Breaking Bad (Characters)

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A list of major and supporting characters on Breaking Bad.

Contents

[edit] Main Cast

[edit] Walter White

The main character of the series, Walt is a high school chemistry teacher who gets diagnosed with lung cancer. Realizing he doesn't have much time left teams up with a former student to use his chemistry know how to make primo crystal meth to make tons of money to leave behind for his family.

  • Ain't Too Proud To Beg: Type 1 in the Season 3 finale.
  • Alliterative Name.
  • Alternate Character Interpretation: It's hard to decide if Walt's "cooking" is retaliation for a world that never cut him a break or a genuine desire to provide for his family. Not that they're necessarily mutually exclusive.
  • Anti Hero: Gradually working his way down the sliding scale but also shows signs of...
  • Anti Villain: Type III
  • Badass Boast:
    "I am the one who knocks!"
    "Stay out of my territory."
  • Badass Bookworm
  • Badass Mustache
  • Bald Of Awesome
  • Batman Gambit: How he finally manages to take out Gus.
    • Elaborating: Two of epic proportions in the last two episodes of season 4. First, he gives Brock a non-lethal poison and steals Jesse's ricin cigarette; Pinkman storms his house wanting to kill him, since only the two of them knew about the poison, but Walt convinces him at gunpoint that he would have nothing to gain and that it's a ploy by Gus to gain Jesse's compliance in killing Walt. When he initial attempt to kill Gus fails, IndyPloy he acquires Tio Salamanca as an ally, convinces him to talk to the DEA so Gus will think he's snitching, then booby-traps his wheelchair. This plan hinges on the hopes that a) Hector hates Gus more than he hates Walt, b)Gus will insist on killing Hector in person and c) Hector is willing to kill himself to take Gus down with him. Amazingly, it all works.
  • Beard Of Evil: Or at least Beard of Anti-Heroics.
  • Becoming The Mask: Walt invents "Heisenberg", his criminal alter ego, as both a convenient pseudonym and a coping mechanism. As times goes on and his behavior becomes more flagrantly amoral, it begins to seem as though there may not really be a difference between the two.
    'Stay out of my territory.'
  • Berserk Button: Walt is incredibly defensive of his son in the first season, and his family in general.
  • Blood From The Mouth: It demonstrates that Walter's lung cancer is getting worse, convincing him that he needs to make the most of the time he has remaining. Subverted as it an - albeit related - side effect of the cancer, which was actually in remission.
  • Bond One Liner: "I won."
  • Coincidence Magnet: Although at least partly subverted: it's out of his own actions that he meets people he met before or that are important to the plot.
  • Corrupt The Cutie: When the series begins, Walt is a harmless, middle-aged man working two jobs to support his wife, disabled son and unborn daughter, and turns to cooking and selling meth only when he finds out he has cancer. He partners with his only possible connection to the drug world, Jesse, a former straight-F student, now drug dealer and user. A casual viewer would assume Jesse was the bad influence in this scenario, but it becomes increasingly apparent that Walt's lack of consideration for Jesse and his drive -- first to to make the payoff worth his risk and later just to survive -- inadvertently corrupts Jesse, and forces him through one traumatic experience after another. Walt doesn't seem to realize how much better off Jesse would be if they'd never met.
  • Can't Spit It Out: He seems completely incapable of expressing the kinship he feels for Jesse, even though he goes batshit every time he's in danger. This finally bites him in the ass in "Bug", since his constant belittling of Jesse who is still moved by Gale's death and finds some satisfaction in working with Mike, finally pushes him over the edge.
  • Car Fu: Uses this on two child murdering drug dealers at the end of season 3.
  • Cassandra Truth: He deduces EVERYTHING Gus tries to do with Jesse in season 4, but he fails to convince Pinkman himself. Ironically, when he finally believes him, Walt is actually the culprit.
  • The Chessmaster: Thinks he's this and does pull off a pretty round of Xanatos Speed Chess against Gus in season 3's finale but seems at a loss for what his next move is.
    • Fourth season is him trying to be this, but he just doesn't have the cards Gus has - control and the possibility and money to buy it.
  • Clark Kenting: Walter White + black hat + black sun-glasses (optional) = Heisenberg.
  • The Chessmaster: Cements himself into this at the end of season four. Two Words: "I won."
  • Completely Missing The Point: Of Mike's monologue in "Half Measures".
    • To be fair, by the end of the episode, so did Mike.
  • Confess To A Lesser Crime: Tells Skyler he's buying pot from Jesse when she confronts him on his odd behavior.
    • Also in "Salud" to Walt Jr. - he lies he's back into gambling to explain his injuries.
  • Consummate Liar.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Sometimes to excess.
  • Death Glare: Surprisingly, a master of this. Just see his expression near the end of "Over", "Bullet Points" or in "Cornered".
