Bardock first showed up in the TV special "Bardock - The Father of Goku," and only appeared in a couple manga panels afterward, which Akira Toriyama drew after the special aired in Japan. His name is a pun on "burdock," the herb. Different translations have gone with different spellings—"Burdock," "Bardock," and even "Barduck" depending on the version.
He's Raditz and Goku's biological father and a Saiyan warrior with the rare ability to see the future. Through these visions, Bardock watches his home planet Vegeta get destroyed by Freeza over and over. After barely escaping Dodoria, he decides to actually try fighting back against Freeza and his forces to prevent the catastrophe—a plan that obviously doesn't work out. He dies in the attempt, though not before having one last vision of his son eventually facing off against the same tyrant.
According to the anime special, doctors assessed his battle power at around 10,000 while he was recovering from his final mission.
Later on, the "Episode of Bardock" manga gave him a major upgrade: he becomes a Super Saiyan for the first time. This happened partly to boost his presence in the arcade game Dragon Ball Heroes, where he can go Super Saiyan as well.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
