#the bardock special

[nando161mando]

Bardock Amv - Papa Roach - Still Swinging

[chickenoptyrx]

Skrunkly nugget Raditz.

[sysig]

Really digging out the old OCs now; Pan-na, Pilok, Azalea, squirrel boys Will and Damien, and Cupid and Venus <3 (Patreon)

[tamashi-tai-tamashi]

Why does everytime Gokū appears in Dragon Ball Legends, Bardock leaves???? Let the two of them meet and talk par pitié, they never did so in any manga or anime series so could we at least have that in that video game 😭

[laventory]

Bardock - The Father of Goku (1990)

This is a riff on that one Planet Dolan comic that was goin around on twitter Please go read it, it's fucking amazing

[yeowangies]

Random headcanon about saiyans:

Not all of them mate for life (which seems to be the fandom's general consensus?), but some of them do.

Bisexuality and polyamory was also common practice and part of their culture, and being mated to more than one person was also possible.

[fanfic-lover-girl]

Bardock Special Kid Vegeta will always be my favourite. I hated the BOGs!Kid Vegeta. He looked awful.

Never saw the other media mentioned here. But the DBS manga Kid Vegeta is so cute!

Kid Vegeta's Designs

BARDOCK: FATHER OF GOKU

Kid Vegeta is wearing a sleeveless turtleneck bodysuit under his battle jacket. He also wears the outfit without the battle jacket, resembling Buu saga Vegeta.

I personally like the Kid Vegeta design from the Bardock Special more than the Battle of Gods film. This is the best design imo.

DBZ: BATTLE OF GODS

Kid Vegeta has a sleeveless turtleneck bodysuit under his battle jacket.

I'm not a fan of this Kid Vegeta design. It looks like grown Vegeta's head on a kid's body. 😂

DRAGON BALL SUPER

In the DBS anime & DBS manga, they give Kid Vegeta the design with the bangs from the Bardock Special. I like that.

DBS anime: Kid Vegeta is wearing a sleeveless crew-neck bodysuit under his battle jacket. (Same as the Bardock Special design.)

DBS manga: Kid Vegeta wears a long-sleeve turtleneck bodysuit under his battle jacket.

DRAGON BALL SUPER: BROLY

Kid Vegeta wears a long-sleeve crew-neck bodysuit under his armor. Seems like this armor is his combatant armor while the other is royal armor worn at the palace (hence the insignia on the royal armor).

I like this one a lot. For me, it's tied for best Kid Vegeta design alongside the Bardock Special design. He really looks like a kid. (I believe he's about 8 or 9 yrs old here.) Kid Vegeta doesn't have those sunken temples just yet either. He even looks youthful here despite having a receding hairline.

But, seeing Kid Vegeta with a widow's peak makes me wonder... Did Vegeta suddenly get bad cowlicks when he was a child, lose his bangs, & then gained the infamous widow's peak we know him to have today? 🤔

Toriyama said that Saiyans can get alopecia. So, a Saiyan's hair can recede & they can even go bald.

Seems like the reasonable conclusion/headcanon imo. Or simply that Toriyama envisioned Vegeta to have the same hairstyle even when he was a child.

(I just like to imagine his bangs went away at an early age.)

That's all. Just looking at the designs & wanted to share. ✌️

[homefryboy]

idk if there’s some kinda term for this, but I like when writers give real props to adaptations of their work:

-akira Toriyama admitted the bardock father of goku TV special made him cry, he said it told a great story in a way he would’ve never come up with. This led to him giving the special a direct nod in the manga

-dav pilkey loved the captain underpants movie and saw it in theaters multiple times. He said he appreciated the movie giving Principal Krupp a softer side, saying he kinda wishes he’d done the same in the books

-dunno if this counts but some bits from western sonic media (such as Sonic’s love of chili dogs) were worked into Japanese works/stuff SEGA made

-above all, Gary K. Wolf thought the who framed Roger rabbit film was so much better than his book (who censored roger rabbit), that he retconned the original story into being a bad dream Jessica had and the rest of the book series is based on the movie instead

feel free to add any more pls

[tobiasdrake]

I wonder, is it possible to look at the way Raditz, Nappa, and Vegeta fight (maybe Bardock's team, too, if you think Toriyama had enough involvement in those animated projects) to reconstruct any general principles of Saiyan martial arts training?

