Would Bardock Really Do These Things If He Came Back to Life?

CBR put together a list of 10 things Bardock would be doing if he were still alive, and I went through it entry by entry to see whether it holds up. Some of it fits the character, some of it is possible but a stretch, and a good chunk of it is really just a list of ways Bardock could get stronger.

CBR, like Screen Rant, tends to put out articles without a lot of thought behind them, though some of them are actually not that bad. They usually range from absolutely atrocious to kind of interesting, so I wanted to see which end this one landed on.

The list never says which Bardock comes back, or when

The article isn't asking what would happen if Bardock never died. It's asking what Bardock would do if he were brought back to life. My first question is when that would happen. Would it be during the Dragon Ball Z era, when Goku really didn't know anything about him? Would it be after the Granola arc, now that Goku knows Bardock helped Granola's mother? Or would it be before any of that? The article doesn't specify, so I think the idea is more about looking at Bardock's character to see what he would do.

That raises another problem, because there are two different Bardocks. There's the original Bardock from the Dragon Ball Z TV special from October 1990, and then there's the Dragon Ball Minus Bardock that we saw in Dragon Ball Super: Broly and in the Granola arc. The Minus version is Toriyama's. Since the list doesn't pick one, I looked at both as I went through it.

Bardock might revive Planet Vegeta to bring back his wife

The first entry is that he would collect the Dragon Balls and revive Planet Vegeta. Possibly. Bardock never really hated the Saiyans, but he also wasn't super righteous like Goku. He was definitely more righteous than the other Saiyans, especially the Minus Bardock.

So it's a possibility that he would at some point care enough to bring them back. Maybe it would be to bring back his wife, which I think would be the major thing. Unlike Vegeta, who really doesn't care, I think Bardock cares a lot more.

Settling his grudge with Frieza would take serious training

Number nine is that he settles his grudge against Frieza. I could see that happening, but I feel like Bardock would have to train tremendously to get strong enough to beat Frieza. In the original 1990 story, the Bardock: The Bardock: The Father of Goku special, he had a power level of 10,000, while Frieza is in the millions. So forget it.

Bardock would have to take some serious training, maybe follow the path of Goku, just to come close to beating Frieza. And when it comes to Golden Frieza, he's got even more work to do. Still, I could see him going after it.

Toriyama's Bardock would probably want to know his grandchildren

Number eight is that he'd spend time with his grandchildren and extended family. Again, it depends on when he got brought back. I think the Toriyama Bardock would definitely want to get to know Kakarot, Gohan, Pan and Goten. The original Bardock probably wouldn't care as much until he got the future visions, so it's difficult to say.

Even though Goku has no connection to Bardock, I do think Bardock, especially the Toriyama one, would probably want to get to know his family at least a little bit. At this point, the article was not totally terrible.

Helping out on Planet Cereal is a real possibility

Number seven is that he could contribute to humanitarian efforts on Planet Cereal. That's an interesting one, because, as the article itself mentions, the Dragon Ball Super manga had recently "dropped a bombshell revelation" about Bardock being involved with the Cerealians and the Heeters.

One thing we don't know is how many situations like this Bardock was involved in. What if he was actually benevolent during other Saiyan missions? What if he spared other civilizations from complete genocide? This guy might have a whole track record of seemingly working for Frieza while also doing shady things behind Frieza's back. There are a lot of possibilities here, and I could see Bardock doing this. If he were alive, I feel like he would at least be able to warn Granola before Monaito did that the Heeters are bad.

The Hyperbolic Time Chamber only works if Bardock knows it exists

Number six is a bit weird: he trained in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. That only works if Bardock knew what it was, and he has no idea about the Room of Spirit and Time. That changes only if he learns about it by meeting Mr. Popo, Kami and possibly Goku.

If he does get brought back in Super, I assume Goku would put him there, and that's where he would train to prepare for his fight with Frieza. But we have to remember that by this point in the series Frieza already has his golden form, so I feel like catching up to him would take Bardock years. The Room of Spirit and Time is the best place to make years only be days. Even so, I'm still skeptical he'd be able to win that fight.

I don't see Bardock joining the Galactic Patrol

Number five is that he becomes a member of the Galactic Patrol. I disagree. I don't think Bardock cares about them, and I don't think he would care at all. I just don't see him being that kind of guy.

Maybe, since he's benevolent, but I don't see him joining up with that group.

A trip to Universe 6's Planet Sadala is a gray area for me

Number four is that he'd visit the Universe 6 Saiyans on Planet Sadala. I don't know. There's nothing in Bardock's character that suggests he would do that. The article argues that "considering the tragedy that Bardock experienced during the destruction of Planet Vegeta, it could be quite cathartic for him to visit his other Saiyan world and return to some normalcy."

If he doesn't resurrect Planet Vegeta, I could see a situation where he does want to go to Planet Sadala, and we've all wanted Dragon Ball to go to Planet Sadala for years now. Remember, there's a Universe 7 Planet Sadala too, and the Saiyans left it for Planet Plant, which became Planet Vegeta. People forget that. The Universe 6 planet has Saiyans that evolved beyond having a tail, so it would be a different experience for him and a big point in him learning more about them. That's why it's a gray area for me.

Yardrat is possible, but I don't see Bardock caring about fusion

Number three is that he'd learn new techniques on Planet Yardrat. Only if he were determined to fight Frieza or somebody like that, and I don't really know if he would. I don't think Bardock ever mentioned Yardrat, although since Frieza's army knew about the planet, I feel like Bardock may have had some brief brush with it at some point. So it is possible he would go there. If Bardock knew Instant Transmission, as the article suggests, that would be helpful, because it's a very useful technique. It's all part of the training, the same as the Room of Spirit and Time. It all kind of goes together.

Number two is that he'd experiment with fusion. I don't know if Bardock would care too much about that, because he seems like somebody who would fight on his own. The only person he would probably fuse with is Goku, and since they're both adults, they'd make somebody who looks like Goku and Bardock. Again, there are no hints in Bardock's character that he'd want to do this. This article was written to list different things he could do to get stronger, which is all true, but we know all this already. Before I even read the last entry, I figured it could say train with Whis and Beerus. Sure, that's going to make you stronger. Everybody wants to do that.

Bardock would have to become a Super Saiyan to fight Frieza

The final entry is that he could officially become a Super Saiyan. I feel like he would have to become a Super Saiyan to fight Frieza at the very least, and probably go beyond that. The article says Episode of Bardock messes with canon by turning him into a Super Saiyan. It doesn't mess with canon. It was an alternate timeline, a what if story about Bardock's fate, and it wasn't written by Toriyama.

Still, it's true that if Bardock stuck around and trained with Goku and Vegeta, he would achieve Super Saiyan at some point. If Goten and Trunks could do it, Bardock absolutely could, and that goes back to all the training the list keeps talking about. Really, this article should be called 10 things Bardock could do to get stronger, even though not every entry is about that. Some are about visiting different planets and getting to know his family. On that, I do think Toriyama's Bardock would be more interested. The Dragon Ball Z Bardock would care, but probably not as much as the one from Toriyama.

I'd love a what if game that brings Bardock back

Personally, I would love it if there were a video game with a what if scenario that brought Bardock back to life in the Granola arc or in Super, just to see how he would react to things. He wouldn't be super strong, but he could get there with training.

Goku proved that if you're a low class Saiyan and you train hard enough and work hard enough, you can overcome even a super elite.

Do you think Bardock would actually do these things?