Bardock

Bardock (バーダック Bādakku) is a low-class Saiyan warrior and the father of Raditz and Goku. He makes his debut as the titular protagonist of the 1990 TV special Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku. Bardock's childhood until his early years in adulthood is unknown, but he is shown to lead his own squad into battle, and they are very successful in accomplishing their assignments. He is an adept fighter and a devoted Saiyan Army soldier under the Frieza Force until he realizes his tyrannical boss plans to annihilate the Saiyan race. As noted by Raditz and Frieza, Bardock bears a striking resemblance to Goku: he is a tall man of muscular built with black hair. His hair is unkempt with three bangs hanging to the right of his forehead and two hanging to the left. His hair also stands up in the front with five spikes and four in the back. Unlike his younger son, he has a tanner skin tone, and his eyes are more defined and sterner, much like his elder son. Arguably his most distinctive trait is the long thick, rough scar running down his left cheek. Like most Universe 7 Saiyans, he has a long prehensile tail with brown fur which generally keeps secured around his waist akin to a belt. He wears a unique model of Battle Armor that is dark blue and green in color with shoulder straps akin to what Vegeta wears from the Androids Saga onwards, with the addition of hip guards. In addition, he wears dark blue pants, long red wristbands with matching legbands, a green scouter on his left eye, and dark blue and green boots. In some media, the blue parts of his outfit are depicted as black. Later, Bardock adopts Tora's blood-soaked armband as a headband when he fights Team Dodoria on Planet Meat, which he retains when he attempts to kill Frieza. Like most Saiyans from Universe 7, he is somewhat cocky, loves fighting, and will kill in cold blood. But compared to the cold-hearted and simple thoughts of his race, Bardock also happens to possess calm judgment and a measure of humanity. Due to his actions of saving his companions, which is rare for a Saiyan, he is greatly adored among a portion of the low-class warriors.[8] He has a great sense of pride and independence as while most Saiyans have all been tamed by Frieza and his army, even King Vegeta, Bardock is the only one that maintains something of their pure nature and showed a willingness to challenge Frieza.[9]

As shown in Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku, he has a very plain view in life. While praised by others as brilliant, Bardock rejects such compliments, believing that he is simply experienced for combat. His loyalty and compassion for his friends and allies was shown so deep that he mourned their respective deaths and vowed to avenge them, particularly Tora who he openly viewed as his best friend. Along with this, he also attempts to warn the other Saiyans that Frieza is coming to destroy Planet Vegeta, and even though they don't listen, he still risks his life to save them all. He has a laid-back and fearless personality as evidenced by him taking responsibility in confronting Frieza alone. He is a highly capable tactician in battle, able to perceive the situation at hand and act accordingly with it, as shown from his ability to out-maneuver Frieza's men. Later, in Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock, Bardock remains unsociable, he says his name to Berry right after the boy asked him. But he also shows a little bit of stubbornness, when Berry offers him a basket of food and he denies it even being hungry, but soon Bardock starts to accept Berry's persistence and becomes softer with the child. When the Inhabitants of Plant thanked Bardock for Chilled's defeat, Bardock replies with a smile.

In the manga, Bardock's personality has some distinct differences. While still a Saiyan soldier at heart with a stern and straightforward approach to things, he was more social as he would warmly greet other Saiyans after arriving in his home world. He showed great care and compassion for his own children, an action he says that is due to Gine's softness rubbing off on him. Initially, Bardock was rather careless and somewhat inconsiderate towards Gine and his children, being gone for several months and missing the birth of Kakarot, something Gine chastises him for, but after seeing his child in-person and naming him, he begins to feel more compassion for his family. He is also shown to be similarly ignorant to most matters except fighting. Later, during the invasion of Planet Cereal, Bardock's growing compassion was shown by his willingness to spare a mother and her child, even working to protect them. In Broly, he stated that it might be that after all the death and destruction he had caused, he felt the fickle urge to actually save something, particularly if that something was judged to be a low level like his son, Kakarot. Upon learning of Frieza's growing fear of the Super Saiyan legend, Bardock quickly comes up with a plan to get Kakarot off the world so he could live. Bardock also displays some heroic qualities as well, as when Frieza launches his Supernova to destroy Planet Vegeta, Bardock flies up to try and stop it, resorting to fighting several of Frieza's minions and then throwing himself in front of it as a last-ditch effort to save his race from extinction.