Monday 30 September 2024

Death Battle Predictions: Omni-Man VS Bardock

 

“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” - Gilbert K. Chesterton


Omni-Man, Viltrumite warrior and father of Invincible.


Bardock, Saiyan soldier and father of Kakarot.


Across the cosmos, there exist vast empires, ruled by those who wish to rule it all under their grasp. But, every empire needs a soldier, like these two. Once average warriors without remorse for the countless worlds they aided in conquering, they ended up turning tail and betraying their leaders for their own causes, and battled against them for the greater good - leading to their sons carrying on their legacy, and ending what they began. But, will the father of Goku emerge victorious over the returning Viltrumite hero, or will Omni-Man make Bardock eat his heart out? Let’s find out in this DEATH BATTLE!


Before We Start…


Talking about what material is usable for both is a bit weird, so we’ll start with the (slightly) simpler topic: Omni-Man. The original comics are obviously a big focus, and so is the show adaptation, especially considering the involvement of original comic writers like Robert Kirkman. That just leaves one nail to hammer in, being Invincible’s list of crossovers. While some characters like Tech Jacket do exist in the Invincible universe, other cameo appearances like Spawn are very brief (literally one panel) or just don’t fit into the story at all. The majority of Invincible crossovers minus Tech Jacket will be excluded, with more elaboration being given near the end of the blog.


Bardock on the other hand is a very different story. As of now, two different versions of the character exist, being the original version depicted in the Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku TV special, and the new version shown in Dragon Ball Super. The newer variant is the canon version of the character, but the original is the iconic and, well, original version, as well as the primary version used for this match for most people (and of course is the one we’ve seen in the preview of the episode itself). Additionally, the two versions of Bardock aren’t that different, at least compared to a case like the original and Dragon Ball Super version of Broly. 


With all this in mind, both the original Z version of Bardock and the new Dragon Ball Super version of Bardock will be used in this blog. That means utilizing the original Dragon Ball story, as well as Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku, Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock, the original Dragon Ball Z anime adaptation that Bardock originates from, and his various appearances throughout Dragon Ball Super. However, we’ll be avoiding cross-scaling feats across continuities to Bardock - his Super power level won’t be used to scale him to Toei feats, and vice versa, as the two Bardocks do scale differently. The inclusion of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot will be discussed later.


Oh and as per usual, spoiler warning for both Invincible and Dragon Ball. Especially the former, as we will be going into major comic events that will likely not happen in the show for years.


Background

Omni-Man

“You don’t seem to understand. Earth isn’t yours to conquer.”


When you look up in the sky to see a colorful caped figure, your initial thought is “oh crap, a superhero!” right? This was exactly the case for an alien visitor to our planet, who traveled to Earth from the peaceful Viltrumite empire for the purpose of making it better, as they had done to countless worlds before. Upon meeting the resident hero team, the Guardians of the Globe, and finding love with one Deborah Grayson, he took the name Nolan, but you probably know him as the superhero Omni-Man. 


Omni-Man fought the forces of evil for decades, and in that time, he had a son with Debbie, Mark. His boy was Nolan’s pride and joy, and eventually, Mark gained his Viltrumite heritage to become a hero just like his father; one who was Invincible. This sounds like the beginning of a beautiful journey across the cosmos to help planets and spread the Viltrum flag of peace, right? Well, you would be VERY wrong, though not in the way it would initially seem.


As it turns out, Viltrum was in actuality a galaxy spanning empire hellbent on conquering everything that ever was, and Nolan had come to do the very same thing to Earth. Upon revealing this to Mark, the young man was horrified at his fathers intentions, and stood up to him for the sake of his friends, family, and the planet he had grown to protect. Enraged at this, Omni-Man practically slaughtered his son both physically and emotionally, even going so far as to call Debbie a pet, and Invincible himself disposable enough to just make another kid in his place.


However, these jabs were only skin-deep, and even when nearly beaten to death, Invincible managed to get through to his father; reminding him of the love that lay within. With blood on his hands and tears in his eyes, all Omni-Man could do was leave the planet, and fly through the depths of space to find an answer as to why.


Nolan drifted through space, knowing the Empire would not accept failure and that he was doomed if they found this out. So, he conquered another planet, Thraxa, and formed a new family… but it was not his old one. Those lies on Earth were not only to Mark, but to himself, as a means to shove back any guilt at enslaving the world and likely his family as well. Eventually, he crossed paths with Mark once more, and yet again his son managed to knock some sense into him. While in Viltrumite prison, Nolan finally reflected on the fact that he missed his wife, and that he was capable of feeling, of emotion, of being more than what he was raised to be. With this newfound resolve, Omni-Man decided to finally fight back against the Empire he had spent so long serving, and this resulted in an all-out war across the cosmos with his children and allies at his side.


Numerous events occurred throughout the conflict, involving the death of sworn enemies, great allies, and even the planet Nolan once called home met its end. The war reached a stage where the Viltrumite population was at a breaking point, resulting in them residing at Earth for a time in order to try and repopulate. It is there where they would see firsthand the joys that Nolan experienced, leading to a new found respect for the so-called traitor. This respect however would go on to servitude, as the Viltrumite army eventually discovered that Nolan Grayson was the true heir to the Viltrumite throne. Thragg was pushed away, not daring to touch Earth’s kindness, as Nolan was now the leader of his people. A people that could finally do good. But Thragg was bitter, and desired his old position of power, as well as the blood of Nolan’s family. As time went on, both forces would prepare for one last climactic battle.


On the cusp of the final battle against Viltrum’s final war with Earth, Omni-Man battled its tyrannical ruler, Thragg, and despite his power, he was fatally wounded. This gave Invincible the push he needed to finally stop Thragg, but Nolan could not ultimately walk away from this battle. With tears in his eyes for the final time, Nolan passed away from his wounds, and entrusted the future of Viltrum to his son. Invincible went on to forge a new Empire, free of the previous violence, and genuinely created the utopian future that Nolan had lied about all those years ago. With a loving wife and children as Invincible as he is, Mark could only smile at Omni-Man’s desperate question that sparked all of this: “What will you have after 500 years?” He would have his father. How ironic it may be, that while his father may be gone, his legacy lives on, and that is something that Invincible will have for as long as he lives.


Bardock

“It’s up to me… I’m… I’m going to change the future!”


Across the vast cosmos of Universe 7, many species come to mind. The Yardrats, Earthlings, Namekians, and so on. But no race is as prone to battle as the vicious Saiyans. It is the Saiyan instinct that drives them to fight, would it be against other races or each other, with this lust for battle being further fueled by their rapid increases in strength. It is this remarkable talent for violence that caught the eye of King Cold, leading to the subjugation of the Saiyan race by his empire. The Saiyans would go on to be a brutal force of genociders, wiping planets clean of life under the command of Cold for the sake of being sold to wealthy buyers. Remember. Real Estate Speculators. Amongst this savage army, one low-class warrior stood out though. A fierce warrior, named Bardock.


