Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku
Original Japanese Cover Art
Directed by	Mitsuo Hashimoto Daisuke Nishio (series director)
Produced by	Kōzō Morishita Kenji Shimizu (Fuji TV)
Written by	Takao Koyama (screenplay) Katsuyuki Sumisawa (scenario) Akira Toriyama (original series author)
Chara design	Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru
Music by	Shunsuke Kikuchi
Cinematography	Shinichi Fukumitsu
Release date(s)	October 17, 1990 (Japan) 2000 (North America)
Running time	48 minutes
Language(s)	Japanese, French, Spanish, English

Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku (ドラゴンボールZ たったひとりの最終決戦～フリーザに挑んだZ戦士 孫悟空の父～, Doragon Bōru Zetto: Tatta Hitori no Saishū Kessen ～Furīza ni Idonda Zetto Senshi Son Gokū no Chichi～; lit. "Dragon Ball Z: A Lonesome, Final Battle 'The Father of the Z Warrior Son Goku, who Challenged Freeza'") is the first Dragon Ball Z TV Special, which is an addition to the popular manga and anime series. It first aired on October 17, 1990, between Dragon Ball Z episodes 63 and 64 (during the fight against the Ginyu Force). Bridge Entertainment's title is The Father of Goku. FUNimation Entertainment dubbed it into English in 2000. It was the first Dragon Ball Z feature to be dubbed with FUNimation's in house voice cast. The special was re-released in a remastered box set bundled with Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks in May 2008. FUNimation released a remastered single version on September 15, 2009.

SummaryEdit

The special is the story of Bardock, a low-class Saiyan warrior. At the outset of the story, his son Kakarot is born on Planet Vegeta, and prepared to be sent to Earth in order to destroy all life on the planet. Meanwhile, Bardock and his crew are on an assignment to exterminate all the life forms of Planet Kanassa. After the planet is seemingly devoid of all other life, Bardock and crew rest up and celebrate their victory... Until one remaining warrior catches him off guard and decides to give him the "gift" of seeing the future. This gives him the ability to see the destruction of Planet Vegeta, and almost the entire Saiyan race along with it, at the hands of their master, Frieza. Also, he sees the salvation of the planet Earth through his son, Kakarot.

Meanwhile, this prediction becomes reality when Frieza decides to destroy the entire Saiyan race. Within Frieza's spaceship, Frieza is being briefed by his top two henchmen, Zarbon and Dodoria, in regards to the occurrences in their routine interplanetary galactic trade and conquering. Recent news reveals that the Saiyans' strength constantly grows after each battle. Zarbon informs Frieza that a band of low-class Saiyans had taken over Kanassa in just a few days. Dodoria states that the job to take Kanassa had been in the pool for months, and that not even Frieza's elite squadrons could take Kanassa so easily. Frieza, Zarbon, and Dodoria contemplate the fate of the Saiyans due to the growing power of the species and decide to take action in order to avoid further repercussions, as the Saiyans might pose a great threat to them in the future. Zarbon advises Frieza to eliminate the growing threat before it poses a greater problem. Dodoria and his elite fighters are ordered to eradicate Bardock and his teammates.

Bardock dismisses the visions he had, and goes to join his team on Planet Meat, but soon discovers his friends are all dead. Bardock's team was massacred by Frieza's henchman Dodoria and his elites. He battles the ones responsible, and defeats them all, but is easily overwhelmed by a single mouth blast from Dodoria. He is left severely injured, but manages to make it back to Planet Vegeta. Though Bardock attempts to convey the danger that they are all in to the other Saiyans, since he has now realized that Frieza is going to destroy them all, everyone laughs at his claim and Bardock alone begins one final assault against Frieza.

Killing many of his minor soldiers and sending the Final Spirit Cannon to Frieza himself, Bardock seems about to change the future. However, Frieza counters this with his Supernova, which kills Bardock, many of his own soldiers, and destroys Planet Vegeta itself, all while uttering a maniacal laugh. As he is dying, Bardock sees one more vision of the future: his son Kakarot facing Frieza. Being assured that Kakarot would be the one to kill Frieza; Bardock gives a small smile as he disintegrates along with the planet. As the planet is on the verge of blowing up, Frieza continues laughing at its destruction, as well as telling Dodoria and Zarbon to watch the "beautiful fireworks" (in the English version, he reacts as though he were watching a spectacular performance from a play, though this is corrected in future dubs of this scene). After his demise, Bardock wishes his son, Kakarot, to take care. At the same moment, Kakarot, who is still in the space pod, wakes up.

Elsewhere, having just completed an assignment on a far-off world, Vegeta is informed by Nappa (in the English version it is one of Frieza's minor soldiers who tells him) of his homeworld's destruction. His pride keeps him from expressing his shock, and he remains outwardly emotionless. Soon afterward, Kakarot's space pod touches down on Earth, where he is found by an elderly man named Gohan, and giggles happily in the old man's arms. Gohan then decides to care for the boy as his own grandson, and renames him Goku. The film ends with a montage of Goku's many heroic deeds on Earth, leading to his battle with Frieza.

