While Bardock has been dead for quite some time in the Dragon Ball franchise, the Dragon Ball Super manga recently had the opportunity to bring him back into the spotlight. In the Granolah The Survivor Arc, readers were taken back to the past and shown how Goku’s father was instrumental in saving the life of the future bounty hunter while also fighting against the Heeters. It seems doubtful that the franchise will resurrect Bardock in the future, that isn’t stopping cosplayers from bringing Goku’s father back into the fold.
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In the main canon of the Dragon Ball series, Bardock was never given the opportunity to become a Super Saiyan, but that wasn’t the case in all of the shonen’s lore. Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock was an animated special that imagined what would have happened if Frieza’s energy ball that destroyed the Planet Vegeta sent Bardock back into the past instead of killing him. Taking a member of Frieza’s lineage from the past, Bardock was able to become a Super Saiyan during the fight. In Super Dragon Ball Heroes, the spin-off anime series took things up a notch by seeing Goku’s father achieve Super Saiyan 3 in the fight against the demon lord Demigura.
Bardock Returns
In the Granolah The Survivor Arc, manga readers were able to see a new side to Bardock as Goku’s father felt a need to protect Granolah from certain death. As the Saiyan warrior states in the flashback, Goku and Raditz’s births had softened him, looking to protect the members of the Cerealian Race from the Heeters. Bardock’s influence emerged in a unique way in the Granolah Arc, allowing Goku to reach a new level of his Ultra Instinct technique.
Unfortunately, for Dragon Ball fans, all has been quiet on the anime front as Dragon Ball Super has yet to confirm that a new anime series, and or movie, are in production. With both the Moro and Granolah Arcs having yet to hit the small screen, the anime would have plenty of material to translate. Luckily, Bardock has been given a role in the Tournament of Space and Time in Super Dragon Ball Heroes and has shown how strong he has become in the spin-off.
Do you think we’ll see Bardock return in Dragon Ball Super’s future? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of the Z-Fighters.
