History Anime / DragonBallZBardockTheFatherOfGoku

** As explained in LackOfEmpathy below Vegeta isn't shown caring in any way about his races destruction and is focused more on his own achievements. In the Dub, the way that the scene plays out and the dialogue used, show that while Vegeta is likely in shock over the news he's choosing to stoically keep his emotions in check and quietly sits in silence afterwards.

* BlessedWithSuck: The Kanassans have the power to see the future... and are powerless to stop their own extinction. Their last act of revenge against the Saiyan is to share this gift.

* BrokenAesop: At least, broken theme. The story of Bardock is that of a low class Saiyan standing up face to face against the emperor, Freeza. The story doesn't treat Bardock as anything but "a nameless Saiyan" not worth talking about, which is what fuels the {{tragedy}}. Despite this, the special felt the need to give Bardock a power level of ten thousands, twice the one the elite warrior Nappa has in the Saiyan saga, turning the character from simple {{mook}} to a sort of prodigy.

* DoomedByCanon: It's a prequel to ''Dragon Ball''. While there are minor plot-holes (Gohan meeting the baby Goku in a bamboo forest rather than in a creavass, resulting in a violent encounter), it's mainly to show Goku's father before he (unsuccessfully) attempts to kill Freeza.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Zarbon and Dodoria are both merciless killers who have no problem with Frieza slaughtering the Saiyan race but both are noticeably shocked when Frieza orders them to open the ships hatch so he can nuke the planet while many of their own men are still in the crossfire.
* FantasticRacism: Although Frieza tries to act dismissive of the Saiyans' growing power, often calling them monkeys, it's obvious that the reason why he decided to wipe them out is out of fear of them overthrowing him one day. (As well as the fear that the legend of the Super Saiyan prove to be true.)
* FauxAffablyEvil: Frieza remains unchanged in this aspect. He is generally polite and relatively cordial when directly addressing his minions; listening to their grievances and willing to let minor infractions slide. However he'll still blow up your planet and marvel at it's destruction with the exact same mannerisms.
--->'''Frieza''' (watching Planet Vegeta explode): Oh my!! This is stupendous!! What a great show!!

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Bardock sees the future where the Saiyans are killed and tries to prevent it. He defeats a crowd of Frieza's men, but Frieza himself is still out of his league and kills him with no difficulty.

* RealityEnsues: Bardock sees the future where the Saiyans are killed and tries to prevent it. He defeats a crowd of Frieza's men, but Frieza himself is still out of his league and kills him with no difficulty.

* CanonDiscontinuity: In ''Dragon Ball Minus'', the bonus chapter of ''Manga/JacoTheGalacticPatrolman'', Toriyama rewrites Bardock's story. Some changes include: Bardock having a wife named Gine, Goku being three years old instead of a newborn, Bardock and Gine sending Goku to Earth to protect him from Frieza instead of being luck that Goku is sent out just a few minutes before Frieza came to Planet Vegeta, and Frieza personally recalling all the Saiyans home so he can kill them all at once instead of it being a spur of a moment choice. That being said, the chapter only depicts what happened in the preceding weeks before the destruction of Planet Vegeta, so BroadStrokes may still apply.

* FantasticRacism: Although Frieza tries to act dismissive of the Saiyans' growing power, often calling them monkeys, it's obvious that the reason why he decided to wipe them out is out of fear of them overthrowing him one day.

* ProphecyTwist: The last thing Bardock sees before he dies is Goku facing Freeza (in his first form) in Namek. Goku does in fact face him again in his first form. In ''Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF''. Double points that [[spoiler: he does in fact kills Frieza in that movie instead of on Namek]].

* BlessedWithSuck: The Kanassans have the power to see the future…and are powerless to stop their own extinction. Their last act of revenge against the Saiyan is to share this gift.

* LackOfEmpathy: In the Japanese version a young Vegeta is shown at the end of the special being informed by Nappa that Planet Vegeta has been destroyed and most of the Saiyan race has been killed. Vegeta merely gives a disinterested "oh?" when Nappa tells him and asks if their is anything else before commenting that they should move on and find another planet to slaughter.

** DefiantToTheEnd: Toolo, the last Kanassan, chooses to [[BlessedWithSuck give Bardock the ability to see the future while being powerless to do anything about it]] as his last act, then [[DyingCurse informs it of what he has done]], and [[GoOutWithASmile dies laughing]] while ''on fire'', and Bardock, the last Saiyan to fight Freeza, [[FaceDeathWithDignity faces death with dignity]] to the end while burning inside the Supernova after he tried to stop it.
** GoOutWithASmile: As said above, Toolo dies laughing while on fire. As for Bardock, he sees Goku facing Freeza in the future (which only occurs when the two face each other with the latter in his final form) and smiles, knowing that his son will avenge him.

The special was popular enough that Creator/AkiraToriyama integrated him into the manga, making the Bardock Special canon in ''Anime/DragonBallKai''. A special called ''Anime/DragonBallEpisodeOfBardock'' created in 2011, was made to serve as a WhatIf sequel, detailing Bardock's survival and eventually [[spoiler: becoming a Super Saiyan]]. A special feature in the ''Manga/JacoTheGalacticPatrolman'' manga called ''Dragon Ball Minus'' essentially serves as a prequel to this special with several changes in the details, solidifying ''Jaco''[='=]s StealthPrequel status to the ''Franchise/DragonBall'' story as a whole.