I talked a bit about Raditz and Nappa here as well as going into a particular Saiyan technique I find interesting here.

It is interesting to note that both Nappa and Vegeta are proficient in that technique to varying degrees, while Raditz is not. Raditz is completely basic as a fighter, having not even trained out his tail weakness when Nappa and Vegeta have.

Though it's not clear if this implies that the elites as a whole receive better instruction than the low-class Saiyans, or if Nappa's simply reaped the benefits of following Vegeta around more closely than Raditz, and doing whatever he does.

Though they do have some distinctive arts, such as the previously discussed remote detonation technique. That both Nappa and Vegeta are familiar with it implies a bit of standardization. In fact, Vegeta knows all the top-tier Saiyan arts.

He can even rattle off the science behind Oozaru transformations. He's kind of a nerd. That's an interesting note to keep in mind when thinking about his relationship to Bulma.

(He's also vain about his beauty, fun fact.)

Dude was putting off the Oozaru transformation because it's ugly so he didn't wanna.

By Vegeta's admission, the fake moon technique is one of the most advanced techniques in Saiyan martial arts. And. Uh. Yeah. Yeah, compressing the planet's atmosphere with a continuous ki sphere in order to create a finely tuned reflection of sunlight that produces a certain kind of radiation....

Yeah, that sounds complex as fuck. No wonder only nerds super-elites like Vegeta can do it.

The Oozaru is the primary mechanism by which Saiyans destroy worlds.

With that in mind, it makes sense that the ultimate and most complex Saiyan martial art is the ability to manually induce this transformation. The most devastating thing a Saiyan can ever do in a fistfight is find a way to become the Oozaru despite environmental limitations.

Their battle plan revolves so heavily around this transformation, they've even developed battle armor that stretches to accommodate the vast increase in size. Everything they do as hand-to-hand fighters is a fallback for when the Oozaru is not available.

As he notes above, Vegeta specifically chose a full-moon night to attack Earth on in order to let him and Nappa access their full power - Though Nappa died before the moon came out. And also Piccolo blew up the moon after Nappa and Raditz entered their spaceflight stasis sleep, so that was a non-starter.

Raditz wasn't intending to fight when he came to Earth; He was just here to pick up his brother and things spiraled out of hand from there. So he didn't have the luxury of the full moon or the technical skill to compress atmosphere and compensate.

What this means is that a large portion of Saiyan battle strategy has never really been depicted. The only properly trained Saiyan warrior in Oozaru state we've ever seen was Vegeta here.

And he's fighting a Goku who already burned out his body from a Kaio-ken x4 he couldn't contain, so the competition is next to zero. Goku lands some solid hits on Vegeta because... Well, he's Counter-Fighter Goku. He's the master at breaking down his foe and making the most of whatever he's got.

Motherfucker you've been on death's door for the last five minutes how dare

Goku is obnoxious to have to fight. Truly.

But because the only proper fight we ever with a fully-trained Oozaru is against the like 5% Goku has left in his tank, we never get to see the Oozaru properly tested. Whatever its full capabilities truly are, that remains known only to them and the races they've destroyed.

As for Bardock, Toriyama had little involvement beyond assisting with character design, as is typical of his involvement with the anime specials. Though it's interesting to note that he loved the Bardock special. Toriyama rarely even bothered to watch the anime of his own work, but he had high praise to sing of Bardock.

"I really like the story of Bardock, Goku’s father. It’s quite dramatic, and the kind of story 'I absolutely wouldn’t draw' if it were me. It was like watching a different kind of Dragon Ball in a good way, so I thought it was nice."

Bardock captivated Toriyama for being a take on Dragon Ball he, himself, wouldn't have been able to make. Which. Made it funny. Years later in Dragon Ball Minus. When he tried to make it. And arguably proved himself right. But I digress.

