Dragon Ball’s Bardock is one of the series’ most beloved characters and almost immediately captured the hearts of fans with his grueling tale of struggle against the Galactic Tyrant, Frieza. Despite humble beginnings, recent chapters of Dragon Ball Heroes have begun to showcase a new side to Bardock that has never been seen before- a power that rivals Goku’s Ultra Instinct.
Bardock’s power as a Saiyan warrior was always unremarkable to say the least. While he was respected by those around him, he was by no means a noteworthy warrior in the Sayan legion during his time on Planet Vegeta. While it was implied in Bardock’s original movie special that he may have become one of the strongest Saiyans alive at the time shortly before his demise, Toriyama’s retconned origin for the father of Goku keeps him much further away from that threshold of power. Things have changed, however, and with the introduction of Ultra Instinct and the continued serialization of Dragon Ball Heroes, it was only a matter of time before Bardock reached godlike levels of power in this alternate-timeline story.
In chapter 8 of Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultra God Mission, Bardock finally gets the chance to face off against none other than his son, Goku. Bardock had already just come away from a fight against Jiren, one of Goku’s most powerful rivals, and still, he manages to overwhelm his son at every opportunity. With just the power of Super Saiyan 3, Bardock shuts down every one of Goku’s transformations. Goku is forced to cycle through his God forms, including Super Saiyan God, Super Saiyan Blue, and finally Ultra Instinct Omen. Even then, Bardock continues to fight evenly until Goku finally transforms into Mastered Ultra Instinct.
Bardock Uses Super Saiyan 3 To Fight Ultra Instinct Goku
The fact that Bardock can go toe to toe with the likes of Mastered Ultra Instinct Goku has some…strange implications for the future of Dragon Ball Heroes. It’s no secret Dragon Ball Heroes has some of the most ridiculous power scaling in the entire franchise, but putting Bardock in the same ring as fighters who make the series’ gods scared is still a weird decision. It undermines a lot of his character as someone who for the longest time has felt emblematic of struggling against overwhelming odds, even more so than Goku has. Additionally, this random powerup for Bardock means that anytime he gets another powerup in the future, it’ll have to be stacked on top of his already Ultra Instinct tier Super Saiyan 3 form, which could legitimately make him the strongest Saiyan in the series if events like this continue to transpire.
Bardock’s new Ultra Instinct level of power is…interesting to say the least. While many fans would argue that other side characters like the Earthlings deserve to be given new forms and power-ups to maintain relevance, it seems as if every Saiyan in the series is going to achieve Ultra Instinct before that happens. While other characters continue to wait for their day in the sun, fans of Bardock can now comfortably say he is without a doubt one of the strongest characters in all of Dragon Ball.