The special was popular enough that Creator/AkiraToriyama integrated him into the manga, making the Bardock Special canon in ''Anime/DragonBallKai''. An special called ''Anime/DragonBallEpisodeOfBardock'' created in 2011, was made to serve as a WhatIf sequel, detailing Bardock's survival and eventually [[spoiler: becoming a Super Saiyan]]. A special feature in the ''Manga/JacoTheGalacticPatrolman'' manga called ''Dragon Ball Minus'' essentially serves as a prequel to this special with several changes in the details, solidifying ''Jaco''[='=]s StealthPrequel status to the ''Franchise/DragonBall'' story as a whole.

* LackOfEmpathy: In the Japanese version a young Vegeta is shown at the end of the movie being informed by Nappa that Planet Vegeta has been destroyed and most of the Saiyan race has been killed. Vegeta merely gives a disinterested "oh?" when Nappa tells him and asks if their is anything else before commenting that they should move on and find another planet to slaughter.

* BuriedInAPileOfCorpses: This actually saves Bardock's life when he ends up buried beneath the bodies of his comrades after Dodoria's KiAttack, leaving them to think he'd died.

* KilledOffForReal: As a ForegoneConclusion, Vegeta, Nappa and Raditz are the only survivors of the Saiyan race (and by extension, Vegeta's younger brother Tarble, a now canonized Broly and his father Paragus). Goku escapes the destruction by pure luck (an oversight Freeza looked upon). ''Dragon Ball Minus'' has Goku's escape taking place a month earlier, while the other three's survival is explained by Vegeta outright pulling a "Who cares?" when Freeza ordered all Saiyans back on the planet.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Raditz does not appear ''at all'' in the special, nor a mention. In the English dub, there is a vague reference to Raditz when Bardock states his son was born "a long time ago".

* SayMyName: Bardock screams out his son's name upon his death.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Frieza remains unchanged in this aspect.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Bardock, as much a ChaoticEvil BloodKnight as he is, does value his teammates.

** In the Japanese version, Bardock is cold and dismissive of Goku when he sees his weak power level and only gains a brief amount of affection for him at the very end when he realises that he is the one who will kill Frieza. In the English dub, he does seem to care about his son more and comments that he wishes he could have held him once before he died. Also, when Bardock faces Frieza in the finale, he mentions wanting to avenge all of the people Frieza ordered to be slaughtered in the dub, which is completely different then what happens in the original Japanese.

* BadBoss: As Fieza demonstrates. He kills his own men that he sent out to fight Bardock. This is after his men plea for their lives. He also coldly murdered the Saiyans, who have been nothing but loyal to him because he feared their growing power.

* DyingCurse: Toolo gives Bardock a rather sadistic one; to see the impending genocide of the Saiyan race and be powerless to stop it. [[BlessedWithSuck He also gave him the gift of prophecy to make sure it happened.]]

* AdaptationalHeroism: Thanks to DubText both Bardock and Vegeta come off as more sympathetic figures in the Funimation dub then in the original Japanese.
** In the Japanese version Bardock is cold and dismissive of Goku when he sees his weak power level and only gains a brief amount of affection for him at the very end when he realises that he is the one who will kill Frieza. In the English dub he does seem to care about his son more and comments that he wishes he could have held him once before he died. Also when Bardock faces Frieza in the finale he mentions wanting to avenge all of the people Frieza ordered he slaughtered in the dub which is completely different then what happens in the original Japanese.

* BadBoss: As Freeza demonstrates. He kills his own men that he sent out to fight Bardock. This is after his men plea for their lives. He also coldly murdered the Saiyans, who have been nothing but loyal to him because he feared their growing power.

** In the Japanese version Bardock is cold and dismissive of Goku when he sees his weak power level and only gains a brief amount of affection for him at the very end when he realises that he is the one who will kill Frieza. In the English dub he does seem to care about his son more and comments that he wish he could have held him once before he died. Also when Bardock faces Frieza in the finale he mentions wanting to avenge all of the people Frieza ordered he slaughtered in the dub which is completely different then what happens in the original Japanese.
** As explained in LackOfEmpathy below Vegeta isn't shown caring in any way about his races destruction and is focused more on his own achievements. In the Dub, the way that the scene plays out and the dialogue use, show that while Vegeta is likely in shock over the news he's choosing to stoically keep his emotions in check and quietly sits in silence afterwards.

* TranquilFury: When wave after wave of his soldiers fail to stop an advancing Bardock, Freeza, whose back is turned, politely asks Zarbon to prepare the entrance. Zarbon realizes what this means and asks about their men's safety but hurriedly complies just by seeing Freeza's arms unfold. This act most probably spared his own life as the camera pans to Freeza and shows that he is very angry.

[[caption-width-right:325:YouCantFightFate, but you can start a legacy.]]