Bardock
Seiyuu / Dub
Summary
Bardock first appears in the television special Bardock - The Father of Goku. Following the film's broadcast in Japan, Akira Toriyama, who assisted in designing the character for Toei Doga's production, included him in two manga panels. His name derives from a pun on burdock, a herb. While the Viz manga and FUNimation's Japanese-language English-subtitled anime version refer to him as Burdock, FUNimation's English dub uses Bardock, and certain Japanese merchandise spells it as Barduck. As the biological father of Raditz and Son Goku, Bardock is a Saiyan endowed with precognition. Through recurring visions, he sees his home planet, Vegeta, destroyed by Freeza. After narrowly escaping death at the hands of Dodoria, he attempts to alter his planet's tragic fate by confronting Freeza and his army directly. He fails to stop the attack and is killed. Just before dying, he receives a vision of his son battling the warlord. According to the anime special, doctors estimated his battle power at 10,000 while he recovered from his final mission. In the Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock manga, Bardock achieves Super Saiyan status for the first time. This development helped promote his character in the arcade game Dragon Ball Heroes, where he also transforms into a Super Saiyan.
