Bardock

Bardock (Ba-dakku), Burdock in Viz's English manga and in Funimation's subtitles for the Japanese audio on their DVD release, is the father of Raditz and Kakarrot (Goku).

As a member of the Saiyan race, Bardock is just as violent and blood thirsty as the rest of them, in contrast to how Goku would become. He is also the leader of a small group of Saiyan comrades.

During a routine planet conquering mission on the planet Kanassa, one of the surviving inhabitants strikes Bardock, giving him its native ability to see into the future in the process.

Soon, Bardock began to see visions of Freeza's plan to destroy planet Vegeta and all of the Saiyans, as well as Goku's future on Earth.

Bardock attempts to prevent the destruction of his race by challenging Freeza in orbit of planet Vegeta, but is unsuccessful, and becomes the first of the Saiyans to be obliterated by Freeza.

Before his death, however, Bardock has one final vision of Goku challenging Freeza, and is able to die pleased knowing his son would avenge their race.

This story is shown in the 1990 Dragon Ball Z TV special, Bardock - The Father of Goku. Bardock's basic design was originally conceived for the TV special by the anime staff, with Toriyama slightly altering it.

His armor was based on that of Toshiro Mifune's character in Seven Samurai, at the insistence of director Mitsuo Hashimoto.

Toriyama stated that Bardock's tragic story moved him and so decided to include him in the manga; Bardock appears in two panels during Goku's first confrontation with Freeza, when Freeza comments that Goku looks just like that Saiyan who resisted when he destroyed planet Vegeta and the narrator informs the reader that he was Goku's father.

He is voiced by Masako Nozawa in Japanese, and by Sonny Strait in the Funimation dub.

Bardock also stars in the 2011 spin-off manga Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock by Naho O-ishi, and its subsequent animated short film adaptation.

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