Do not let his low-class ranking fool you. Over his career, Bardock developed a notable success, conquering several warriors in the name of Cold’s Empire. His team would carry out multiple successful missions, with Bardock exterminating races day by day alongside Tora, Fasha, Shugesh, and Borgos. Every now and then returning to his wife Gine and their sons Raditz and Kakarot. But everything would change when King Cold retired, and the Frieza Force was born. It was not just as simple as Real Estate Speculating being a family tradition, Frieza was even more cruel than his father, and ironically, more cold. As time went on, Frieza would grow to fear the potential of Saiyans, and eventually planned to exterminate them.


Bardock’s discovery of this plot would be a bit hazy however. On one mission, he was tasked with exterminating a race full of psychics. Eventually he would be caught by a sneak attack however, shortly resulting in him becoming unconscious. This sneak attack bestowed him with the race’s psychic powers, giving him the ability to see visions of the future. Visions of the destruction of Planet Vegeta. But they were not anything he could make sense of, at least not yet, so he headed back into the field to meet up with his team… to find Tora as the only survivor on a wasteland. It was there he would be told of Frieza’s plan of betrayal by Tora’s last words, and thus the visions would make sense. Bardock put on a blood soaked handkerchief like a bandanna, and thus began his new mission: to change the future.


After returning to Planet Vegeta following a near death fight against Dodoria, Bardock tried to warn his fellow Saiyans of the danger Frieza presented, but none believed him. Thus Bardock flew up into space alone, ready to defend his people and family. He slaughtered a multitude of Frieza’s soldiers before making it to Frieza himself. After a speech declaring how he would change everything, Bardock fired one last shot at the warlord, only for it to be engulfed by Frieza’s Death Ball attack. Bardock followed, and so did Planet Vegeta, leading to the extinction of the Saiyan Race. But it is in his death that Bardock saw one last vision: his son, Kakarot, grown up, about to face Frieza. Bardock smiled. His death may have been in vain, but at least he could fall knowing that his son would go on to avenge the formidable warrior race.


Except he did not die, kind of. Depending on the canon, Bardock’s adventures varied considerably. In Dragon Ball Super, Bardock was more sympathetic, wanting to save at least one life amongst the ocean of blood he had made. Likely inspired by a previous battle against the Heeters, where he saved a young boy named Granolah. Thus he and Gine sent Kakarot off world, saving him from Planet Vegeta’s inevitable destruction. In a different story, the original version of Bardock actually survived Planet Vegeta’s destruction due to Frieza’s attack being so strong it sent him back in time… somehow. He went on to become the original Super Saiyan of legend, and defeat Frieza’s ancestor, Chilled. But it does not matter what story we tell, or what version we refer to, or what he accomplished before his demise. One constant is unchanging when referring to this Saiyan warrior. Bardock has a will of steel, and it’ll take him dropping dead for him to stop fighting for what he will fight for.


Experience & Skill

Omni-Man


Omni-Man, from birth, was raised in a brutal society where the weak were culled, meaning that from a young age he’s been forced to fight and battle just to simply stay alive. He’d ultimately become a high ranking warrior within the Viltrum Empire, sent out expressly to subjugate other worlds. And in these missions of conquest, Omni-Man would only continue to gain more experience from his lengthy lifetime of constant conflicts. Omni-Man has battled and annihilated entire races just on his own, and has battled against the best of the best and consistently come out on top. He dismantled the Guardians of the Globe single-handedly and also absolutely battered his son in their first duel, and was always able to keep up with him just fine in the future.


Even beyond his not-so-benevolent battles against targets of the Viltrumites, Omni-Man continued to be a force to be reckoned with. He was a major player throughout the Viltrumite War, and also eventually became the leader of the Viltrumites himself against their primary enemy, Thragg. And he would actually prove to be a capable leader as well, ultimately coming out victorious in the long run alongside his son and their various allies, even if he ultimately did not live past this victory. But even so, Omni-Man was consistently a force that was capable of keeping up with the mightiest warriors in the universe, and a constant nightmare for his enemies. With such a lengthy lifetime of battles on the sides of both evil and good, it only stands to reason to say that he is unimaginably experienced, and has fought just about everything his world can throw at him and came out on top.

He’s also especially long lived, having been alive for over two thousand years and remained in a physical prime. Experiencing a wide variety of planets and alien life, fighting many different species to both conquer and protect. And coming up with plans to take out his opponents, thanks to his experience on different planets such as the “Savage Planet.” Consisting of beasts known as the Rognarrs, creatures that can harm and kill Viltrumites. Including the likes of Nolans unnamed partner. Yet Nolan survived the encounter. It’s more than safe to say that Nolan is an intelligent fighter, far above the several classes of Viltrumites dominating the cosmos.


Bardock


Despite being a supposed “low-level” warrior, Bardock has shown on a multitude of times that he is an incredibly skilled fighter, far more so than even other Saiyans he fights with or against throughout his battles. He was the leader of his own team while serving under the Frieza Force, and was consistently capable of leading said team to success throughout their various missions numerous times. His constant rounds of conquest under Frieza also brought Bardock in contact with a wide array of different groups and opponents, giving him a wide range of foes and situations that he has all successfully dealt with while serving Frieza.


But Bardock’s various conquest missions aren’t really what he’s best known for with his battles, because many of Bardock’s more significant duels and victories came from when he was operating under his own goals. He obliterated numerous Frieza Force warriors without issue on his way to challenge Frieza, can readily defeat members of his own Saiyan race, and has even battled and defeated foes known to be far stronger than him starting out. Despite a sizable power level gap against enemies like Gas or Chilled, Bardock still managed to win the day through his drive to win, ultimately overcoming massive power gaps and taking them out. As such, we can see pretty clearly that Bardock is a seasoned warrior that has battled foes of all shapes and sizes, even coming out decisively on top in battles where he may be at a significant disadvantage.


Also making him a serious threat would be his intelligence and courage, both of which have been serious problems for his enemies before. Bardock is seen as brilliant by others, and it’s not hard to see why. He’s an excellent tactician, capable of figuring out a situation swiftly and effectively to get the edge over a problem, or catching onto something beforehand. He was able to correctly deduce Frieza’s plans when none of the other Saiyans really saw it coming at the time, and his tactical abilities also gave him an edge over Frieza’s soldiers as well.  He’s no stranger to surprise or sneak attacks either, such as an explosive surprise attack he used to get the upper hand on Gas one time.


And of course, Bardock has also been shown to not back down from a fight once it gets started, which has been a serious force before. Even when Gas was soundly thrashing him, Bardock continued to fight on, stubbornly refusing to back down to the point that he gained enough power to obliterate Gas without much issue by the end of their duel. And even with the knowledge of what Frieza planned to do to all of Saiyankind, Bardock challenged him regardless and took actions that would ultimately bring about the wider adventures we all know throughout the stories of Dragon Ball. It is certainly not selling it short to say that Bardock’s history both on and off the field made him an incredible warrior, and a significant player that would set some of the stage in the stories of his son and companions.


Equipment

Omni-Man

Suit


Every superhero needs their own special suit and Omni-Man is no different. Cleaned through Ionic cleaning machines and designed from Smart Atoms, the suit can take a lot of punishment and helps Nolan resist conditions like heat.