Toriyama liked Bardock so much, he even canonized the special for the manga.

Toriyama fucking loved this special. This rarely happened. The only other time a character created for the anime ended up appearing in the manga, it was to canonize the concept of the Kaios being a set of Four Heavenly Kings rather than the one guy.

Papaya is a fruit and fruits work for Frieza. What are you not telling us, South Kaio? I'm on to you.

And then, decades later, the bestest boy of Dragon Ball Super.

Love him so much.

[zeevoidlight]

Vegeta and Nappa, why did Vegeta killed him.

One of my favorite characters of all time since i was a child is without a doubt Vegeta.

I've seen this question being asked constantly so i'll give my take one it now. I know many people don't like the "because Saiyans" type of explanation but one cannot ignore that their nature is much different from humans and is a great part of who they are and why they do the things they do. So my approach is usually try to see what of all that is actually because of their nature and what is just being used as a cultural shield, specially when it comes to both Vegeta and Goku. More Vegeta because he lies a lot as well, and despite being Saiyan his status as royalty changes the usual dynamic a bit compared to others of his own species. (note that i watched the latin version so my interpretation of the character might be different from that of the english one)

So regarding the topic:

Realistically and sadly, as much as I like this alternate reality people usually like to portray of Nappa being Vegeta's assigned babysitter, taking care of Raditz as well, the three of them being like a small family unit given that they only had each other as survivors of their people's extinction... I think the reality is a lot more complicated.

Being a Saiyan, and more than that the strongest Saiyan by far in their recent history, even stronger than the King himself, Vegeta was capable of taking care of himself better than Nappa. He never saw Nappa as a protector because Vegeta was leagues ahead of Nappa in terms of strength and rank. We see that on the first Bardock movie where he treats Nappa as a servant, and even asks Frieza to let him go alone to a more challenging planet to conquer where he ends up killing everyone, sitting on a rock in the middle of a pile of corpses of his own making and eating twinkies or something as he was getting news of his Planet's destruction, thinking already what was going to be his next move and hiding his concern from Frieza's informant. All of that at the age of 5.

He never saw Nappa as akin to family because for as young as he was Vegeta was still his superior. Plus Vegeta considered himself smarter than him too, and he actually was even as a child. Vegeta was, on the contrary, protecting Nappa and Raditz, and consequently himself, against Frieza and his men by playing the long game while those two probably constantly screwed up and tried to engage in an unwinnable battle. This kid didn't had the opportunity to be a kid since he was born. Always on a minefield.

As how I see it, the reason why Vegeta killed Nappa then wasn't only because Goku broke Nappa's spine and paralyzed him leaving him quadriplegic and unable to fight rendering him as dead weight, but because he was years long fed up with Nappa as well. Maybe even with what he represented as the last remains of the Saiyan kingdom and the past since he was perfectly comfortable being the last Saiyan alive as representation of what a true Saiyan was in his own understanding and values of it, considering himself the peak of that and the example for everyone else to see, which being a prince he was kinda always pressured into being that and thinking of himself as such anyways. And Nappa's embarrassing fight was the last drop and the perfect excuse to get rid of him. Dude couldn't fathom something so disgraceful that he preferred to kill him than keep enduring his presence any longer while pretending he cared (and the emotions were kinda running high).

Even after in GT when he sees Nappa again there's nothing but contempt against him. And you could say anything about GT but what I appreciate greatly of it is the character consistency.

Note: I've been watching DB and Z and it's very clear from the moment they arrive to Earth that Vegeta can't with Nappa's recklessness. When Nappa destroys East city Vegeta is like 'dude, has it ever occur to you that the dragon balls could have been here? You idiot! Don't destroy the planet, we could sell it, don't be a stupid, think, fight better, concentrate, his not fighting intelligent... Lol, by the time of Nappa asking Vegeta for help I can totally imagine Vegeta was thinking 'you know what Nappa... FUCK YOU' *yeet!

