Bardock's wish

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Yuji
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Bardock's wish

Post by Yuji » Mon Apr 03, 2023 8:43 am

There has been some recent discourse regarding Bardock's wish in the Granolah arc on Twitter recently so I'd thought we could discuss it here and hear some more fleshed-out perspectives.

The ambiguity of whether the wish was actually granted or not aside, the wish being made, as it pertains to the supposed "plot armour" Goku has received, doesn't bother me. We can assume that if the wish were granted, it was no longer in effect by the time both kids were adults since they both died together and Raditz at least has yet to come back.

So it pertains solely to their childhood's. This doesn't bother me at all because the idea that Goku was an underdog was never a theme of part 1. He was always a savant, prodigy and was able to outdo century-year old sages with minimal training and had a knack for instantly learning difficult moves. He always survived impossibilities by sheer luck such as the dragon ball protecting him from Tao or the God water. And more importantly, he was literally prophesized by Baba to save the world against Piccolo Daimao. Part 1 of Dragon Ball treats Goku with the same sanctity as the supposed wish did. Make no mistake, part 1 Goku especially in the first arcs is portrayed as a typical overpowered protagonist.

What I think is clever about how part 2 handles things is how Toriyama flips that on its head. Goku is no longer a prodigy - only in the context of Earth - he's actually a very hard worker who needs to work triple as hard to match the genetic gifts of his galactic opponents. That's the entire theme of the Saiyan arc after all and it carries itself throughout the rest of the series always in the background. Genetics, luck, talent, they're nothing if you don't put them to use.

If the wish is granted, it feeds only into part 1's themes that Goku is a prodigious, lucky child destined for greatness. If the wish wears off by adulthood as it seems, it feeds into part 2's themes that Goku is low in the totem pole in the grand scheme of the universe and only became as strong as he did due to his own dedication and free will.

You may take issue with Bardock's characterization for making the wish in the first place, but the implications of it are, at worst, irrelevant and at best unintentionally plays into one of the greater twists of the original series.

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Re: Bardock's wish

Post by Cipher » Mon Apr 03, 2023 11:29 am

If it has any implications at all, they're once I think are basically positive, as they'd take random moments like his survival against Piccolo Daimao and turn it from one of fluke convenience into a character beat, with Bardock being the first person ever had a positive influence, however indirect, on. The four-star ball saving him from Tai Pai Pai could also now be read as an influence of both father figures, with the same angles as above. This is an element that's always been inherent to Goku's character, brought out even more through the addition.

Since this all comes in the equivalent of Volume 61, instead of Volume 6 or 7, nothing is ruined for the tension of anything in the early parts of the series either.

And that's at its absolute extreme interpretation--if the wish is intended to have done anything more but helped get Raditz and Goku through Planet Vegeta's destruction.

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LoganForkHands73
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Re: Bardock's wish

Post by LoganForkHands73 » Mon Apr 03, 2023 12:48 pm

Great post, Yuji. It tends to be the case that fans with a deep attachment to the themes of the early “Part 2” arcs oppose Bardock’s wish most vociferously, understandably so. The idea that Goku had genuine divine protection throughout his childhood from his space pirate dad is a tad cheesy and extra, undeniably, but doesn’t really change anything about how Goku was presented in the “Part 1” arcs, and that’s the only ground the wish seems to cover, if it even goes that far. As soon as the story started moving towards global scale threats like the Red Ribbon Army and Piccolo Daimao, Goku was always destined to defeat them. He got plenty of uncanny luck to see him through in both of those arcs and if you want to view that as Toronbo lending a hand from across the stars rather than standard issue plot armour/bullshit, you can now be free to.

The twist that this, by Earthling standards, prodigious wunderkind was actually a low-class reject from the brutal alien society he came from was a great subversion of everything the story had built up until that point, but since Dragon Ball was never conceptualised with strong themes or substance in mind, the story congealed around these changes in a seamless and natural way. I mean, this is a manga series that started out as a gag fuelled farce with sex and scat jokes, and it somehow ended up being this eternally resonant tale of self growth and overcoming class barriers.
Last edited by LoganForkHands73 on Mon Apr 03, 2023 1:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Mr Baggins
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Re: Bardock's wish

Post by Mr Baggins » Mon Apr 03, 2023 1:42 pm

I've said all this before, but one of the most extreme cases of Goku's cartoonish luck actually happened on Namek. They've continued to happen well into his adulthood. Not once has the series reversed that part of his character; he works hard, but he's also a fortunate doofus that goes with the flow.

This just isn't something that needed an explanation. It adds nothing, and it's unnecessarily selective about a character trait that never really changed anyway.

I also think Bardock's wish routinely gets more discussion than it deserves. It's the least of the Granolah arc's problems.
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LoganForkHands73
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Re: Bardock's wish

Post by LoganForkHands73 » Mon Apr 03, 2023 1:59 pm

Plot twist, the frog was actually Bardock’s reincarnated soul using the very last tinkle of luck. :lol: Can’t forget Baba miraculously bringing Vegeta to Earth within Buu’s five second countdown either. For the record, I think it’s much better to just view Goku as lucky throughout his life, but I guess I see the wish as essentially harmless. It seems like any new additions surrounding Goku and Bardock’s backstories end up dominating the discussion in one way or another.

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