Which Burdock story do you consider canon?

[GreatSaiyaman123]

Father of Goku. Everything else is

 

[Fantastische Hure]

Burdock being the one to confront Freeza was fucking garbage anyway. Almost as bad as Naruto being descended from a Hokage.

Not at all. It's not as though he accomplished anything against Freeza in terms of battle or legacy (Freeza only vaguely remembers him years later) and whilst him being a low class with a 10k battle power was pushing it, the TV Special never over-glorified him as some godlike prodigy or figure of great importance like in most Shonen to follow.

IIRC, one of the official publications (I think the Daizenshuu probably) that talked about the TV-Special and Bardock even described him just as a run-of-the-mill low-level warrior as if he was nothing special among Saiyans.

 

[The_Authority]

I don't recall the manga having anything that would be contradicted by Minus. Whew... man, Minus was so weird. It's not that I disliked it per se, but it seemed really pointless. Why touch it? Again, my theory of Toriyama showing the fans that there is no canon and that the story could be whatever he feels like making it this week. I've even grown to accept that concept, as it relieves pressure off of trying to fit every contradicting peg in Dragon Ball into its proper hole.

But Minus was just so pointless. If it would be a fully fleshed-out story that ran for a little bit, I'd totally get behind it. But instead it's some afterthought chapter in a manga that really doesn't have anything to do with Dragon Ball.

Anyway, I guess it has to be Minus for the manga continuity. Plus, as the series continues on, it obviously looks to springboard off of the events in Minus.

I really enjoyed the Bardock TV special. It had its flaws, and I don't like that it painted Bardock into a favorable light where fans have fantasies of this great, noble Saiyan. Which spawned the Episode of Bardock. Man, I hated that thing. Again, not bad per se, but just felt like such fan service. And then, Minus came along and took that fan delusion of Bardock being this noble, wonderful guy... and made it into a freaking reality.

So which would I follow most? It would have to be Minus because not only is that Akira Toriyama's idea, but it's definitely the one that he's using now to springboard the rest of the series. But, I also enjoyed it the least. I enjoyed the Bardock TV special the most. Episode of Bardock was another one of those things where I was starting to see that the DB franchise was starting to fall off the rails. I never knew just where it would go, but it was a clear indicator that the series was beginning to bend itself to the fans rather than have the fans invested in their own story.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

I don't recall the manga having anything that would be contradicted by Minus.

Raditz's explanation of why Goku was sent to Earth was blatantly contradicted. You could say it was down to Raditz not knowing the intent, but it's still a disservice to the manga's original run when what was painted as the somewhat inspirational idea of an alien sent to commit genocide saving the world and standing up to his misguided kin is thrown away in favour of a Superman origin knockoff.

I really enjoyed the Bardock TV special. It had its flaws, and I don't like that it painted Bardock into a favorable light where fans have fantasies of this great, noble Saiyan.

I wouldn't say he was shown so favourable unless watching the dub. Sure, they do highlight his bravery and genuine attachment to his friends, but it also doesn't shy away from showing him as caring only for that directly related to his own life's inner circle, never having a change of heart about killing innocent races and still only being slightly concerned about his child's well being. It's basically a less extreme version of Namek Arc Vegeta.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

He didn't care about Goku either.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

He didn't care about Goku either.

Not at first, though he did seem to care for him somewhat at the end when realising his life was essentially done, due to adding "Kakarotto's life" in his last speech to Freeza and his last word and thought being of his son. Whilst the latter was once he believed Goku would defeat Freeza based on his visions, the same can't be said of the former.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

I got the impression it was mostly because he knew Goku was going to defeat Freeza.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

He didn't have the vision of Goku confronting Freeza until he was moments from death though. When he confronted Freeza and gave his speech, the most he'd seen was Galu getting stomped by Vegeta.

 

[The_Authority]

Spoiler

I don't recall the manga having anything that would be contradicted by Minus.

Raditz's explanation of why Goku was sent to Earth was blatantly contradicted. You could say it was down to Raditz not knowing the intent, but it's still a disservice to the manga's original run when what was painted as the somewhat inspirational idea of an alien sent to commit genocide saving the world and standing up to his misguided kin is thrown away in favour of a Superman origin knockoff.