[dragon-ball-meta]

why do people care so much about canon, especially in fucking DB???? Was everything post-21st world Tournament not canon, because Toriyama's OG vision changed from an adventure serial to a typical battle shonen not out of artistic desire but popularity? Did canon end when the OG run ended? Did it end when the quality dropped precipitously near the middle of the Buu arc? Does GT and Online not count because he only did character designs, same with the movies? Super doesn't count because he only gave a hack writer the broad strokes? Later seasons of Daima won't count because Toriyama passed? Minus and Jako also don't because he wrote them decades later? A good bit of it even contradicts previous canon, including the OG run, so that's a non-canon too? And ofc heroes doesn't because it's from a gatcha game?

Like this isn't Catholicism, it legit won't start a religious war if you only consider Yo Son Goku and Friends canon

Well for one, that quality dip is quite subjective, but that's beside the point. Things which are "canon" are things that are considered by the author to be the official continuation of his work by his own hand. The reason establishing a "canon" or continuities is important is for the sake of criticism and consistency. Case in point, people insisting that Toriyama violated "canon" with Minus because it contradicted the Bardock special, which was never "canon" in the first place. Or people saying his depiction of Freeza in Hell contradicted the original series based on filler scenes created solely for the anime by the animation staff. There are many later story developments that would come up that people would try to pin as "plot holes" because they contradicted things that were only included in filler or spinoff materials. So for the purpose of judging the author's work, this is important. I don't know why there's so much backlash against it, honestly. It's not like anyone's saying "oh, that's not canon, you're not allowed to read or watch that!" It's just a means of trying to help keep criticism and discourse about the show's narrative and characterization more focused on the actual narrative and characterization is all. And thus, yeah, I wouldn't hold stuff not done by Toriyama himself in nearly as high regard in that sense. That doesn't mean I won't watch or read or play it and enjoy it. And it doesn't mean anyone else shouldn't either.

[delmondo]

Bardock TV special ending with Hikari no Tabi is probably the most beautiful, heartfelt tribute to Goku. There is no fan made AMV that can top it. It literally inspires faith. I am certain this I'd exactly how church goers feel when they hear a really good ballad about God

[blueper-saiyan]

#i could go into horrifying details about this and write a long boring essay that no one would read#but from a professional point of view it really is a fascinating subject#ofc toriyama never considered any of these things so i would just be analyzing something that wasn't meant to be

I'd definitely read that essay at least! I agree that we're not supposed to be thinking about this that much but that doesn't necessarily make it less fun to analyze. Viewing all of this in any actually realistic terms does become really horrifying almost immediately though, so I mostly ignore the implications.

I think you're right that Saiyans don't respond to social/emotional neglect in the same way as humans. They seem to either develop much faster or more instinctively than a human would, with less need for contact. But we do still see some occasional glimpses of more normal child behavior if you count smaller instances, like Broly trying to play with Baa or that little panel where Raditz is playing with a beetle. I also think that the half human kids are an interesting in-between, because Gohan clearly likes playing and seems pretty normal before being kidnapped. Goten and Trunks seems like pretty normal human kids too. Despite this, Gohan doesn't seem to suffer the consequences of being left alone for six months as strongly as a real child would. Again, that's because we're not supposed to think about that, but it's another data point about Saiyan psychology. (Or just evidence that no one in this world is affected by traumatic events in a reasonable way, but that's not fun to analyze.) Unfortunately, we don't really have that many examples to look at for how a "normal" Saiyan would be, given that Vegeta, Raditz, and Broly did not grow up under normal circumstances, and we don't have any completely clear cut examples of how they'd be growing up on Earth either, since Goku's head injury confuses things. I'd be very curious if we ever got any more information on Tarble. Even with as little actual examples to go off of as we have though, I do suspect that Saiyans were choosing the least healthy way of raising their kids, even if they can cope with it far better than a human could. They certainly don't seem very emotionally healthy in general.

