History Anime / DragonBallZBardockTheFatherOfGoku

* YouCantFightFate: The Kanassans knew the Saiyans would kill them on a night of full moon, so they prepared for the fight to try and change their fate, and they were still destroyed. At the same time, Bardock charged at Freeza in a desperate attempt to stop him, only to die against his overwhelming power.

* ParentalNeglect: When Tora asks Bardock is he remembers what day his son was born, he bluntly states that he doesn’t but it was a long time ago. He may have been referring to his eldest son Raditz, as compared to Goku who was only born a day ago. Then Fasha tries to urge him to visit his newborn son since they have enough time before their next assignment, but Bardock scoffs at the idea of “father-son bonding” since Goku will end up sent away towards Earth. Then he finally meets Goku at the nursery and checks his power level, much to his disappointment that’s it’s only an “average level” then runs off to his next mission, proclaiming that he thought his son would have been something special. In the end does Bardock finally come to love Goku, lamenting that he never got the chance to hold him, but he never thinks about Raditz, even in his dying moments.

The special was popular enough that Creator/AkiraToriyama integrated Bardock into the manga. A special called ''Anime/DragonBallEpisodeOfBardock'' created in 2011, was made to serve as a WhatIf sequel, detailing Bardock's survival. 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.

* ReasonYouSuckSpeech: Toolo gives Bardock a brief but stinging one during a vision.

* EverybodyDiesEnding: 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.

* CutAndPasteTranslation: Most of the Funimation dub. One example even had a change in characters. In Japanese, the voice heard on Vegeta's scouter (informing him of their planet's destruction) is Nappa. The dub instead makes it a nameless henchman of Frieza's.

* BreakoutCharacter: ''So very much'' for Bardock that along with the movie villain Broly, they have appeared in practically almost every game from this point since ''Budokai 3''. Akira Toriyama made him appear in the manga, a SpinOff sequel was made for him, and he even appeared in ''Dragon Ball Minus''. Bardock is given a key role in Manga/DragonBallSuper's ''Granolah the Survivor'' arc, having been involved in the past of [[spoiler:Granolah himself and the arc's true villains, the Heeters.]]

* 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.

->"The fate of Planet Vegeta. My own fate. Kakarot's fate. As well as your fate. This is where it ends!

* BreakoutCharacter: ''So very much'' for Bardock that along with the movie villain Broly, they have appeared in practically almost every game from this point since ''Budokai 3''. Akira Toriyama made him appear in the manga, a SpinOff sequel was made for him, and he even appeared in ''Dragon Ball Minus''. Taken UpToEleven when Bardock is given a key role in Manga/DragonBallSuper's ''Granolah the Survivor'' arc, having been involved in the past of [[spoiler:Granolah himself and the arc's true villains, the Heeters.]]

* KillEmAll: 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.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dbzbardock03.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:YouCantFightFate, but you can start a legacy.]]

[[quoteright:315:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/df76da86d5c5cfcd8952948479313b60_8.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:315:YouCantFightFate, but you can start a legacy.]]

** Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly has a prologue section adapting and expanding the events of Minus, including Bardock's failed attempt to stop Freeza's ki attack which destroyed planet Vegeta. No psychic visions or any such thing involved, though.

* BreakoutCharacter: ''So very much'' for Bardock that along with the movie villain Broly, they have appeared in practically almost every game from this point since ''Budokai 3''. Akira Toriyama made him appear in the manga, a SpinOff sequel was made for him, and he even appeared in ''Dragon Ball Minus''.

The special was popular enough that Creator/AkiraToriyama integrated Bardock into the manga. 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.

* DeathByIrony: Invoked by Toolo, who gives the ability to see the future not to Frieza, who slaughtered his race to obtain it, but to Bardock, to torture him with the knowledge of the death of his race.
* {{Determinator}}: The Kanassans fought to the bitter end, and Bardock…well, in his attempt to kill Frieza he ''flies into space'' and literally fly-punches 30+ {{Mooks}} ''without stopping''.

* {{Prequel}}: To the ''Manga/DragonBall'' series as a whole, detailing Goku's father's backstory and the eventual demise of the Saiyan race.

The special was popular enough that Creator/AkiraToriyama integrated him into the manga, making the Bardock Special canon in ''Anime/DragonBallZKai''. 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.

For the ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'' version, [[Recap/DragonBallZAbridgedM1 see here.]]

* NotSoDifferent: There are many parallels between the Kanassans (the race that Bardock's team destroy at the start of the special) and Bardock, not limited to seeing their genocide coming and being powerless to stop it (the Saiyans due Toolo's [[BlessedWithSuck 'gift' of prophecy to Bardock]]):

** {{Determinator}}: The Kanassans fought to the bitter end, and Bardock…well, in his attempt to kill Frieza he ''flies into space'' and literally fly-punches 30+ {{Mooks}} ''without stopping''.
** 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 [[DieLaughing 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.
** DieLaughing: 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.
** YouCantFightFate: The Kanassans knew the Saiyans would kill them on a night of full moon, so they prepared for the fight to try and change their fate, and they were still destroyed. At the same time, Bardock charged at Freeza in a desperate attempt to stop him, only to die against his overwhelming power.

* TrueCompanions: Bardock and his crew. After Dodoria and Dodoria's men kill off his friends, Bardock goes absolutely berserk and slaughters Dodoria's troops.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Bardock, as much a ChaoticEvil BloodKnight as he is, does value his teammates. Also, despite considering Goku to be weak, Bardock did eventually care about him in his dying moments.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Bardock, as much a ChaoticEvil BloodKnight as he is, does value his teammates. Also, despite considering Goku to be weak, Bardock did care about him at least a little.