Voice CastEdit

MusicEdit

Japanese VersionEdit

• OP (Opening Theme): "Cha-La Head-Cha-La"
• IN (Insertion Song): "Solid State Scouter"
• ED (Ending Theme): "Light's Journey"

FUNimation VersionEdit

• Prayer Of Refugee (Bardock's Theme) - Rise Against
• Caviar - The Good Times Are Over
• Dale D. Kelly
• American Hi-Fi - A Bigger Mood
• Saliva - Superstar
• Sum 41 - Makes No Difference (Ending)

ListingsEdit

BattlesEdit

• Bardock's Elite (as Great Apes) vs. Kanassan warriors
• Bardock's Elite vs. Toolo
• Vegeta vs. Saibamen
• Goku vs. King Piccolo (Bardock's visions only)
• Goku vs. Piccolo Jr. (Bardock's visions only)
• Bardock's Elite vs. Dodoria's Elite
• Bardock vs. Dodoria's Elite and Dodoria
• Goku vs. Vegeta (Bardock's visions only)
• Bardock vs. Frieza's Solders.
• Bardock vs. Frieza.
• Goku vs Frieza (Bardock's visions only)

TechniquesEdit

• Energy Wave - Used by Kanassan warriors, three of Dodoria's Elite, and Frieza's Soldiers.
• Mouth Energy Wave - Used by Tora and Borgos (as Great Apes).
• Knee Strike - Used by Shugesh.
• Flame Ballet - Used by Tora.
• Full Power Energy Wave - Used by Bardock.
• Explosive Wave - Used by Kid Vegeta and Bardock.
• Finger Beam - Used by Kid Vegeta.
• Divination - Used by Bardock.
• Flight - Used by Bardock, Dodoria's Elite, Dodoria, and Frieza's Soldiers.
• Continuous Energy Bullet - Used by one of Dodoria's Elite.
• Final Revenger - Used by Bardock.
• Wild Sense - Used by Bardock.
• Kaio-ken Finish - Used by Goku (Bardock's visions only)
• Full-Nelson - Used by one of Dodoria's Elite.
• Energy Cannon - Used by Dodoria.
• Zenkai - Used by Bardock.
• Flash Spirit - Used by Bardock.
• I'll Never Forgive You! - Used by Bardock.
• Supernova - Used by Frieza.
• Final Spirit Cannon - Used by Bardock.

TransformationsEdit

• Great Ape Transformation - Used by Bardock, Fasha, Tora, Shugesh and Borgos. (off-screen)

LocationsEdit

• Planet Vegeta
• Planet Kanassa
• Earth
  • Mount Paozu
    • Grandpa Gohan's house (Bardock's visions only)
  • Training Island (Bardock's visions only)
  • Kame House (Bardock's visions only)
  • Kami's Lookout (Bardock's visions only)
  • Gizard Wasteland (Bardock's visions only)
  • King's Castle (Bardock's visions only)
  • World Tournament Announcer arena (Bardock's visions only)
• Planet Meat
• Planet Namek (Bardock's visions only)

ObjectsEdit

• Battle Armor
• Tail
• Sun
• Moon
• Scouter
• Bardock's Headband
• Frieza's hoverchair
• Medical Machine
• Turtle School uniform (Bardock's visions only)
• Weighted Clothing (Bardock's visions only)
• Attack Ball
• Power Pole (Bardock's visions only)
• Car (Bardock's visions only)
• Motorcycle (Bardock's visions only)
• Frieza's spaceship

Bardock's visionsEdit

• Planet Vegeta exploding.
• Frieza gloating at the sight of the destruction.
• Goku being found by Grandpa Gohan.
• Master Roshi training Goku and Krillin.
• A series of miscellaneous events from Dragon Ball.
• Goku vs. Piccolo at World Tournament.
• Goku using the Kaio-ken during his battles against Nappa and against Vegeta.
• Meeting Goku on Namek.
• Goku about to confront Frieza on Namek.

