Burdock (Dragon Ball)

Template:DB Character Burdock is a fictional character from the manga Dragon Ball/Z and the anime Dragon Ball Z. He is a Saiyan, and the biological father of both Raditz and the hero of the series, Son Goku.

He is the only characters in the manga that was introduced in the anime. To be specific, his first appearance was in the Dragon Ball Z television special Tatta Hitori no Saishû Kessen ~Furîza ni Idonda Z Senshi Kakarotto no Chichi~ (A Lonesome, Final Battle: The Father of Z-Warrior Son Goku, who Challenged Freeza), released by FUNimation as "Bardock: The Father of Goku". The author of the Dragon Ball manga, Akira Toriyama liked the character so much that he was given a brief appearance in a flashback in the manga itself. (However, except for his existence and the rough outline of what he did, it's arguable if the full events of Burdock's life could be considered canon.)

Burdock also looks almost very similar to one of his sons, Son Goku, or Kakarrot. He also is a lookalike to the non-canon villain Tullece.

History

The Father of Kakarrot (better known as Son Goku), Burdock was the leader of a small group of Saiyan mercenaries who went from planet to planet, conquering the inhabitants with their overwhelming power. They did this in order to prepare the then desolate planets for Freeza to be sold on the Galactic Market. Although originally classed as lower level Saiyans with limited fighting capabilities, Freeza becomes worried about Burdock and his team's steadily increasing power. Freeza sends his elites to kill Burdock and his group, but he had stayed behind, recovering from an injury that he received earlier while he and his team concurred planet Kanassa. Burdock realizes that this injury allows him to see into the future, and he has a vision about his home planet's destruction by the hands of Freeza.

Burdock arrives only to find his team slaughtered. Realizing that this was Freeza's doing, he vows revenge on the tyrant. Burdock is forced to fight an elite of Freeza's named Dodoria, who defeats Burdock and leaves him for dead. But Burdock recovers and returns to Planet Vegeta and tries to warn his fellow Saiyans about the approach of Freeza.

Though severely injured, Burdock is driven by his apocalyptic visions of the future to confront Freeza. It seems that Freeza's concerns were justified; Burdock plows through elite legions of his mercenaries, even briefly getting close enough to launch an attack on Freeza. However, Freeza easily nullifies Burdock's attack and unleashes an even greater attack: his infamous Death Ball; an energy blast so massive and so powerful that it can destroy an entire planet. As Burdock is consumed by the attack, he has a final vision of the defeat of Freeza by the hands of his son. Template:Spoilerend

Manga

File:Bardock in Manga.jpg

Burdock's short appearance in the original manga

The author of Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama, loved the TV special and Burdock himself so much, that he decided to put him in two panels of the manga. In said panels, Freeza remarks on how Son Goku looks just like a Saiyan that he killed many years ago, a Saiyan who resisted until the very end. Narrated text confirms that the Saiyan that Freeza killed many years ago was Son Goku's father.

Voices

Toei Animation:

• Masako Nozawa

FUNimation:

• Sonny Strait

Video games

• Burdock is a playable character in Dragon Ball Z: Sagas, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi, and the upcoming Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 with his Oozaru form.

• In the bonus voices in Budokai 3, Burdock must meet Vegeta and then Goku and then help them defeat Freeza as he must have jumped into the future in his visions.

• In Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi, Burdock got his own side-story where he didn't get killed by Freeza. Instead, he kills the tyrant and lives on to challenge his son.