Telepathic Earpiece


Nolan and his allies wear a special earpiece to communicate with one another in the vacuum of space (as in the real world there is no way to speak in space).


Bardock

Saiyan Armor


As a member of the Frieza Force, Bardock wears the standard Saiyan battle armor, only with a few modifications - namely, his lack of shoulder guards, instead replaced by those iconic straps. The armor is very durable, and able to stretch to keep up with the Saiyan’s Great Ape transformation. A very useful armor to have in a fight, although it can break, like any armor. 


Scouter


Another standard piece of Frieza Force equipment, the Scouter allows Bardock to sense the ki levels within anyone nearby, giving him their “power level”. It can automatically detect nearby power levels, making it difficult for any enemy to run or hide from Bardock. It’s also able to track locations, keep track of the time, record audio, communicate with other scouter wearers, and more. The Scouter Bardock uses is an older model, one that will explode if it reads a power level above 21,000. 


Space Pod


As befitting most members of the Frieza Force, Bardock has his very own Attack Ball to pilot through space. It has enough fuel to fly for years on end, and keeps those driving inside of them under a kind of suspended animation while they travel meaning no need for food or water. Though it does have some remote control functions in case it’s needed for a quick getaway.


Bandana


It doesn’t serve any practical purpose, but he looks very cool with it on. I mean c'mon, it is literally red because of being soaked with the blood of his comrades. That’s hardcore.


Abilities

Omni-Man

Viltrumite Physiology


Viltrumites are privy to a very unique physiology. For example, they can live for thousands of years, with each age decelerating. Viltrumites also have unique DNA, as their body naturally adapts to near-death experiences, making them significantly stronger over time. Speaking of which, they can heal from intense injuries so long as their heart remains intact. However it isn’t instant and injuries that are more severe take more time to heal, like Nolan taking two weeks to heal from getting impaled in the chest. They can also breathe in the vacuum of space for up to two weeks and fight for months on end without slowing down. They additionally have high temperature, low temperature, and strong poison tolerance. 


Smart Atoms


To go along with their unique physiology, Viltrumites are able to harness and manipulate atoms in their body called Smart Atoms. Unlike most atoms which have fixed properties, Smart Atoms can be arranged for multiple different purposes and effects, particularly useful to combat extreme force.


It is because of Smart Atoms that Viltrumites have their natural adaptation, and special traits like their lengthy breathing time or extreme temperature resistance. One notable trait of their atom’s adaptation is the natural absorption of background energy to help them sustain themselves for even longer periods of time, similar to solar discs. Though this does not give them infinite stamina by any means.


Graviton Atoms

Me on my way to work (I forgot where the front door was)


All Viltrumites have the ability to basically cancel out the effects of gravity, propelling themselves in any direction they desire, achieving the iconic superpower of flight. The anatomy behind flying bricks like Nolan though is a bit more complicated. It is speculated that the way this flight is achieved is through the subconscious manipulation of Graviton Atoms, since one special atom type was not enough apparently. Graviton Atoms carry the force of gravitational attraction, allowing Nolan to choose his own gravity and well, not choose gravity.


Shockwave Creation


Nolan can clap his hands together, creating localized earthquakes, devastating anything in front of him. Pretty cool, huh?


Bardock

Saiyan Physiology


As a Saiyan, Bardock’s physiology grants him numerous benefits. His natural strength and stamina are far higher than that of an average being by default, and that is additionally complimented by his potential. All Saiyans grow in strength whenever they fight, always rising and overcoming roadblocks they would have struggled with previously. 


This evolution can be sped up even more rapidly if the Saiyan is brought to near death, as coming back from such a state will result in a Saiyan gaining a Zenkai Boost. All of this mid-fight evolution is especially shown with Bardock, who has conquered seemingly impossible odds thanks to his evolution. This can be seen with his fight against Gas, where he went from being pushed around like nothing to crushing Gas’ stronger form and winning the fight thanks to his Saiyan evolution.


Ki Manipulation


Ki is the natural life force energy within all living beings. It has a variety of uses, though its main purpose is as a tool for combat. Nearly all Saiyans warriors are capable of weaponizing it, and Bardock is no exception. Bardock can use Ki to fly, increase his physical stats, and fire Ki energy in a variety of ways, would it be for a barrage of explosive blasts, an omnidirectional energy wave (would it be defensively, or from any part of his body for both AOE and surprise), a surprise beam from his mouth, or for specific named attacks.


Ki Techniques


Flash Spirit: Bardock follows up a combo of punches and kicks with a strong energy beam.


Riot Javelin: Bardock puts his EVERYTHING into a singular ki blast, unleashing a devastating attack at his foe.


Tyrant Lancer: Bardock charges towards the enemy before releasing a large javelin of energy point blank at them. Despite the point blank focus, it can still travel far like a normal beam.


Brave Heat: Bardock gut punches his opponent with a ki infused fist to set them up for a devastating fiery beam right after.


Rebellion Spear: Bardock surrounds himself in Ki as he charges and rams into the enemy at top speed.


Saiyan Spirit: Brave Heat, but blue. Yep. 


Future Visions

(Imagine just walking to see your son and you just see yourself die on the way)


On his last mission serving under Frieza, Bardock had special psychic powers passed on to him. These powers allowed Bardock to see glimpses of the future. Unfortunately, this ability is not really useful. Bardock has not been shown to be capable of changing the futures he sees, and he cannot use the ability on command. Instead, he randomly gets visions without warning. If anything, they would be more of a hindrance during combat, and legitimately have been, as they turned into distractions when Bardock received them mid-fight. Thus they are not really worth focusing on.


Forms

Omni-Man

Nolan Grayson


Undergoing the flawless disguise of mild-mannered best-selling author Nolan Grayson, Omni-Man is able to seamlessly blend in with the world around him.


Bardock

Great Ape


Due to the presence of a full moon (or a similar effect through the use of the Power Ball technique, which sends an energy ball mimicking the moon up into the air), Saiyans are able to turn into Great Apes, also known as Oozaru. This transformation grants Saiyans like Bardock a gigantic ape-like body and a ten times multiplier to all stats. This form’s weakness is its tail. Were the tail to be ripped off, Bardock cannot turn into a Giant Ape. and having it removed while in the transformation will revert Bardock back to his base form.


Super Saiyan

The golden form of Saiyan legend and what Frieza truly feared: the Super Saiyan. Bardock attained this form against Chilled, and it’s easy to see why it defeated him so easily. The Super Saiyan form is a massive increase to a Saiyan’s stats, with guidebooks confirming a 50 times stat increase. This is consistent with the form being far above Goku’s max Kaioken, which goes up to 20 times. The form does drain stamina faster than Bardock’s base state, though that’s hardly much of a problematic trade-off considering the form’s bonuses.


Feats

Omni-Man

Overall

  • Was an honorary member of the Guardians of the Globe…

  • …also killed the Guardians of the Globe (the Immortal twice), several Viltrumites, and Homelander

    • Fun fact, he celebrates Christmas apparently!