TriviaEdit

• Although it bears the Dragon Ball Z logo and opening, Bardock - Father of Goku is a prequel to Dragon Ball; the special takes place 12 years before the events of the Emperor Pilaf Saga.
• In the FUNimation dub's plot, Frieza apparently wishes to capture Kanassa because those who dwell there develop psychic powers. However, in the original story, Bardock's crew had no idea why Frieza wants to capture Kanassa.
• In this special it is shown that Bardock fights his way through Frieza's men to get to Frieza himself. However in the anime, when Frieza speaks of the event in a flashback, it is shown that the men Bardock fought in the special were actually with him on an attack against Frieza, which is actually a dubbing error on FUNimation's part.
• Vegeta is shown to have been on a far-off world at the time of Planet Vegeta's destruction whereas an episode of Dragon Ball Z reveals Vegeta is said and shown to have been on Frieza's spaceship at the time of Planet Vegeta's destruction.
• King Vegeta does not appear in this movie despite that he was killed in the same time period.
• At the end of the special, baby Goku is shown to already be the happy loving boy he is in Dragon Ball when Gohan finds him, despite the fact it had already been established in an episode of Dragon Ball Z that Goku displayed tendencies typical of infant Saiyans and did not lose them until he hit his head. In addition Grandpa Gohan finds Goku a small distance from his pod during the day, while in Reunions it was implied he found him near his pod during the night. Strangely, this special actually earlier features the same scene from Reunions.
• In one of Bardock's final premonitions before his death, he sees Goku standing face-to-face with first-form Frieza. Goku never met Frieza in his first form. Though it can be argued that Bardock only knows of Frieza in his first form, as Frieza stated no one has seen his final form or any of his other forms beyond his first form. So Bardock would have no idea what it would look like. Which is why he sees Goku staring down his first form. Bardock's visions are also somewhat symbolic than objective, meaning they usually don't have to look exactly like how they would transpire.

• The scene where Goku's space pod approaches Earth shows an Earth nearly identical to the real world Earth, with North and South America clearly visible.
• In Dragon Ball Kai (the recut and rebroadcast version of the Dragon Ball Z), the first episode used the footage of this special in the very beginning of the episode. Even in Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge, the same footage was shown, even though it was seen on Cooler's spaceship.
• In the original American DVD release with subtitles, Bardock's name was spelled as "Burdock". It has been changed to the more familiar "Bardock" in all recent DVD releases of this special, however other movies released as Double Features still use the "Burdock" spelling.
• Akira Toriyama has stated that this is his favorite movie.^{[citation needed]}
• One of the eyecatch sequence features a bunch of Saiyans in the background. Some of these Saiyans are actually rough sketches of Bardock's team that were done prior to the special's release, and many of them were changed drastically for the final special.
• While traveling to Planet Vegeta to destroy it, Frieza says that it is "as red as a Blood Ruby." Blood Rubies were a major part of the plot for the movie Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies; at the end of this movie, Shenron removes all of the blood rubies from the Earth, and it is unknown what happened to them after this.

GalleryEdit

Bardock with his squadron Bardock with the silhouettes of his team in the background Bardock with Dodoria's face in the background Bardock with Planet Vegeta in the background Bardock with Frieza in the background Bardock's team attacks Kanassa in Great Ape form Bardock's team after the battle Tora after he attacked the Kanassan Toolo after he cursed Bardock A young Nappa and one of Frieza's soldiers Kid Vegeta and Nappa Kid Vegeta and Nappa Kid Vegeta and Nappa Planet Vegeta The planet where Vegeta was training at the beginning of the TV special An outpost on the planet where Vegeta was training Zarbon knows the Saiyans are growing stronger Zarbon warns Frieza about the growing threat of the Saiyans Frieza Kid Vegeta Zarbon and Dodoria mock Vegeta Tora Bardock in a Medical Machine Bardock in the Medical Machine Planthorr Bardock putting his scouter on Bardock has a vision Bardock arrives on Planet Meat Tora reaching for his scouter Dodoria with his henchmen Bardock using his scouter Bardock holds Tora's body The corpses of Fasha and Tora Dodoria's Elite Bardock A Dodoria's Elite fires Continuous Energy Bullets at Bardock The Appule's race Elite Bardock Double Axe Handles the Elite Energy waves fired by Dodoria's Elite Dodoria's Elite Captain Bardock grabs another Elite The Dodoria's Elite Captain fires an energy wave The unfortunate soldier hit by the energy wave One of the two remaining Elites The remaining two Elites charge Bardock Bardock is distracted by a vision The Captain's knee Bardock is restrained Bardock is beaten by the Dodoria's Elite Captain Bardock causes the Dodoria's Elite Captain to punch his comrade Bardock after using his clever somersault Bardock prepares a Full-Power Energy Wave Bardock fires the Full-Power Energy Wave The two remaining Dodoria's Elites are killed Dodoria Dodoria fires a Mouth Energy Wave at Bardock Zarbon is stunned when Frieza tells him to give Vegeta a mission Vegeta's victims, on an unnamed planet while his home planet was destroyed Saiyans Bardock with blood on his face Bardock's vision of him and Goku on Namek Bardock seeing his grown-up son in the vision Frieza celebrates his destruction of Planet Vegeta Goku as a baby Goku and Grandpa Gohan Goku and Grandpa Gohan Grandpa Gohan after finding Goku Add a photo to this galleryAdd a photo to this gallery