Dragon Ball Z Abridged M 5 / Recap - TV Tropes (2024)

Against all sense, the destruction of Planet Vegeta throws Bardock into a strange alien world, harassed by a very familiar (Okay, not that familiar) alien tyrant.

Of all the STUPID.... ASININE... TROPE JUMPING BULLsh*t!

• Adaptational Jerkass: Unlike the original, Bardock absolutely does not become a genuine hero to the primitive Saiyans here. He ends up doing most of the same things, but his attitude makes it clear that none of it was out of the goodness of his heart.
  • The original had him turn Super Saiyan out of rage remembering his allies killed by Freeza. This version has him become a Super Saiyan out of rage for the "shark jumping bullsh*t''' of the plot.
• All Just a Dream: The whole special turns out to be a nonsensical story Goku is telling Gohan. And that turns out to be a dream of Gohan's... while Piccolo is watching him sleep.
• Big "SHUT UP!": Both Bardock and Chilled say the following to the primitive Saiyans when they start singing:

  "NO! None of that! Shame on you!"

• Bizarre Alien Reproduction: Bardock kicking one of the primitive Saiyans gets it pregnant.
• Composite Character:
  • The Plant people are just an indigenous race from Planet Plant, and material further revealed in the 2010's would make it clear they are not Saiyans nor related to them. Here, they are primitive Saiyans.
  • Bardock is now the Legendary Super Saiyan instead of Yamoshi. Again, this is consequence of the parody being created before further material in the 2010's reveal who Yamoshi is.
• Do Wrong, Right: Bardock criticizes a couple of Chilled's men because their village terrorizing techniques are extremely amateur and lack backbone. During the credits scene, he ends up giving them some pointers.
• Everyone Has Standards: Bardock only steps in to save Dray from Chilled's men because the situation was rapidly devolving into a gang-rape innuendo.
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Bardock struggles to see the connection between Chilled and Freeza but is constantly interrupted. It took this exchange with Chilled to come to the shocking conclusion.

  Bardock: Hey! You! What year is it?
  Chilled: 2222
  Bardock: BC or AD?
  Chilled: The hell are those?
  Bardock: I'm in the f*cking past.

• Fun with Acronyms: The Primitive Saiyans have a healing salve called S.P.U.G. (pronounced Spooge), short for Super Polymorphic Unleashing Gel.
• Jumping the Shark: Lampshaded In-Universe. When Bardock realizes that he's in the past, the sheer shark-jumping nature of it all causes him to go Super Saiyan.
• Mythology Gag: The alternate scene during the credits is a Shout-Out to the Ocean Dub's portrayal of Bardock.

  Kayabira: You should write a book. You're like a brilliant scientist!
  Bardock: Well, I am working on this fake moon thing.

• Nominal Hero: Bardock doesn't really care about the past Saiyans, and actually hates them. He only helps them fight Chilled because he ends up getting pissed off about the Time Travel, with Chilled being nearby as a convenient punching bag.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Bardock remembering he has not one, but two sons (Kakarot/Goku and Raditz)
  • Bardock saying "Oh Crapbaskets" as Freeza throws the Death Ball at him.
  • One of the primitive Saiyans' faces as Chilled orders his minions to attack the others.
• Oh, My Gods!:

  Bardock: Ah, Space Christ, what now?

• The Other Marty: Lanipator and KaiserNeko bounce between voicing all the primitive Saiyans, sometimes even the same character in the same scene, which plays to their lack of overall reverence towards the original special by not caring too much about consistency of voices to take pot shots at the sheer absurdity of its existence.
• Running Gag: Every time Bardock tries to make sense of where he is, something else comes along and interrupts, causing him to forget. The fourth and final time, he manages to figure it all out.
• Shout-Out:
  • The primitive Saiyans all sound like Kermit the Frog.
    • While Chilled sounds like Miss Piggy.
  • The song they sing for the "Violent Savior" (Bardock) is from How the Grinch Stole Christmas! called Welcome Christmas/Dahoo Dores.
  • A subtle one, when Chilled is dying:

  Chilled: Before I die, I have one more decree. All of our most elite warriors must learn dance choreography... got to style... all over our opponents'... balls.

• Politically Correct Villain: As evil as Chilled is, he acknowledges "those of unspecified gender".
• Take That!: This episode pulls no punches when making fun of the original special for being a blatant act of Bardock pandering.
• Theme Naming:
  • All the primitive Saiyans are named after famous rappers.
  • Chilled starts the Freeza Force Edible Theme Naming by decreeing that all of his underlings will be named after fruit from now on.
• Unreliable Narrator: Revealing that the special is a story told by Goku to Gohan. However, Gohan calls out the plot holes, which Goku admit he has no idea. Then again, that in itself was All Just a Dream.