  • No one on Earth could kill him at one point

  • Fought back against the Viltrumite Empire and was a key piece in defeating it

  • Ruled as the leader of the Viltrumites for a time, earning all of their respect

    • Minus Thragg but screw that guy

  • One of the strongest Viltrumites in history, and was the rightful heir to the throne

  • His son went on to lead the Viltrumite Empire to be a massive, successful galaxy-spanning peacekeeping force

  • Got pictures of Spider-Man


Power


Speed


Durability


Bardock

Overall

  • Defeated several of Frieza and Chilled’s Soldiers, Chilled, and Gas

  • Exterminated life on several planets, racking up an impressive record

  • Started a family with fellow Saiyan Gine

  • One of the strongest Saiyans of his time

  • In one canon, became the very first Super Saiyan

  • His Super version saved multiple lives, including Granolah, Monaito, and Kakarot

  • His son went on to become one of the greatest fighters in existence

    • Ignore Raditz

  • One of Dragon Ball’s most popular characters despite having very little media

    • Power of coolness I suppose


Power

  • Caved in a Frieza soldier’s skull (Christ)

  • Leveled multiple buildings in his Great Ape form alongside his allies

  • Can power through multiple Frieza Soldiers, literally

  • Easily snapped the necks of Chilled’s soldiers

  • Blasted Chilled with a beam visible from space


Speed


Durability

  • Could ram into Frieza soldiers no issue

  • Endured several nigh-lethal blows from Gas

  • Tanked a blast from Dodoria

  • Was fine after getting dog piled by Frieza Soldiers

  • No-sold attacks from Lord Chilled as a Super Saiyan

  • Survived the destruction of Planet Vegeta in Episode of Bardock (5.35 Yottatons-4.52 Quettations)

    • The version of the explosion from Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot can get up to 88.6 Quettatons

    • Debatable, as in every other iteration, this is what kills Bardock (See Before The Verdicts)


Scaling

Omni-Man images by Aqua. Bardock images by Pasbros and Blue Igneous.

Omni-Man

Invincible 


Given that he’s his father, Omni-Man should easily scale to Mark. They’ve fought many of the same foes, at times on equal footing, and Nolan gave his son an incredibly painful beatdown. 



Viltrum Empire


The Viltrum Empire, the main threat towards everyone in the Invincible series. Omni-Man should be able to scale to any low-tier Viltrumites due to his battle against them with Mark. He should also scale to the high tiers, like Conquest and Thragg, due to him being able to match Thragg in combat, and being comparable to Invincible who defeated Conquest not once, but twice.



Various Heroes & Villains


Nolan killed the original Guardians of the Globe, who’re supposed to be the best of the heroes within the verse. Omni-Man should be able to scale to any other hero either by fighting them, or scaling to people like Mark, who match/surpass the other heroes. This also extends to the various villains of the series who the Guardians and fellow heroes competed with.


  • Rex Splode blew Komono Dragon’s head up

  • Robots stronger suits can temporarily endure the heat of the inside of the sun

  • The Immortal can fly at Mach 3

  • The Immortal and War Woman could draw blood from Omni-Man

  • The Immortal threw a villain into space

  • Universa traveled across the cosmos

  • Omnipotus has been stated to be able to end star systems through chain reactions, and even destroyed his entire universe (Debatable, See Before The Verdicts)


Coalition of Planets


The Coalition of Planets are a group of…planets. That united under Nolan and Allen the Alien to fight back against the Viltrumite empire. Several members of which Nolan is considered equal or superior to, so he should reliably scale.



Bardock

Z-Fighters


It should be easy to see why Bardock would surpass every character on Earth, at least characters from prior to the Namek Saga. When Raditz showed up on Earth, he had a power level of 1,500, and was stronger than anyone the Earth had ever faced. Nappa went on to have a max power level of 7,500, and be stronger than any Earthlings despite the fact that several had been training for months prior to the second Saiyan invasion. 


This is important to address considering Bardock had a power level approaching 10,000 around the start of Bardock - Father of Goku, painting a clear picture that puts Bardock above any natural born fighter from Earth. At least them prior to the main cast developing substantially after the events of the Namek Saga.


The Saiyans


Bardock’s lower class status is actually pretty misleading. His constant adventures have pushed him up to around a power level of 10,000, and that was around the start of his TV special, before he got extra Zenkai Boosts from fights like his scuffle with Dodoria. That power level would already put him above notable Saiyans like Raditz and Nappa, and debatably around the level of even King Vegeta. With additional transformations like Great Ape and Super Saiyan, that debate vanishes though and he is definitely far above even Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z’s early sagas. Thus it is fair to say Bardock should scale to most of early Z’s Saiyans, regardless of whether they are lower class or elite.



Goku


Bardock’s son is no stranger to Dragon Ball power discussions, and this discussion is no different. While Bardock has never actually seen his son in action (outside of a vision or two), we can compare Bardock to a good amount of Goku’s feats. He should scale to any feats from the original Dragon Ball series for the same reasons he scales to early era earthlings, though Z Saga eras for Goku are trickier. We know by the time Goku battled the Ginyu Force on Namek, he had a power level of 90,000. While Bardock’s confirmed 10,000 is obviously far below that number, we know power levels increase alongside multiplier-like forms such as Kaioken or Super Saiyan, with Goku showing a direct example while at 90,000 by using a two times Kaioken increase to reach 180,000. 


Applying Super Saiyan to Bardock’s confirmed number would get him up to 500,000, which would safely be above Goku’s 90,000. Zenkai boosts on top of his Great Ape form would also make him scale higher since he’d be notably above 100,000 at that point. Bardock can also reach this level without transformations as his Dragon Ball Super variant could be argued to be above Captain Ginyu since he defeated Gas, who was stated by Toyotaro to be above everyone in Frieza’s force apart from Frieza himself. 


To clarify, though, Bardock would only scale to any feats Goku did up to halfway through the Namek Saga. When Goku fought Frieza, his base power level was 3,000,000, which is way higher than anything Bardock can reach, and Goku only got stronger from there. More details about all this scaling in Before The Verdicts.



Weaknesses

Omni-Man


Despite Nolan’s physical capabilities and Viltrumite heritage, he still has plenty of weaknesses. For example, Viltrumites are naturally weak to high frequency sound, and their interior organs are very vulnerable. More vulnerable than the rest of the body. This is problematic especially for Nolan’s heart. While it isn’t so capable that he can regenerate from just his heart or something (that’d be stupid, obviously), it is the key to a Viltrumite’s incredible survivability. Losing a lung or their liver is not game over, but severe damage to their heart will put them out of commission. Despite Nolan quite literally being ripped in half during the final battle against Thragg, it was damage sustained by his heart that actually led to his death. Not that being Gojo’d didn’t put him out of commission or anything.


Bardock


As strong as Bardock is, he definitely has his faults. As smart of a fighter as he is, he has a tendency to rush into battle as soon as he sees a reason to. This mentality is what led to him flying by himself to face Frieza after failing to recruit any Saiyan allies. Bardock also is not invincible, he can die in a way similar to a normal person. Too much blood loss from wounds, lack of oxygen, too much damage sustained, you get it. His ki is also not unlimited, meaning he cannot just spam ki blasts forever, and running out of ki will dramatically lessen Bardock’s defenses. Also his scouter can be broken, removing Bardock’s options for locating a hidden opponent. To conclude, he doesn’t have some specific big weakness, but none of his options or capabilities are perfect.