Well, if we're going to go by Raditz's explanation, then planet Vegeta was also destroyed three years prior to him landing on Earth and was a result of meteors. If we're going to start saying that we can't assume that Raditz doesn't know about Goku's reason for being sent to Earth, then we might as well start poking through Raditz's entire story.

Spoiler

I really enjoyed the Bardock TV special. It had its flaws, and I don't like that it painted Bardock into a favorable light where fans have fantasies of this great, noble Saiyan.

I wouldn't say he was shown so favourable unless watching the dub. Sure, they do highlight his bravery and genuine attachment to his friends, but it also doesn't shy away from showing him as caring only for that directly related to his own life's inner circle, never having a change of heart about killing innocent races and still only being slightly concerned about his child's well being. It's basically a less extreme version of Namek Arc Vegeta.

It painted him into a favorably enough light that spawned an entire generation of fans who would make fan-fics and pictures of Bardock as this lovable guy. I know that he's not supposed to be, and the TV special doesn't go out of its way to say that he is, but at the same time, I feel like it didn't emphasize enough just how much of an ordinary, typical Saiyan he really was. Because the story focused on him, it made him stand out and feel more special than the others, when really, in the big picture, he was just another grunt. In King Vegeta's movie, Bardock's part would be "Soldier #8" or something. I think the TV special should have done a better job emphasizing that part.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

He didn't have the vision of Goku confronting Freeza until he was moments from death though. When he confronted Freeza and gave his speech, the most he'd seen was Galu getting stomped by Vegeta.

That would still make him more special than Bardock ever was,

 

[Void]

I don't recall the manga having anything that would be contradicted by Minus.

Raditz's explanation of why Goku was sent to Earth was blatantly contradicted. You could say it was down to Raditz not knowing the intent, but it's still a disservice to the manga's original run when what was painted as the somewhat inspirational idea of an alien sent to commit genocide saving the world and standing up to his misguided kin is thrown away in favour of a Superman origin knockoff.

I really enjoyed the Bardock TV special. It had its flaws, and I don't like that it painted Bardock into a favorable light where fans have fantasies of this great, noble Saiyan.

I wouldn't say he was shown so favourable unless watching the dub. Sure, they do highlight his bravery and genuine attachment to his friends, but it also doesn't shy away from showing him as caring only for that directly related to his own life's inner circle, never having a change of heart about killing innocent races and still only being slightly concerned about his child's well being. It's basically a less extreme version of Namek Arc Vegeta.

I got the "noble warrior" vibe from the sub too.

 

[Future Warrior]

The Bardock special cause I hate Minus.

 

[Evil Vegeta]

The special for me as well because fuck Minus.

 

[Warmmedown]

Burdock being the one to confront Freeza was fucking garbage anyway. Almost as bad as Naruto being descended from a Hokage.

Not at all. It's not as though he accomplished anything against Freeza in terms of battle or legacy (Freeza only vaguely remembers him years later) and whilst him being a low class with a 10k battle power was pushing it, the TV Special never over-glorified him as some godlike prodigy or figure of great importance like in most Shonen to follow.

He didn't accomplish anything, but it still makes it as if it was almost Goku's destiny to face Freeza, because his father literally led the mutiny against him.

 

[Jeff Styles]

Only the TV special.

 

[Six Trails]

I don't recall the manga having anything that would be contradicted by Minus.

Besides what mentioned, it also only has Blooma being 2 years older than Goku while she was 4 years older than Goku in the manga.

 

[withheldforprivacy]

Only the panel in the original manga. 'Father of Goku' and 'EOB' were attempts to turn Bardock into something he was not meant to be, for commercial reasons. 'Minus' was the product of a senile old man's dying brain.

 

[Boo Brand Milk]

None

 

[Captain Cadaver]

None

Obviously, the true Bardock story was 2kewl for or :toei to make as the masterful writing it would have held about the character couldn't be contained when stacked up against the canon.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

I haven't watched the EoB and read Minus either so I choose the TV special.