  • Don't You Dare Pity Me: Refuses the offer to pay his medical expenses from two of his old colleagues.
  • Dumbass Has A Point: Walter and Skyler during their attempt to fake card reading for their Zany Scheme:
    Skyler: Let's just keep going. Ok?
    Walter: No, you know what? I'm in recovery! Remember? I shouldn't even be playing. And that is the fiction we should be sticking to.
    Skyler: You know what? You're right.
  • Enemy Mine: With Tio at the end of season 4.
  • Face Heel Turn: The whole series appears to be this for Walter.
  • Facing the Bullets One Liner: Gale's home address when he was about to be shot by Mike.
    Mike: What did you do???
  • Glad To Be Alive Sex: In the first episode, when he escapes (and kills) two Ax Crazy drug dealers.
  • Heel Realization: In "Salud" after his fight with Jesse. A tearjerking one, to boot.
    I don't want to be the bad guy.
  • Heroic BSOD: In the last scene of Crawl Space.
  • Hidden Villain: To Hank.
  • I Did What I Had To Do.
  • Idiot Ball: Picked up rather suddenly in the second episode of season 4 he tries to {{spoiler}goad Mike into helping him kill Gus}}, his employer, and doesn't really offer Mike anything in return. In the same episode he just drives up to Gus' house with the intention of killing him and is shocked, shocked, to receive a phone call from one of Gus' Mooks watching the house.
    • Possibly justified in that Walt is scrambling to buy himself more time and really has absolutely no clue what to do next.
  • Important Haircut: He shaves his head so he won't suffer the humiliation of it falling off.
  • In The End You Are On Your Own: By the middle of season 4, he realises Jesse is falling for Gus' ploys and without him, he's all alone and can't hope to get him back with speeches and reason. Cue in two awesome Batman Gambits and he's got Jesse back, his family safe, and Gus and Tio safely disposed of. Just As Planned and All. By. Himself.
  • Jerkass: To almost everyone (mostly Jesse) except his family.
  • MacGyvering.
  • Magnificent Bastard: Throughout season 4, he wants Skyler (and himself) to believe this. He finally comes through by the final two episodes, where he completes two world-class Batman Gambits.
  • Manipulative Bastard: In season 4 he realises he'll do just about anything to save his life and his family's. Including using Jesse in the worst ways ever.
  • Mistaken For Cheating.
  • Moral Event Horizon: May have crossed this by ordering the murder of Gale in the third season finale.
    • And again with Jesse's kid.
  • Mr. Fan Disservice: Bryan Cranston does get naked fairly often, not for comedy and it is not pretty.
  • It's All About Me: Shows shades of this throughout the series, but it kicks in full time in Season 4, to the point when Walt speaks out loud the exact line. This leads to a conflict with Jesse.
  • Justified Criminal.
  • Kick The Dog: Letting Jane die and arguably ordering Gale's death though that was for survival. Also, the way he treats Jesse in Season 4.
  • Laughing Mad: Had an epic one at the end of "Crawl space".
  • Love Makes You Evil.
  • Love Makes You Crazy.
  • Morality Pet: His family.
    • Possibly by this time, only his son.
  • Out Gambitted: Although Walter is a fairly intelligent man, being at the same level of Xanatos Speed Chessing as Gus, his Ego always stands in his way. Although he knows many tricks are cheap appeals to his ego, he still goes with them, as risky or as foolish as they may be and sometimes it comes back to bite him in the ass hard.
    • Another thing he doesn't put in his equations with Gus is his network (of which Saul mentions before) in both information gathering, tracking people and muscle power available on Gus' long-time drug dealing and possibly vast fortune and contacts. In other words, Walter's simple (in terms of resources) but intelligent plans fail because of the many invisible webs Gus weaves around himself and his assets just in case.
    • He does eventually beat Gus with a simple but intelligent plan in the end.
  • Papa Bear.
  • Playing Against Type: See Tom Hanks Syndrome.
  • Playing Sick: His fugue state in season 2.
  • Protagonist Journey To Villain: Specifically, creator Vince Gilligan describes the show as "What happens when Mr. Chips becomes Scarface."
  • Properly Paranoid: In Season 4. He deduces a lot of things around Jesse's work with Mike, but he's too unhinged to use the clues to his advantage.
  • Sarcastic Confession: To Hank in the season 3 premiere.
  • Science Anti-Hero
  • Secret Identity: His Heisenberg persona that he uses to sell meth.
  • Tom Hanks Syndrome: Actor Bryan Cranston while not exclusively a comedic actor was previously best known for his work as a Bumbling Dad on Malcolm In The Middle.
  • Took A Level In Badass: What the title of the series refers to.
  • True Companions: With Jesse. At least until season 4.
    • They still show shades of it in "Crawl Space", since both admit that if one of them dies, they are out. Not like they tell that to each other.
  • Villain Protagonist: Has been slowly sliding into this ever since his cancer went into remission and his actions have become less and less justified.
  • The Woobie: Starts as this, but grows increasingly unsympathetic as the show goes on.
  • Woobie Destroyer Of Worlds.


