Long ago, a child was born of the Saiyan race. A boy of destiny who would grow up to be the universe's greatest warrior. This... is not his story. It's the story of his father, a ruthless soldier who conquered planets for a living. It's the story of Bardock, the Father of Goku.
Tropes
- Adaptational Villainy: Played with. While Bardock is not any more villainous in this version than in the original, Team Four Star does not sugarcoat the fact that he's the leader of a band of genocidal space mercenaries. It's probably more accurate to say that his characterization is closer to the ruthless mercenary he was portrayed as in the original Japanese version then the regretful Noble Demon he was portrayed as in the Funimation dub.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: In the original, Vegeta is rather indifferent to the news of his planet and his father dying. In this version, Vegeta is clearly shocked at the news, laments aloud that his home planet, his family, and his entire race are gone, and only agrees to go to Dairy Queen with Nappa to shut him up.
- Autobots, Rock Out!: When Bardock finally decides to fight Freeza on his own, "The Touch" by Stan Bush plays as he takes off to the sky.
- Blah, Blah, Blah: When Bardock gives his epic speech on how he'll defeat Freeza and free planet Vegeta, the tyrant just tunes him out to think about his own problems.
- Call-Forward: Freeza expresses his tiredness of overused lines from the rebellious like Bardock. Come Episode 14 of the series, he has a rather long mental list and how many times he has heard each line from others who have opposed him.
- One of Freeza's mooks who executed Bardock's squad of Saiyans is Eachpei, who is later mentioned by name by Appule in DBZA Episode 17.
Eachpei: Alright, guys, let's hit the show—TELLMYBROTHERAPPULEILOVEHIM!!! - Died in Your Arms Tonight: My best friend just died in my arms, didn't he?
- Dub Name Change: Inverted. Bardock's teammates have their original Japanese names here instead of the ones Funimation gave them.
- Early-Bird Cameo:
- Bardock briefly scans Broly's power level, mistaking him for his son.
- Cooler and his lieutenants, who observe Freeza wiping out Planet Vegeta and let Kakarot's pod go by unmolested. Why?Cooler: Because I'm a prick!
- Entertainingly Wrong: Bardock's first vision is of Kakarot/Goku befriending Bulma, which he interprets as his son gaining her trust before wiping the Earth out. He later assumes the army behind him in his vision of facing Freeza is part of a revolution; they're just mooks who got caught in the crossfire.
- Large Ham: Toolo, the last Kanassan. HE CAN SEE THE FYOO-TURRRR!
- No Dead Body Poops: An unfortunate hazard of being at the bottom of a pile of corpses.
- Parental Neglect: Bardock, by his admission, never paid Raditz any attention and was planning to the same to Kakarot. It's highly implied that this is why the older son is such a Butt-Monkey.
- Planet of Hats: Kanassans are all dim, hammy, fish people who can SEE THE FYOO-TURRRR!
- Shout-Out:
- When Son Gohan Sr. finds Kakarot, he first decides to name him... Clark. Then he decides that sounds stupid and names him Goku.
- Several to The Transformers: The Movie
- A subtle one: when Mango is tricked by Bardock into killing two of his own men, the second calls him a team-killing fucktard.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: The opening credits, which feature Bardock and co.'s Oozarus wiping out Kanassa to the song Dare, by Stan Bush.
- Take That!: As Bardock dies, he sees a vision of all the events of Dragon Ball Z... then sees the Para Para Brothers from Dragon Ball GT dancing and willingly accepts the cold embrace of death.
- This Is Not That Trope: The opening narration which states that on the Planet Vegeta a seemingly unremarkable Saiyan baby would go on to become the universe savior... before stating that we are not following that story, but instead the story of his genocidal father.
- Useless Superpowers: The psychic powers that Bardock gets are more distracting than useful.
- You Can See Me?: Toolo has this reaction as he's standing right in front of the Saiyans.Toolo: OH NO! THEY CAN SEE ME!
- Your Mom: This is the reaction Bardock gets from the Saiyans in the bar when he tries to warn them about Freeza.
