He’s not heroic. He’s not pure of heart. He massacres innocent aliens without blinking. But that’s what makes his tragedy work. Watching a bad man realize his entire race (including his infant son) is about to be exterminated—and being powerless to stop it—is gut-wrenching.
When modern audiences think of Dragon Ball Z , they immediately recall the blinding gold light of Super Saiyans, planet-shattering energy beams, and the heroic journey of Goku. However, long before Goku became the defender of Earth, a different story aired in Japan on October 17, 1990. That story was Dragon Ball Z: Bardock – The Father of Goku . Dragon Ball Z Bardock - The Father of Goku -199...
While modern audiences know Bardock from Dragon Ball Super: Broly and Super Hero , the 1990 TV special remains the definitive origin story for the Saiyan race and the emotional anchor for Goku’s heritage. It is a story not of victory, but of inevitability; a science-fiction tragedy that explores the cyclical nature of violence and the birth of hope in the face of extinction. He’s not heroic
In recent years, Bardock has appeared in Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018), which re-tells his story with slightly different details—in this version, he is more reluctant and questions why Saiyans serve Frieza. However, for most long-time fans, remains the definitive version. The emotional weight of his last stand, set to Shunsuke Kikuchi’s haunting score, has never been topped. But that’s what makes his tragedy work