[edit] Jesse Pinkman

A comfortable upper-middle-class kid--and (flunked) student of Walter's in the not-too-distant past--he becomes a lowlife drug dealer. Walt enlists (by which we mean blackmails) him as his business partner because of his street smarts and knowledge of the drug trade. Seemingly a total jerk eventually we see he has hidden depths and isn't as heartless as he seems. In fact he's starting to prove more morally conflicted about what he's done than Walt has.

  • Alternate Character Interpretation: Book Dumb Anti Villain or Villain Protagonist who's been using Walt?
    • Or neither. His actions make people's sympathy for him swing like a pendulum. In some instances he's actually shown to have one of the higher moral standard of anyone in the show (in regards to certain things, like kids).
    • By the fourth season, whatever he started as, he's over his head now. [[Xanatos Gambit|Except if he knew about Walter's deceit, but decided to get rid of Gus as the biggest threat, and Walter's next.]]
  • Always Second Best: Feels like this to Walter from time to time (and Walter never lets it go, even when Jesse almost reaches his level of cooking). This leaves open the door for Mike and Gus to pretend to mentor him and acknowledge him
  • Anti Villain: Has shown signs of this since his Heel Realization in season 3.
  • A Real Man Is A Killer: Brutally subverted. There are plenty of people that Jesse wants to kill throughout the first three seasons, and his reasons are at least noble in a macho, street honor sense. Nevertheless, he doesn't actually get to end a life until the very end of Season 3, when he kills Gale. Jesse does not issue a Pre Mortem One Liner. Not to mention that the event appears to completely shatter him and for the entire episode after Jesse barely speaks because he's still in shock.
  • Binge Montage: Even before the Break The Haughty incidents.
  • Blue Eyes:
    Cashier': He had really... blue eyes. Really, really blue.
    Hank': Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's dreamy, okay.
  • Book Dumb.
  • Break The Haughty.
  • Buffy Speak.
  • Children Are Innocent: A firmly held belief of his. This leads to him plotting the deaths of two drug dealers who are the bosses of Tomas, an 11 year old who murdered Jesse's friend combo. This situation ultimately leads to the collapse of Walt and Gus's business relationship.
  • Deadpan Snarker: More snarky than deadpan, but has his moments.
  • Dumbass Has A Point: When Walt and Jesse are stuck in the desert in the RV after the battery dies, Jesse starts throwing out suggestions including stripping down the vehicle to make either a robot or a dune buggy (he was a bit delirious). Believe it or not, this helps Walt strike on the solution that actually does save their lives.
    • Jesse personifies this trope with his genius moments but otherwise really dumbass behavior.
  • Heel Realization / I Am What I Am: In the third season premiere.
    Jesse: I'm the bad guy.
  • Heroic BSOD: In the season 4 premiere he gets this after killing Gale being so stunned at what he's done that he can't even seem to drive away from the apartment complex. Afterward he sits in stunned silence for most of the episode.
  • Hidden Depths: Is surprisingly kindhearted.
  • Idiot Ball: Holds on to it hard in season 4.
  • I Gave My Word: He gives his word that he will pay a fair price to the junkyard owner who has towed and stored his RV. When the junkyard owner threatens to sell it off and pocket the money instead, Jesse steals the RV. When Jesse finally gets some cash, he returns with the fair payment, plus interest, plus the cost of the portable toilet and fence that he broke during his escape.
  • The Igor.
  • Jerk With A Heart Of Gold: Shows signs of this.
  • Moral Event Horizon: After Jane's death and his murder of Gale, he believes that he has crossed this. YMMV on whether he actually did.
  • Papa Bear.
  • Sophisticated As Hell: "It's totally Kafkaesque, yo."
  • This Is For Emphasis Bitch: He lives by this trope.
  • True Companions: With Walter. At least at first.
  • Villain Protagonist.
  • The Woobie: Seems to be seen this way by Walt.
  • Xanatos Sucker: The posterboy for this between Walter and Gus in season 4.


