Dragon Ball: Bardock's New Transformation Proves He Can Beat Goku

Although ‘Dragon Ball’ continues to expand its story through its official canon of manga and anime - as in the case of ‘Dragon Ball Super’ or the upcoming series ‘Dragon Ball Daima’ - fans of Akira Toriyama’s saga rely on other official products that expand its universe with alternate timelines, as in the case of the manga ‘Super Dragon Ball Heroes’. Thus, we return to one of its spin-off stories, in which Bardock, Goku’s father, reaches the iconic status of Super Saiyan 3, putting Goku himself in trouble due to his enormous potential in battle.

This is what Bardock looks like as Super Saiyan 3

Although we take it for granted that Goku is the ultimate Saiyan - with an escalation of power that seems to know no limits - his father Bardock already showed his potential in the crisis of the planet Vegeta against Frieza, an episode that was expanded in the Granola story arc in the manga “Dragon Ball Super”. Would Bardock have become the legendary warrior he was destined to be if he hadn’t lost his life to Frieza?

Well, and thanks to chapter 8 of the ‘Super Dragon Ball Heroes’ manga, we have proof that this could have been the case, because in this alternate story, Bardock manages to reach the Super Saiyan 3 state in front of his son Goku, causing an unprecedented energy clash. And when Goku’s father unleashes his full potential, he forces Goku to leave behind the Super Saiyan Blue state to stop Bardock only thanks to his maximum power with the Ultra Instinct, proving that Bardock is the only one capable of getting Goku into trouble himself. “I’m using the same 3, but there’s still a wide gap in power,” Goku admits before overcoming his own Super Saiyan 3 state.

However, Bardock was never able to explore his true potential before his death on the planet Vegeta at the hands of a Frieza, who betrayed the Super Saiyan race out of fear of the Ultimate Warrior and whom he would later see face off against Goku in the mythical Battle of Namek.