Before the Verdicts

“Special” images made by Blue Igneous.

Omni-Man

Viltrum’s Size


One of the most famous large-scale feats in Invincible is absolutely the destruction of Viltrum. But what makes it hard to measure is the lack of info on how big the planet itself is. Shots vary between different panels across the series, but interestingly enough, the most useful shot for measuring Viltrum comes from when it got blown up. Ironic.



If you look closely, you can see little moons in the background. By using minimum moon size, we can compare the smallest moons in the background to the planet itself. Getting Viltrum’s diameter to over 47 thousand kilometers. For reference, Earth’s diameter is about 12.7 thousand kilometers, making it a bit more than a fourth of Viltrum’s diameter. Applying different escape velocity values and accounting for Viltrum’s gravity being 1.25 times that of Earth, we get a range of 66 to 312 zettatons by calculating the kinetic energy of the blast. More info about the exact math can be found here.


We can go higher though. As a high end, let’s assume that Viltrum is the size of Saturn. We do not have exact evidence for this, but think of this as a high end to be safe about covering more ground. Applying Saturn’s higher size into our previous calculations (you know, because of the ring of corpses) and altering values such as the mass and escape velocity, we get up to 2.7 yottatons of TNT. Going a final step further and using Earth’s crust density, 10.64 yottatons is our peak result.


In conclusion, size arguments for Viltrum vary, which thus heavily impact the feat of the planet’s destruction. The range based on arguments is about 66 zettatons at worst, and 10.64 yottatons at best. While you could maybe argue for even higher planet sizes for Viltrum, assuming it is the size of Saturn is already being generous in the first place. Thus 10 yottatons is a fair stopping point. Fully Nolan scaling would be fine considering that while he needed help from Mark and Thaddeus for the feat, he did upscale his former stats by the end of the series.


What the HELL is up with the Sun Disk calculations?


Alongside the destruction of Viltrum, a certain spatial object (That fucking sun disk that I hate - door-kun) has been a big topic of discussion when it comes to Invincible scaling over the past year or so. In issue 67, Nolan orders for some Coalition officers to move a large sun disk that’s blocking a star’s light from reaching the home planet of the Rognarrs. In response, the commander of those officers orders for the disk to be shot down, destroying it. If they had just followed Nolan’s orders, we’d never have to debate this feat, but here we are. At a glance, the feat seems like it would be very straightforward to examine. However, I’m lying, this feat is a pain to analyze from any angle. 


We do not have a confirmed size of the Rognarrs’ planet, nor the star near their planet, nor the sun disk itself. The only shots we ever see of the disk are it in space blocking the sun’s light, and it being destroyed. Even then we only ever see some of its destruction, so it is still difficult to measure. Despite all these issues however, the feat is still possible to calculate, albeit very annoying to do so. After a lot of discussion, we figured out a way.


According to Nolan, the purpose of the solar disk in the context of the comic was to block out sunlight to freeze the Rognarrs. Basically causing an eternal solar eclipse around their planet, causing the planet to freeze up. To accomplish this, it does not need to be the size of a sun or something. Just big enough to block the sun’s heat. This would reduce the size of the sun disk considerably, as we can use umbra geometry to figure out how big the sun disk would actually need to be to cast a shadow over the full planet. For those who don’t know what umbra geometry is: "the fully shaded inner region of a shadow cast by an opaque object, especially the area on the earth or moon experiencing the total phase of an eclipse.".


We know the Rognarr planet is habitable, meaning it should fall in the range that Nasa deems planets to be habitable when it comes to their distance from their star. Thus, we can find a distance between the Rognarr planet and the star. We can use roche limits (how close something can be to a celestial object before being pulled towards its atmosphere) as well to determine exact distance for the disk from the planet. 


Taking all this information into account, alongside umbra geometry, our self torture gets a result for the sun disk’s diameter with the final number being 131882.97842180 meters. If you want more info about the math and certain specifics, check the calculations here. So finally, with the size determined, we can determine things like the height of the disk panels and the disk’s volume. Assuming the whole thing is made of stainless steel, we can end our suffering with a result of just over 7 teratons using pulverization, and over 77 petatons using kinetic energy. 


Obviously, far lower than the estimated values the disc has gotten in the past with varying assumptions, and that is acknowledged. This is a very complicated feat to calculate due to the lack of context we get about the disk’s destruction, which has led to ends as low as ours, or ends as high as quettatons. This is just one possible way of calculating it, and not necessarily a perfect one, as there were multiple aspects that we had a lot of (very painful) difficulty locking down. Overall the feat is messy and we understand if someone would be hesitant to agree with our numbers right away due to reasons A, B, or C. With that in mind, the verdict will entertain the idea of higher calculations for Nolan to cover all bases. More on that when we get there.


Can crossovers be used for scaling Omni-Man?


The simple answer is that crossovers being used for Nolan is case by case. Some work, some don’t. But there is obviously a lot more to the discussion than just that, and there are definitely some notable characters worth bringing up for potential scaling. But before getting into specific cases, let’s address why the majority would not work via an interview with Erik Larson, a head of Image. In this interview Mr. Larson addresses the inconsistencies produced by comic crossovers and multiple writers, and how that can result in weird holes across different stories. He goes on to address Image’s solution, which you can read about in the interview itself. But here’s a compressed summary:


To break all of this down, any crossover character that shows up to Nolan’s door is the Invincible version of the character. If Naruto shows up to fight the Viltrumite Empire alongside Mark, that’s the Invincible version of Naruto. If Mark shows up to fight Sasuke alongside Naruto, that’s the Naruto version of Mark. Alt Naruto is not the main Naruto and alt Mark is not the main Mark. With this clarification out of the way, we can go into specific examples.


First of which is Tech Jacket, who directly shows up for multiple big comic events in the story, namely Invincible War, and the fight near Viltrum. The planet busting level feats from his comics are not too special compared to Nolan’s existing list of scaling and feats though, so he’s not too important. Unless you want to assume world eaters from Tech Jacket absorb worlds by absorbing their mass energy, but there’s no reason to assume that’s how that works. We see one show up saying they’re going to consume a world to empower themselves, they die immediately, we don’t ever see how their consumption works, applying e=mc^2 would be unreasonable due to lack of evidence. Moving on.

Spawn has a cameo during the Invincible War story event, where we see him fighting an alternate version of Mark. This could be notable, however this is the only time Spawn shows up in all of Invincible. He is not some recurring character like Tech Jacket is, and thus it is hard to justify this as anything other than some cool one off cameo. Granted, the evil Mark does state he has killed Spawn before, but we have 0 clue as to how strong this alternate Spawn is or what he is really like. If anything, the same issue applies to this Spawn here in the Invincible universe, especially given the general issues with crossover scaling due to Image’s status on crossovers.