I was sort of aware that Vegeta's upbringing would be irreversible, but I also choose to not think super strongly about it unless I'm in an overly analytical mood, like now. My personal opinion has always been that he genuinely doesn't really care about other people except his few loved ones, (and even that was an ordeal to realize) but he's able to consciously choose to mirror the others actions. I'm not sure whether it's just because he knows he'd disappoint everyone else (mostly Bulma, Goku, and Trunks) if he didn't, which is pretty cynical. I like to hope that he came to his own conclusion that the philosophy of preserving life and extending mercy has some value to it, even if it's not his instinct and won't ever be. I honestly appreciate it a lot if it's all a personal choice he's consistently making because he reasoned through it intellectually rather than ever feeling it emotionally. Although his actions in Buu do imply he feels some form of guilt about killing the spectators, so make of that what you will. Maybe Saiyans being more physically and emotionally resilient in general gives them more of a second chance on emotional development.

Now that I have posted screenshot evidence I can say it is so fucking funny and also tragic that basically every time we see Vegeta as a kid, he is being an asshole, almost no exception. He was not going to be a decent person even if there was no Freeza, that's for sure. Was there ever any period when he was young where he was not in favor of murder and oppression? idk but we certainly haven't seen it.

Like, it makes sense that he's mirroring the adults around him. They've been modeling violence for him as long as he's been conscious. They've also been teaching him that he's better than everyone else and the only thing that matters is strength. But I've always thought it's an interesting decision to not take any opportunity to show him as legitimately child-like in any way. Is it just, not thinking about the fact that he should be about 5 and that is not how a normal 5 year old acts or is it intentional? He even usually sounds like he's already an adult. The closest we ever get to Vegeta acting like a normal child is when he's upset that Beerus is threatening his dad. And even that is him experiencing distress. I'm sure someone with a better grasp on child psychology and child abuse could write up a much better set of thoughts on it.

[but-a-humble-goon]

Can expanded Dragonball media just leave Bardock alone? By trying to make him special you only make him less special. The entire point is that he's a nobody, just another murderous bastard from a whole planet full of murderous bastards who tries to do one single good thing with his life at the very end and fails spectacularly because he's not the hero of this story. That's what makes it unique and profound, it's a total tragedy from beginning to end starring a completely doomed character. Having him come back and actually be heroic and important is the fastest way to ruin him.

[saiyanmazen]

Favorite Dragon Ball movies: DBZ edition with Saiyans

There's a lot of DBZ movies and a limited amount of options. Therefore, I will split them into movies revolving Saiyans and those with other antagonists.

I've included specials and side stories. Sorry if I've missed some.

[tamashi-tai-tamashi]

I MISSED MASAKO NOZAWA'S (Gokū's voice actress) BIRTHDAY. I AM SO MAD DJDJDJ.

Happy birthday (a bit late) to the queen, the legend, the BEST seiyu (voice actress) ever! She is so, so, so talented and passionate, I can't believe she's now 88yo and still voices Gokū so well! What a goddess. This is insane!

Gokū's voice is so amazing, incredible, powerful and iconic. It can give you chills, makes you laugh as well as cry, and above all it is so special, unique and GREAT to hear. I love that voice so much, haha.

And it's all the work of that (now 88) lady. That's incredible! So incredible that she's became a legend in Japan, where everyone adores her and her amazing talent.

No other seiyu or voice actor/actress will ever compare to her, she's just the best. The passion she has is unique.

Nobody can voice Gokū the way she voices Gokū, all the dub Gokū voices are lame next to his og voice, and most importantly, her Gokū voice is the only one that fits the character.

Even Toriyama (who picked himself Masako Nozawa to be Gokū's seiyu) said that it was THE voice for Gokū and that since he'd heard it, he imagined Gokū speaking with that voice while writing Dragon Ball. She literally was born for this dhdjd. How perfect must your voice of a character be for his creator to say he now hears your voice when making that character speak ? It's amazing to me!

Also, I forgot to mention but she is as perfect as Gohan, Goten, Bardock or Black Gokū (omg her Black Gokū voice... give me chills) as she is for Gokū. All of her character voices are absolutely amazing!

Anyway, I love her, she's insanely talented and a legend!

Happy birthday Masako Nozawa !