Bardock is first introduced in the TV special, "Bardock - The Father of Goku." Only after the film aired in Japan did he appear in two panels of the manga by Akira Toriyama, who assisted in designing the character for Toei Doga's production. His name is derived from "burdock" (バードック, bādokku?), a type of herb. While both the Viz manga and FUNimation’s Japanese-language English-subtitled anime use "Burdock," FUNimation’s English dub opts for "Bardock," and some Japanese merchandise even uses "Barduck."
The biological father of Raditz and Son Goku, Bardock is a Saiyan with the ability to see visions of future events. In several recurring visions, he witnesses the destruction of his home planet Vegeta by Freeza. After narrowly escaping death at the hands of Dodoria, he tries desperately to alter his planet’s grim fate by confronting Freeza and his army directly. Despite his efforts, he fails to stop Freeza’s attack on the planet and is killed in the process. Moments before his death, he receives a vision of his son facing the warlord. According to the anime special, Bardock had an estimated battle power of 10,000 as determined by medical observers while recovering from his last mission.
In the "Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock" manga, Bardock transforms into a Super Saiyan for the first time, a development intended to promote his character in the arcade game "Dragon Ball Heroes," where he also achieves the Super Saiyan form.
(Source: Wikipedia)
