable, Bardock and his crew are still hired murderers who regularly perform genocide. The dub lessens it by having Bardock declare vengeance on Frieza "in the name of all the races they killed for him".
* MyOwnGrampa: [[spoiler:If the spinoff is canon anyway. He's sent back in time to start the legend of the Saiyans. It's probably better to be "My Own Progenitor", though it's physically impossible for Bardock to be the super saiyan Vegeta described unless the legend was ''really'' muddled.]]

* NominalHero: In his original special, particularly in the Japanese version. He's not really any better than any other Saiyans, aside from his sense of camaraderie, and doesn't show any real regrets over his actions as an agent of genocide; he only rebelled upon realizing that Freeza was going to kill everyone, including him. As Creator/TeamFourStar put it, "Bardock isn't a good person; he's just the protagonist."

* PetTheDog: Despite being a ruthless, murderous Saiyan, he shows real care to his teammates, going as far to avenge them when they are murdered. In ''Minus'' this extends to his family. He is the one who suggests sending Goku away so he won't be killed by Frieza.

* RuggedScar: [[StrongFamilyResemblance Completely identical to his son]] (and his son's son as well), except for the fact that he has a scar on his cheek. Not surprising he'd pick something like that up, considering his job is to travel from planet to planet and wipe out their entire populations.
* ScrewDestiny: Tries to change his fate and the fate of his race. He didn't succeed, but he went down fighting.
* {{Seers}}: He gains the ability to see the future thanks to a DyingCurse from one of the people he wiped out. Specifically, [[BlessedWithSuck he can see a future he can do nothing to stop]].
* SignatureMove: Final Spirit Cannon
* SoProudOfYou: Thanks to his ability to see through time, he knew Goku was going to kill Frieza and avenge the Saiyans. Knowing this, he died with a smile on his face.

* SpeakOfTheDevil: After Bardock arrives at Planet Vegeta after suffering a heavy beating from Dodoria, he learns that his son Kakarot was shipped to Earth. He briefly forsaw this in his premonition dreams, and then comes to the conclusion that, if Kakarot is being sent to Earth was true, that must also mean that Frieza's attack on Planet Vegeta, and its destruction, is also true as well.
* StableTimeLoop: [[spoiler: ''[[Anime/DragonBallEpisodeOfBardock Episode of Bardock]]'' is one. He ends up being the Saiyan that inspired the Super Saiyan legend after he defeats Chilled, who then passes down the paranoia of the Saiyans to his descendants. Which leads to Frieza eventually blowing up Planet Vegeta, which leads to Bardock ending up in the past, which leads to... oh, you get the point.]]

* TheUnchosenOne: After foreseeing Planet Vegeta's destruction at the hands of Frieza, he decides to ScrewDestiny and challenges Frieza to save his world. [[ForegoneConclusion He utterly fails]] and is killed by Frieza's Death Ball along with his planet. On the bright side, before his death he foresees his youngest child beating Frieza.

* TranquilFury: [[spoiler:In the 2011 version, after Chilled attacks a Plant child and the rest of the Plant people, he proceeds to go Super Saiyan, and gives Chilled the beatdown of his life. Chilled doesn't survive the encounter.]]
* TimeTravel: In his spinoff manga [[spoiler:this might be what happened to him after Frieza attempts to exterminate the Saiyans, being sent back to sometime before the Saiyans arrived at Planet Vegeta somehow, on what was then known as Planet Plant]]. Similarly, this is also what happened in ''VideoGame/DragonBallOnline'' in regards to [[spoiler:how he survived and got brainwashed by Miira]].
* TooDumbToLive: There's Bardock, who knows far in advance that Frieza is going to destroy his home planet. What does he do? Thanks to a double dose of both HonorBeforeReason and RevengeBeforeReason he decides to take on Frieza in a bid to stop him from destroying Planet Vegeta, despite knowing perfectly well that he was FAR too weak to stand a chance in hell against Frieza instead of getting in the nearest pod and getting the hell out of dodge and maybe coming back when he did stand a chance.
* UnstoppableRage: [[spoiler: Upon seeing Chilled terrorise his people and is reminded of his people's victimisation by Frieza, Bardock gets very, '''VERY''' mad, and Chilled becomes very, ''very'' dead.]]
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Him and his team taking out Planet Kanassa in the TV special is the final straw that caused Frieza to take the Super Saiyan legend seriously, as the Kanassans had withstood even his elite forces, while Bardock and co were considered low-ranked warriors. This one act basically set into motion everything else that happened in Dragon Ball Z.
* VillainousFriendship: Bardock and his elite are Type I.
* VillainProtagonist: In ''Father of Goku'', since he may be trying to save his race from Frieza, but he still comes from a genocidal race, making the conflict EvilVsEvil.
* TheWorfEffect: He effortlessly kills the elite soldiers who murdered his comrades. Then Dodoria comes and take him out with one mouth blast.

