Bardock (Japanese: バァダク) is a character from the manga Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z and the anime Dragon Ball Z. He is a Saiyan. Bardock is the biological father of both Raditz and Son Goku.
Bardock is an exception to many of the rules of Dragon Ball canon. He is the only character in the series that was introduced in the anime. In specific, his first appearance was in the Dragon Ball Z Television special/movie "Tatta Hitori no Saishuu Kessen" (Literally, "The Lone Warrior and the Final Battle"), released by FUNimation as "Bardock: Father of Goku". The author of the Dragon Ball manga, Akira Toriyama liked the character so much that he was given a brief appearance in a flashback in the manga itself. (However, except for his existence and the rough outline of what he did, the full events of Bardock's life cannot be considered canon.)
History[]
Bardock worked on Planet Vegeta as a mercenary for the Saiyan Royal Family. For a "common" Saiyan, Bardock was quite an exception to the rule with a power level more fitting of a Saiyan Royal, than a run of the mill warrior.
As with all warrior Saiyans on the Planet Vegeta, Bardock was in employ of the mysterious and powerful Freeza. On one of his assignments from Freeza, Bardock was ordered to kill the inhabitants of a planet. On that mission, he gained the ability to unwillingly see into the future during a confrontation with the fish-like Tooro, one of the last alien survivors.
Freeza, monitoring the rapidly growing strength of Bardock and his team, became concerned that Bardock may soon be able to pose a threat and ordered Dodoria to eliminate him and his crew. Fortunately however, Bardock survived after being left for dead.
Though severely injured, Bardock is driven by his apocolyptic visions of the future to confront Freeza. It seems that Freeza's concerns were justified, as Bardock plows through legions of his mercenaries, even briefly getting close enough to launch an attack on Freeza himself. Sadly however, Freeza easily nullifies Bardock's attack and unleashes an even greater one: a energy blast powerful enough to destroy the planet Vegeta itself. As Bardock is consumed by the massive assault, he has a final vision of the death of Freeza at the hands of his Super Saiyan son, Son Goku.