That just leaves one big super crossover to mention, which being included would probably benefit Nolan the most: Supreme. In a big comic event, the two fought and went even/ At first glance, why wouldn’t this be usable? It was an officially published Image comic after all. Again, the same problem the interview with Mr. Larson addresses presents itself. Nolan fought against  the Invincible version of Supreme, and Supreme fought the Supreme version of Nolan. The main Omni-Man involved in this matchup and blog is not the Supreme version. As an additional note, you can bring up how Supreme’s powers are stated to fluctuate in his own story. This point is debatable of course, though irrelevant anyways due to the previously mentioned crossover problems.


Omnipotus: How strong is he?


Anyone who has kept up with Invincible debates for the past couple years is more than likely familiar with a certain dimension hopping maniac named Omnipotus. His power is to absorb energy from the destruction he causes and convert it into power that he uses to make himself stronger, faster, and more capable of bending reality. If you were to just look at his comic book appearances by themselves, then he would not stand out much. 


What makes him a relevant topic would be Invincible’s guidebooks, stating that he destroyed his own universe and is capable of destroying solar systems in a short time. While the former was over time, the latter is notable. However, it is not a perfect statement. His claim about destroying a star system is lacking, since we do not know if it was all in one go, and the guide states the statement implies the method was chain reaction. 


Granted, the fact he destroyed a star system at all means at one point he absorbed all the energy of one, so the method does not matter too much. What does matter is the specific phrase, “at one point”. We know Omnipotus’ powers fluctuate, and that his energy varies depending on how much he has absorbed. It can be diminished overtime leading to him becoming weaker and weaker. Over the course of the series, Omnipotus shows up two different times. To determine if the heroes and thus by extension Nolan scale to his more impressive stated feats, we need to analyze these two appearances to know how strong Omnipotus was in comparison to his past.


His first appearance is not going to get anything special for the main cast. Omnipotus states in regards to his first attack that he was sufficiently underpowered, and he was still dominating everyone in the encounter regardless. He was only beaten because of being sent back to his own dimension thanks to the support of a very amplified Black Samson. The show version of this encounter does not show him losing on screen, which makes the first encounter even more pointless. 


Granted, near the end Omnipotus does state that he “will soon be restored” and that his “restoration is nearly complete-”, but the issues with these statements is that he’s only been on Earth in his time in the Invincible universe so far, It does not make sense that just causing some destruction on one planet would restore him to cosmic levels. What he is most likely referring to is that he will soon get his absurd power back thanks to beating all of his opposition who would get in the way if that success.


In his second appearance, Omnipotus shows up on Earth, stating that he has been restoring his energy in the Invincible universe behind the scenes to make sure his second attack actually worked out. Then Dinosaurus one shot him. Lovely. Getting back on track, at first glance this would imply that Omnipotus is back at his old peaks again. The issue is… we cannot confirm that. We cannot confirm anything about his second journey actually. We do not know how much of the Invincible universe he consumed. 


He says he’s been at it for a few months, but that does not answer the question of “how much”, only the question of “for how long”. You could guess how much he absorbed based on the amount of time he spent powering up, but guessing is not confirmation. You’d think that if he absorbed multiple celestial bodies, someone would catch on to his activity or address how much destruction he caused after he was defeated. And of course we know he obviously did not absorb a whole universe because well, the Invincible universe is still there. 


In the end, the arguments for Omnipotus being this big high level scaling point for Nolan fall flat. No one scaled to him in his first encounter where he was already weakened, and we cannot confirm anything about how much energy he had stored up for the second encounter. All of this is also not mentioning how his power decreasing overtime means that the amount of energy he gets from consuming destruction does not equal the power he currently has. 


Think of it like having to eat an apple whenever you want to buy two apples - you don’t have the energy of both apples at any time, and neither does Omnipotus have all the energy of everything he absorbs at once, especially since we also don’t know how much energy he absorbs from these places. To summarize, his on encounter power does not match up with his guidebook info, suggesting he was never at his former level when battling our heroes, and his energy to mass conversion relies on him having all the energy at once, which he doesn’t, and him converting all the mass into energy, which he doesn’t. Now that you get the picture, it’s time for you to truly…



As an additional note, while this counter argument to Omnipotus arguments isn’t as effective as just bunking them properly, it is still worth addressing. While the Invincible series can have a multitude of ends for stats, they do more consistently hover around planet to star levels. A solar system or even universal level threat showing up and being a side villain that lasted for not even 10 pages in his second appearance being this big scaling point for absurdly cosmic power does not really add up, and could be seen as an outlier for the verse. Of course standards on outlier arguments vary considerably, which is why the idea of outliers here is just being brought up as an extra point rather than as the key flaw in the arguments for cosmic Omnipotus scaling.


Bardock

Garlic Jr: How strong is he wait didn’t we just-

(TN by door-kun)


As of late, arguments have risen up regarding Garlic Junior and his Dead Zone being used for very high end arguments. In the Toei canon of Dragon Ball Z, the Garlic Junior arc happening between the Namek and Cell sags would mean that the Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone movie would be canon to the same canon where Bardock’s original version resides. Considering Garlic Junior was far weaker there, Bardock can scale to his previous form despite not scaling to him after the events of Namek (Garlic at that point could match a 2nd form Frieza level Piccolo, he’s definitely out of reach by then). This could mean scaling Bardock to the Dead Zone, which is notably called a “hyperspace”. Considering the definition of the word referring to a higher space, this could mean the Dead Zone is some level of universal. This is backed up by the fact that…


Yeah, the issue here is that this is the only piece of evidence whatsoever that points towards the Dead Zone being this strong. It is more likely that the Dead Zone works like some sort of black hole, or just some strong pulling dimension, and/or the guidebooks writers just wanted to use some fancy word. There is nothing else pointing towards the Dead Zone or early Z era characters being anywhere near universal levels of power, and it would be a massive outlier.


Is Dragon Ball Z Kakarot usable for Bardock?


A point of discussion in recent years ever since the game was released is the usage of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot for VS related Dragon Ball discussions. The game has a lot of useful info, scenes, and adaptations of feats that helps a good bit in multiple areas. The question is whether or not the game and its contents are usable for Bardock in particular. The main argument for the game being used in VS is that Toriyama played a part in the game’s development and oversaw it, resulting in the game being a faithful adaptation of the original manga in the same way a typical anime adaptation of a manga would work. It helps that he even went so far as to add a whole new character into the canon that he designed via the game. 


But Bardock is weird in this case considering that Toriyama did not actually work on his original special. Toriyama’s version of the character is the variant we see in Dragon Ball Minus and Dragon Ball Super, not the one in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. While this issue exists however, Kakarot does still provide a faithful adaptation of Bardock’s original TV special, and the rest of the game is still consistent with the main canon. Thus using it should be fine for supporting evidence at least. 


Notable contradictions such as Team Bardock being acknowledged by the Ginyu Force and thus being seen as rivals (if they were this strong they would not have been beaten by normal Frieza Soldiers and Dodoria), or Bardock being able to put up a significantly better fight against first form Frieza will not be used for scaling. If it’s hard to understand all of this, don’t worry, Kakarot is only really relevant for one notable feat in this blog anyways and some crumbs of supporting evidence here or there.


How usable are Dragon Ball’s Power Levels?