* YouCantFightFate: After being give the power of foreseeing Frieza's genocide of the Saiyans, he attempts a last stand against Frieza to save his world, but he fails and is killed by Frieza's Death Ball along with his planet.

Character subpage for Bardock, a character from the ''Dragon Ball Z'' animated special, his incarnation from ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' and the many videogames.

Bardock is Goku's father, and a recurring character in the franchise. Bardock was only mentioned in the manga by Raditz as being killed with the destruction of Planet Vegeta. Despite this, the character got the interest of Toei Animation and they created a side story for him called ''The Father of Goku'' written by Takao Koyama. In that story, he was given the power to see the fate of his race and tried to stop it but ended up failing in the end. He died happy when he realized his own son would be the one to take down Frieza.

Years later, in the spinoff ''[[Anime/DragonBallEpisodeOfBardock Episode of Bardock]]'', it's revealed that Bardock survived being killed by Frieza and was somehow whisked away to the distant past. There, he became a [[GoldenSuperMode Super Saiyan]] while fighting Frieza's ancestor, Chilled, making him the Legendary Super Saiyan and the originator of the legend itself. Keep in mind that the author of that story, Naho Oishi, considers that story just a WhatIf.

Toriyama would later adapt Bardock story in ''[[Manga/JacoTheGalacticPatrolman Dragon Ball Minus]]'', in where Bardock and his wife were the ones who sent Goku to Earth under the nose of Frieza who ordered all the Saiyans back to their home planet so he could kill them all in one shot.

* MoralityPet: Gine is this to him. He even cites her as the reason why he is going soft by caring for his son.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Despite being being a planet killing space pirate, Bardock, at least in ''Minus'', does love his wife and comes to care for his sons. He sends Goku off-world to great risk to himself.

* FlingALightIntoTheFuture: Gine and he sent Goku to Earth after they suspected that Frieza was up to no good. Bardock called it an omen of death. They couldn't escape themselves since the scouters would sense them and Raditz was already off-world with Vegeta. Unlike most examples of this trope, they just wanted Kakarot to live. Him growing up, becoming Goku, and kicking the ass of their murderer years later was an added bonus.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: A downplayed example compared to the Saiyan {{White Sheep}}s, but, unlike most Saiyans finding mates simply for reproductive purposes, he and Gine were HappilyMarried.

* CerebusRetcon: Inverted in ''Dragon Ball Minus'', where Bardock is still a battle-hungry drone of Freeza, but is also a kindly family man. He and his wife Gine send Goku to Earth not to conquer it, but to keep him safe from Freeza, with plans to take him from the worthless planet should they survive Freeza but with knowledge he'll have plenty of food and few strong enemies if Freeza kills them.

* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Single Man Seeks Good Woman, considering his wife is the TokenGoodTeammate of the entire Saiyan race.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: In the canon of the manga, Bardock along with his wife are the reasons why Goku is on Earth. If they hadn't have acted, Goku would have died with the planet robbing the universe of its savior.

* SpannerInTheWorks: His wife and him sending Goku away to Earth ended up not only saving their younger child, but avenging their own deaths years later.

* TookALevelInKindness: According to ''Minus'', he became quite the Family Man after marrying Gine. Put things into perspective, apparently, the typical Saiyan starts a family solely to reproduce.

The incarnation introduced in ''manga/JacoTheGalacticPatrolman'', and later ''Film/DragonBallSuperBroly''.

Character subpage for Broly, a character from the ''Dragon Ball'' [[NonSerialMovie Non-Serial Movies]], and his incarnation from ''Anime/DragonBallSuper''.

Goku's father. Bardock was only mentioned in the manga by Raditz as being killed with the destruction of Planet Vegeta. Despite this, the character got the interest of Toei Animation and they created a side story for him called ''The Father of Goku''. In that story, he was given the power to see the fate of his race and tried to stop it but ended up failing in the end. He died happy when he realized his own son would be the one to take down Frieza.

* AdaptationalHeroism: In ''Bardock: The Father of Goku'', he only started caring about Goku just before his death. In ''Dragon Ball Minus'', he showed genuine love for baby Goku from the start, although Gine says it is a new trait Bardock developed.
* AdaptationalWimp: For years fan argued over whether he was as strong in the manga as in the Bardock special. Now the Dragon Ball Minus special (written by Toriyama himself) confirms that while he was solidly a cut above the average Saiyan, he lacks the power to reach Middle Class Saiyan (although he's stated by Toriyama to at least be among the upper class of Saiyan peasantry). In contrast to how he surpassed Vegeta in the Bardock specials.

* SoProudOfYou: In some WhatIf storylines in some video games, he ends up (somehow) fighting with Goku, Gohan, and Goten on separate occasions. No matter how badly you body Bardock's opponent, he always exclaims that he's proud of his lineage.