Dragon Ball Super Reveals How Bardock Lost His Tail

Dragon Ball Super has just explained how Bardock – Father of Goku – lost his tail. That little anecdotal detail is included in the much larger story of how Bardock heroically stepped up to battle powerful evildoers during the genocide on Planet Cereal. Bardock broke from the ranks of the Freeza Force to make sure that the last living Cerealian (Granolah) made it out of the massacre alive – as well as the final Namekian left on Cereal. As we see in Dragon Ball Super Chapter 83, Bardock's heroism came at some significant cost! 

(WARNING: Dragon Ball Super Chapter 83 SPOILERS Follow!)

In "Bardock vs. Gas, Part 2" Dragon Ball Super finally reveals the long-awaited flashback to Goku's fight with Gas – and the significant milestone that it was. Bardock stood strong against Gas – going so far as to refuse a wish from the Cerealian Great Dragon, after Monaito tried to use his Dragon Balls to give Bardock the edge to win – or flee. 

Instead, Bardock reveals that he is a purist when it comes to the idea of being Saiyan: his only whim is to keep battling a worthy opponent and push past all limit: "A Saiyan would rather die than run from an enemy!" Bardock screams at Gas in battle. 

Despite his best efforts, Bardock can't take Gas out. When Bardock is down, Gas for the sadistic move of grabbing the Saiyan warrior by his tail, yanking it tight, and kicking Bardock hard enough to rip it right out of his butt! The move leaves Bardock severely injured, and nearly lets Gas go in for the kill (if not for a save from Monaito). 

Gas's knowledge of Saiyans makes him believe that tearing off Bardock's tail would rob him of a Saiyan's greatest power – but Gas turns out to be dead wrong. Tail or no tail Bardock still won't run, or back down, and instead unlocks a whole new Saiyan power that helps him beat Gas. 

This story of how Bardock lost his tail and unlocked a secret Saiyan power is exciting for Dragon Ball Super's manga – but also problematic for the larger Dragon Ball canon. Bardock made his big in-canon debut in the Dragon Ball Super: Broly movie – where he very clearly had a tail up to and at the moment of his death defending Planet Vegeta from Freeza. The official "rules" of canon state that a Saiyan's tail can grow back if torn off – though it's also explicitly stated that if a Saiyan surpasses the power of their Great Ape form while tailless, the tail will not grow back. 

So again: more questions to be answered now that we know how Bardock lost his tail. 

You can read Dragon Ball Super manga chapters free online.