Dragon Ball’s power levels have been infamous for years. Criticized for one or two or seventeen different reasons, and being constantly regarded as unreliable. But, are they really? First off, no, power levels should not be used to determine stats. To explain, some people in the past have argued that someone with a power level of, for example, 5, is about half as strong as someone with a power level of 10. This seems alright on paper, but fails in practice. If we go with this logic, we are going to suffer obvious consequences.


For example, Frieza in his first form with a power level of 530,000 was able to blow up Planet Vegeta with just his finger. Various calculations give this feat various results, but let’s just assume the feat is worth the typical planet gravity binding energy value (value needed to blow up Earth) of 57 zettatons. If we convert down by 106,000 times to get the strength for someone with a power level of 5, we get a value of about 537 petatons. This would imply that an average fat farmer in the world of Dragon Ball who has a power level of 5 is strong enough to obliterate multiple continents. You see the issue.


The second thing to address however is how power levels seem to work. Contrary to popular belief, having a power level higher than someone else does not instantly make you higher in all stats than someone else. The prime example is when Goku fights Ginyu in the Namek Saga. Goku’s max power level in base ranges from 85,000 to 90,000, whereas Ginyu sits at 120,000. Despite this, Goku is actually faster than Ginyu. Additionally, Ginyu Force members like Jeice and Burter are meant to be comparable in terms of power levels, yet Burter is obviously meant to be the faster of the two. 


Cases like these support the idea of power levels being more like averages rather than equal progression of strength and speed. The reason for addressing this is to show that power levels are not just some simple stat chart. And generally, close enough power levels can be compared to one another. Goku’s 90,000 was still comparable to Ginyu’s 120,000. The point of power levels is to simply compare characters to one another, not pinpoint perfect numbers for every single character.


But why bring up power levels at all? The reason is that we can use them to compare Bardock to specific characters he has not interacted with before. We know near the start of his TV special that Bardock is at about a power level of 10,000. This is obviously lower than the power levels mentioned before for Goku and Ginyu, but the benefit for Bardock here is his transformations. We know multiplier based transformations directly multiply power levels, as shown with Kaioken, and notably, in this case, Super Saiyan in the guidebooks. Guidebooks directly show Super Saiyan multiply Goku’s base power level of 3,000,000 to 150,000,000. A fifty times increase. 


Applying this to Bardock means his Super Saiyan power level is around 500,000 (likely higher considering his base form got stronger since the 10,000 statements, but more on that in a bit). Reaching numbers this high means Bardock can safely scale to any big Dragon Ball feats going from the beginning of the series to the battles with the Ginyu Force on Namek. Either in his base form for early Dragon Ball and Saiyan era characters, or with Great Ape or Super Saiyan for most of the Namek Saga cast.


Does Bardock scale to his death?


The argument in question for this section is that Bardock is able to scale to Frieza’s Death Ball attack which destroyed Planet Vegeta. At first glance, the idea of this seems kind of stupid. The attack killed him after all, why would he ever scale to it? While he did survive the Death Ball in Episode of Bardock, scaling Bardock’s base to it is still inconsistent due to his significantly lower power level, the amount of damage the attack did to him, the fact it easily nullified his last ditch attack, and the fact that the attack killed him legitimately in both the Toei and Super continuities. The key word though here being base.


Frieza’s confirmed 1st form power level (because we are definitely not scaling Bardock to any higher forms) is 530,000. As discussed before, forms like Super Saiyan or Kaioken directly multiply power levels. Applying Super Saiyan’s 50 times increase to Bardock’s power level, we can get a result of 500,000. Granted, this is a bit below Frieza’s power level, though it is still relative, and Frieza destroyed Planet Vegeta with just a finger. Additionally Bardock should be well above his 10,000 base power level anyways considering additional Zenkai boosts he would have gotten from being beaten by Dodoria and Frieza prior to Episode of Bardock. If Bardock’s power level just barely rose to something like 11,000, his Super Saiyan power level would be 550,000, which is above Frieza’s power level and thus ensure relativity.


You can additionally argue the Dragon Ball Super version of Bardock scaling with Great Ape, due to arguments regarding Gas, who Bardock defeated, being relative or above someone like Ginyu with his 120,000 power level. Multiply that by ten and you get Bardock above a million and he would absolutely scale above 1st form Frieza. This scaling for Super’s Bardock is more debatable though, and is more so just support for the Z Bardock argument.


Verdict

Stats


Bardock and Omni-Man have had a fair amount of stat discourse within recent years, so naturally, there are a lot of ends to go over. First of all, let’s discuss Nolan’s AP. Invincible has several calcs that reach the multi-continental to large planet ranges - from the sun disc explosion getting at least 77 petatons, Mark smashing one of Mars’ moons into the planet getting in the exaton range, to even low-ends for Viltrum’s destruction getting in the zettaton range, and our highest ends getting in the yottaton range - fairly consistent within that regard, especially with various statements of Viltrumites being on that level. He should upscale all these feats by the end of the series.


Bardock scales to a multitude of feats across Dragon Ball and early Dragon Ball Z. This includes multiple moon or planet busting feats, making him comfortably reach zettaton level. Most notably would be scaling him to the likes of King Vegeta or Vegeta. Considering his power level earlier in his TV Special was at around 10,000, applying Great Ape or Super Saiyan would shoot him up way beyond this point into 100,000 or 500,000 respectively, and he’s likely far higher than this because of his Zenkais. In contrast, the two Vegetas would cap out at around 18,000 (this is only for Vegeta in the Saiyan Saga, remember).


You can additionally argue Bardock scaling in base, considering the increases we’ve seen Zenkais give Saiyans in the past could result in someone like Bardock shooting up to the Vegeta family’s ranges. Him matching Dodoria (someone who Vegeta is inferior to prior to the Namek Saga) in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot after a Zenkai Boost was added to his 10,000 range serves as additional support for this. 


All of this matters considering King Vegeta’s 14 ronnaton - 1.8 quettaton and Vegeta’s 4.34 quettaton planet busts. While arguments have risen against King Vegeta’s feat, Vegeta destroying Arlia is very blatant and direct. These feats are very straightforward and using normal Earth size for the destroyed planets would make sense considering in Dragon Ball, Earth is canonically considered a small planet. Even if something like Arlia’s destruction was worth a hundredth of its actual value if you argued the planet size being smaller or something, it would still get 43.4 ronnatons, which is far above any of Nolan’s arguments. If you applied an increase like Super Saiyan’s times 50 buff to Vegeta’s Arlia feat, Bardock could get up to 217 quettatons, which is consistent with his Super Saiyan form scaling to the destruction of Planet Vegeta, with its destruction in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot getting over 88 quettatons. Even if you put that feat aside, the other quettaton feats are still here for Bardock to scale to. 


To conclude on the point of raw power, if you were to compare Nolan’s 10 yottaton Viltrum bust to Vegeta’s 4.34 quettaton Arlia explosion, Bardock would be thousands of times stronger. All this being said, Invincible has had a lot of variance in calcs, especially with feats like Viltrum or the sun disk’s destruction. Some ends for those feats have gotten quettaton values, though those calculations have issues. But let’s give Nolan the benefit of the doubt and assume he and Bardock are equal in strength at their peaks. Unfortunately, he’s still far too slow to measure up.


