Why Dragon Ball Super Bringing Back Bardock is a Bad Idea

With how much he has been mentioned in passing and seemingly made more important with each new arc, it’s increasingly likely that Bardock will be making a full return to Dragon Ball Super. While all of the potential good that can come from such a move could mean an exciting immediate future for the manga, it’s probably not the best move for the series in the long run. In fact, it’s probably an even worse idea than what it seems like as the franchise is getting ready for an uncertain future and dredging up the past could make for a costly speed bump.  

One of the main reasons the Granolah the Survivor arc has been so compelling is how it’s opening up the past of the franchise to inform the current battles of the series, and there’s no better example of this than seeing Bardock referenced as the one who not only once saved Granolah’s life but also the one who holds the key to potentially defeating Gas. But now that it’s become a more literal integration of the past into the series’ future, this presents a few problems. 

If Bardock does make a full returning to life kind of comeback to the series, the first major issue is that it removes all of the mystery that makes Goku’s father so compelling. The series has shown brief glimpses of him that reveal that he’s a more complex warrior than first seen, but these little tidbits are best in these smaller doses. The second major issue is that on top of losing that inherent mystique of Goku’s father and the Saiyan past is that Dragon Ball Super doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to writing actual character development as the main focus. 

There’s also the issue of where Bardock goes after his immediate role is completed here. Say you bring him back to life and he helps defeat Gas, then what? Look at what happened to Broly and Frieza after bringing them back into the story, they’re pretty much non-existent through two major arcs that have dealt with not only Frieza but the Saiyan race as well. Unless there’s a full Saiyan arc coming (which would just toss this whole argument out, no question), bringing him back would be nothing but a stunt that’s fun for a while. 

But what do you think? Would bringing Bardock back to the series as a full time character be a good or bad idea? What would you want to see if Bardock makes a comeback? Is his comeback going to be limited to flashbacks alone? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animated and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!