It’s Time Dragon Ball Brought Back Bardock

The Dragon Ball franchise is in an extreme state of flux right now, and it seems inevitable that the series will have to expand into much wider character focus. As that notion gets discussed within the Dragon Ball fandom, there’s been a leading list of characters that fans have expressed interest in seeing make a return ot the limelight. And right alongside the likes of Broly (who got a new shot with the Dragon Ball Super: Broly movie), Bardock has been a name that seems to keep coming up. It seems clear that It’s time for Dragon Ball to bring Bardock back.

Bardock, Father of Goku, recently got a new canonized origin story in Dragon Ball Super: Broly. It wasn’t that much of a departure from the character’s original backstory in the 1990 film, Dragon Ball Z: Bardock – The Father of Goku, but it did put Bardock much more in sync with the origins of Vegeta, Broly, and Freeza’s history with the Saiyan race. It also made Bardock much more of a heroic figure in Goku’s life, as he took on a Jor-El / Superman role in sending Goku away from Planet Vegeta. Bardock also retained his noble end as a martyr, standing in the path of Freeza’s destructive beam, in attempt to save Planet Vegeta.

The changes of Dragon Ball Super: Broly has created a lot of new room for a much more noble and (anti-)heroic version of Bardock to become part of the modern Dragon Ball series. And being that it’s Dragon Ball, there are any number of ways for Bardock to make a timely comeback.

Over in the Super Dragon Ball Heroes promo anime, we’ve seen the team known as the Time Patrol come back into the limelight. That team is basically a group of alternate versions of Goku and Vegeta and their families (including Bardock), who protect the timestream from threats. Even though a lot of Dragon Ball fans aren’t too keen on the Heroes promo anime, there has been a definite desire to see the Time Patrol introduced into the Dragon Ball Super continuity. An alternate version of Bardock would be a great way to do that.

Of course, we don’t need to get that intricate with it: this is Dragon Ball, after all. Bardock’s resurrection is always just a Dragon Ball wish or alternate universe trip away. With Goku teetering on the brink of godhood (Ultra Instinct), a nice humbling conversation with his father would be invaluable. Might even give Goku some pointers on being a dad himself! It would be similarly great to see Bardock meet Gohan, Goten, and (especially) Chi-Chi. And seeing Goku, Bardock, Gohan (and heck, even Goten) in one joint Kamehameha, would be the definition of epic.

The Dragon Ball Super anime is still on hiatus. You can now read the latest Dragon Ball Super manga chapters free online HERE.