The best feat we can scale Nolan to is the Viltrumites flying across the galaxy clusters, which gets 20 billion times the speed of light. Omni-Man should upscale this a good bit, thus being above the majority of the speed feats Bardock can scale to, except for one. Looking at the consistently utilized maps of Universe 7 and comparing the markers for Namek and Earth, we can see that they are basically on other sides of the universe. This is consistent with Earth being stated to be in the universe’s North Quadrant, whereas Namek is stated to be outside of the North Kai’s jurisdiction. With this in mind, considering the six days it took Goku’s ship to get to Namek, it would be traveling at 2.82 trillion times the speed of light. Goku would scale due to dodging meteors while he was on the ship while it was at peak speed, and Bardock would scale to Goku at that point with forms like Great Ape or Super Saiyan, as discussed in the Goku Scaling section. 


Considering the increase of Bardock’s forms, you can also argue him upscaling this feat, which would match Nolan’s own upscaling. With the numbers mentioned, Bardock would be about 141 times faster than the Viltrumite, placing the Saiyan at a blitzing pace in comparison. Thus even if Nolan was just as strong as Bardock for whatever reason, he would still be too slow to put up an effective fight against Bardock. So with both power and speed on his side, Bardock cleanly takes the entire stat trinity.


Arsenal & Abilities


Considering the two lack any sort of special complex abilities, it should not come as a surprise that comparing their abilities is a very straightforward process. When it comes to their physiologies, Bardock has the advantage. Both Viltrumites and Saiyans have superhuman capabilities, good temperature resistances, and the ability to naturally get stronger as they fight. The big difference here is Bardock’s Zenkai Boosts, which provide a massive increase instantly in contrast to a slow escalation overtime. Thus, even if Nolan was comparable in strength or even a good bit superior to Bardock, all it would take is one Zenkai Boost for Bardock to be able to toss him around.


Both can fly, and both can track each other well would it be with enhanced senses or a Scouter. But only one of the two is able to take full advantage of being at a distance. While Nolan can clap shockwaves towards his enemies, they can only be so effective when compared to Bardock’s ki manipulation. Bardock can fire all sorts of beam attacks, which can be big enough to the point in encompassing entire planets as seen with King Vegeta. Ki in general gives Bardock a lot more ways to act even up close. Say the two are in a close quarters fight: a random energy blast from the mouth is absolutely going to make it harder for Nolan to have a traditional hand to hand fight.


While Nolan has better environmental resistances and would be fine if the fight were to be taken to space, it’s not like Bardock can’t survive in an atmosphere for a time, at least long enough logically to finish the fight. What does matter would be Nolan’s far better survivability. As tough of a fighter as Bardock is, he’s not keeping up in a proper battle with his stomach out in the open like Nolan could. But if Bardock has a notable strength advantage, it’s not like Nolan would be able to get in such critical damage anyways. And if Bardock is hitting him so much harder, all his survivability is likely to do is keep him fighting longer. While Nolan has some perks Bardock would kill for, the Saiyan’s matching qualities, Zenkai Boost, and range keeps him ahead here.


Tertiary Factors


As skilled as a fighter Bardock is, completing multiple successful conquests, Nolan absolutely outdoes him. He has over two thousand years of combat experience under his belt, and has been trained in several fighting styles. Bardock should be able to keep up in hand to hand, but he will absolutely not be winning most direct hand to hand confrontations without overwhelming Nolan with brute force. Omni-Man also has the advantage in stamina as well, as Viltrumites can hold their breath and fly through the vacuum of space for well over a week. While he is not as capable as Thragg, he is still somewhat comparable, which is still incredible considering Thragg’s ability to fight for days against an even with his guts torn out of his body and exposed to open air. Bardock can go and fight for full nights, but he definitely can’t slightly compare to those levels of stamina like Nolan can.


It isn’t like Bardock does not have a tertiary advantage though, and he for sure has a big one. Bardock’s ki manipulation means he has a massive range advantage over Nolan, whose shockwaves can only pack so much of the force his blows normally have, and can only reach so far. It helps Bardock can make his ki attacks and explosions omnidirectional (ha), resulting in him being able to wipe out whole areas. Considering the speed difference, it is unlikely Nolan can fly away before being caught with an energy wave that’s too much for him. Overall, Nolan has the overall edge for tertiary factors, but Bardock isn’t some slouch. 


Conclusion

"You’re going to lead our people to great heights. You’re going to show them your ways…your compassion…you’re going to…you’re…Mark.”


Advantages:

  • Viltrumite adaptation could increase his stats mid fight…

  • More skilled and experienced

  • Better environmental resistances

  • Got the milk

  • Jonathan Kimble Simmons


Disadvantages:

  • …but it pales in comparison to the instant bursts of Zenkai Boosts

  • Lower in the stat trinity

  • Extremely limited ranged options

  • While useful in the long run, his regeneration won't be very combat applicable

  • Cooked in a fighting game tbh

  • “No more flying pizza trays.” - Miles Morales

    • That fucking sun disk that we hate


"Maybe it’s because I’m always in the middle of battle, and I’d like to save something instead for once. Especially someone deemed to be a lower class warrior, my son.”


Advantages:

  • Takes the stat trinity in spades, with or without Super Saiyan

  • Saiyan evolution alongside Zenkai Boosts outdo Viltrumite growth

  • Better ranged options that also make his AOE better

  • Solid State Scouter

  • Spark Super Low Low Medium Medium Medium Low Low Medium Low Low Low Assist 1 Low Low Low Low Low Medium Medium Medium Low/Medium Low Low Low Assist 2 Low Assist 2 Low Low/Medium Low Heavy Heavy Heavy Heavy Super Low Medium Low Medium Low Medium Assist 2’s Super Assist 1’s Ultimate DOWN!


Disadvantages:

  • Less skilled and experienced

  • Inferior endurance

  • Raditz

  • That was a Season 1 combo only btw


Both of these alien warriors are certainly very capable, but in the end, Bardock has all the tools needed to put Nolan Grayson out of commission. Due to the straightforward nature of these two’s abilities and equipment, neither is going to win through special means. This is all going to come down to a good old fashioned beat down, a style of battle Bardock would dominate in due to his stats. Bardock is thousands of times stronger with just his base form, and over a hundred times faster with his Great Ape form. He would hit Nolan with a lethal blow before he would have the chance to react, and all of this is ignoring the nightmare scenario of Bardock’s hair going gold. 


Even if Nolan was close in stats, all it would take is one Zenkai Boost for Bardock to shoot ahead of him again. While Nolan has some advantages like better skill and stamina, those can only do so much against an opponent too fast to tag and too strong to last long against. While Omni-Man Vil always put up the best fight he can, he simply couldn’t measure up to the Bar. Dock. Bar at the Docks. Look, we haven't practiced the end of blog puns in months, please laugh. The winner is Bardock.


Final Tally

Omni-Man (0) -


Bardock (9) - Advert, Aqua, Blue Igneous, door-kun, greymerlion2, MKF4, Pasbros, Saul, Yerm
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