While the events of Dragon Ball wouldn’t officially begin until after his demise, Bardock had a huge impact on not only the wider DBZ lore, but also on the fans themselves after his story was told. Now, that story is being honored with a retro Sci-Fi makeover in a new piece of fanart that is impressively detailed and overall absolutely astounding.Bardock is Goku’s father who was murdered along with the obliteration of his home world, Planet Vegeta, when Frieza wiped out the entire Saiyan race for fear of their limitless power-potential. For the longest time, Bardock wasn’t given any significance in Dragon Ball canon as he was originally just the nameless, faceless biological father of Goku–who was the real protagonist whose story wouldn’t even start until after Bardock was dead, and he was on Earth. However, all that changed upon the release of the anime film special, Dragon Ball Z: Bardock – The Father of Goku. In this movie, Bardock is cursed with psychic powers after he and his team of Saiyans conquer a planet filled with lifeforms who have the ability to see the future. With these unwanted, new-found powers, Bardock saw flashes of the tragic fate of the Saiyan race, so in an effort to prevent his horrifying future from coming to pass, Bardock tried to assassinate Frieza before the evil emperor had the chance to kill him and destroy Planet Vegeta.Related: Goku Makes the Ultimate Sacrifice In New Dragon Ball Fanart
Bardock’s Retro Sci-Fi Makeover is Perfect for His Character
In a Tweet by A Monster Hunter, the user shared a piece of artwork titled, “Bardock of Planet V” by artist Ástor Alexander. The artwork features familiar Dragon Ball characters, including Frieza, Goku, a Saiyan Great Ape, and of course Bardock. While the characters are familiar, however, the style in which they’re depicted decidedly isn’t. Rather than having that classic Toriyama manga-look, Bardock, Frieza and the others look as if they belong on the cover of a retro science fiction novel. The aesthetic is rooted in low-budget realism, almost like a live-action Dragon Ball movie made with practical costumes and effects without the use of CGI as Goku and Bardock look like regular people without impossibly spiky hair and Frieza looks like a human wearing a spiked helmet and clothes/armor rather than the almost lizard-esque alien he is in the anime.
The style of this piece is seemingly inspired by a mixture of ‘50s-’60s era science fiction novel covers mixed with the ‘80s space opera aesthetic of Flash Gordon–and the tale of Bardock totally justifies this creative choice. If one were to take Bardock’s story out of the context of the wider Dragon Ball universe and view it on its own, then it would rival even the most iconic space operas out there. Bardock is betrayed by his master only to turn on the evil empire that ruled over his people just to be met with a tragic end, with the only ray of hope being the knowledge that the evil emperor would eventually be defeated by a chosen one–his own son.
The plotline of Dragon Ball Z: Bardock – The Father of Goku is incredibly profound on both a universal and personal level, which means it has everything that a classic space opera should have–and one artist makes that abundantly clear with this Dragon Ball fanart that gives Bardock the retro Sci-Fi makeover his story deserves.
