Controversial as the story may be, something interesting about the Granolah arc in the Super manga is that we get a greater insight into Saiyan psychology, or at least one certain Saiyan's psychology and how they approach combat when they aren't "on the job".
So, to give a brief recap for those who aren't up to date, Bardock plays a major role through flashbacks in the Granolah arc set during the Saiyan invasion of Planet Cereal, Granolah's homeworld. He's less of a dick than he has usually been portrayed as, which rubs some people the wrong way, but that's mostly irrelevant to this topic. Having recently seen baby Kakarrot in his nursing capsule, Bardock has a momentary flash of conscience and decides to save a young Granolah and his mother in secret, taking them up to Monaito the Namekian and tells them to survive no matter what.
Unlucky for Bardock, that flash of conscience leads him into a heap of trouble with the Heeters, an organised crime family who act as middle men in the Freeza Empire and secretly want to take over. Upon being spotted, Bardock gets into a fight with the Heeters' main muscle, Gas. By all reasonable logic, Bardock should be totally outclassed, but he prevails through sheer determination to win at all costs. Monaito tries to repay Bardock by giving him an opportunity to escape Gas via a Dragon Ball wish. To paraphrase, Bardock only has two words in response to that offer: "fuck" and "that". He's here to take this dreadlocked bastard down or he's gonna die trying, nothing will interrupt it.
What's funny is that I think this is one of the only times we see a regular pre-extinction Saiyan involved in a fight where only their own pride is at stake, and Bardock reacts much like Goku or Vegeta. In fact, it's almost exactly how Goku reacted to Kaio-sama's offer to teleport him away from Namek during his first battle against Freeza. "If you interrupt this fight, I'll never forgive you for as long as I live". Bardock's determination to win at all costs sets him apart from Goku or Vegeta who tend to fight while distracted by thoughts of fair competition or puffing up their ego, which they take as a lesson to learn from Bardock after hearing his story.
Contrast this with Raditz, the first Saiyan besides Goku we meet and Bardock's eldest son. He claims to be all about the fightin' life, yet he's a dirty coward. Nappa is more of a picturesque Saiyan warrior, but he has the most fun when he's killing much weaker opponents and breaks down like a bitch when he ends up picking on someone his own size. Vegeta was initially much the same way, but his motivation to surpass Kakarrot allowed him to evolve into the more genuinely competitive fighter that we know today.
So yeah, I think it's cool that the Super manga actually shows a Saiyan enjoying a fight rather than simply enjoying a one-sided slaughter. Do you think Bardock is exceptional in this regard as well, or would most Saiyans react the same way and fight to the death at any cost?