[edit] Skyler White

  • Alternate Character Interpretation: Good woman who's acting poorly due to her husband's action? Simple human frailty? Control freak who ran the family up until Walt's Break Bad and is now looking for any method to put him under her thumb in some form of twisted love?
  • Batman Gambit: Notes that if Ted's company would get a real scrutiny, all her act would be easily revealed.
  • Because I'm Good At It: Is taking that path too with money laundering and managing firms which would provide this... service.
  • Bitch In Sheep's Clothing: She could be seen as this (more so in season 4) she plays innocent to get what she want occasionally YMMV if she's a bitch or not.
  • Dumb Blonde: Far from it, but she knows how to play the part.
  • Hate Dumb: A large number of viewers dislike her for being "a bitch" despite the fact that she's no more manipulative, cold, or otherwise flawed than Walter is and is probably the most interesting and intelligent female character on television.
  • Hot Mom.
  • I Have Boobs You Must Obey: Played for drama/Black Comedy/deconstructed.
  • Money Dear Boy: What initially causes her to start coming back to Walt and helping out in his criminal operations.
  • Never Say That Again: In the second episode, after Jesse filled her with "yo"s, someone around the house says it. She is not pleased.
  • Not So Above It All: Slowly and willingly she falls in Walt's world if illegality and deceit.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: Along with her ability to fake distress when she needs sympathy, it's one of her best weapons, as she proves in season 4 when she tricks an IRS agent investigating Beneke Fabricators for fraudulent accounting into thinking the company's bookkeeping was flawed due to incompetence rather than criminal intent.
  • The Power Of Acting: Turns out to be one of Skyler's best weapons. Whether she's faking contractions to bail her sister out of her shoplifting problems, making up a story about Walt's gambling addiction on the fly, or convincing a locksmith that Walt's condo is her home, Skyler can sell it.
  • Precision F Strike: "I fucked Ted."
  • Refuge In Audacity: Her act to hold off the IRS check works because she risks getting in the character of an easy girl that was hired only for her looks.
  • Rescued From The Scrappy Heap: For a lot of fans in season 3.
  • The Scrappy: Many viewers do not care for Skyler.
  • The Smart Chick: Not as smart as her husband but once she starts to get involved with his business it becomes clear that she has a lot of business smarts and her elaborate lie to the family about where the money is coming from is pretty ingenious.
    • Actually, given that for all his brilliance as a chemist and meth cook Walt does things like suggest to Hank that Gale wasn't Heisenberg and buys Walt Jr. a flashy, expensive, attention-grabbing car when the family is supposed to be strapped for cash, both of which Skyler immediately points out are incredibly stupid things to have done, it's quite arguable that she is just as smart as he is, or at the very least more prudent.
  • Wham Line: "I know you're a drug dealer Walt."
    • Not to mention "I fucked Ted."
    • "I gave it [the money] to Ted."
  • Villain Protagonist: Might be on her way to becoming one of these since she's now taking a more active role in her husband's business.
  • Villainy Free Villain: For the first two seasons.
  • Your Cheating Heart: In the second episode of season 3 with Ted Beneke.


[edit] Hank Schrader

  • Anti Hero: Type 2.
  • Badass Angster: He's very good at his job and capable of taking down psychopathic criminals even when outgunned or totally unarmed, but he's more emotionally affected by violent confrontations than most Badass cops.
  • Badass Decay: Justified: He goes through a Humiliation Conga that ultimately leads to Break The Haughty, leaving him rather helpless and emasculated in the end.
    • Except learning to use his skills on the net so quickly easily sky-rockets him back to Badass status.
  • Bald Of Awesome.
  • Big Damn Heroes: In the second episode of season 2 he unknowingly saves Walt and Jesse from Tuco.
  • Boisterous Bruiser: Acts like one, but it's mostly to cover up his inner doubts and fears.
  • Broken Ace: Hasn't been the same ever since the taskforce bombing in season 2.
  • Cassandra Truth: With his suspicions about Gustavo Fring.
  • Crouching Moron Hidden Baddass: He can be obnoxious, boisterous and a bit simple-minded, but he's also very good at his job. Not only he kills three dangerous men while vastly underpowered, he also shows some impressive guile, like when he insults Gomez's pride and criticizes his skill as a cop to make him check out a lead.
  • Ensemble Darkhorse: Goes from being the most annoyingly obnoxious characters on the show in season 1 to being one of its most interesting characters from season 2 on out.
  • Extreme Melee Revenge: To Jesse.
  • Hero Antagonist: Becomes one once he makes catching the elusive "Heisenberg" his goal; unusually for this trope, he's unaware that the Villain Protagonist he's pursuing is right under his nose.
  • Hidden Depths: For the first season Hank is shown mostly as a textbook Boisterous Bruiser and Walt's obnoxious brother in law but in season 2 after he kills Tuco we begin to see that Hank secretly has alot of anxiety and fear surrounding his job.
  • Inspector Zenigata.
  • Jerk With A Heart Of Gold: Though loud and obnoxious he is generous to and protective of his family and devoted to his job.
  • Lawful Good.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Take your brother-in-law to a drug stake-out, what's the worst that could happen?
  • Noble Bigot With A Badge: Kind of a subversion. Though he's not very politically correct and frequently makes racially insensitive jokes to his Mexican-American partner, he doesn't appear to be genuinely bigoted or racist.
  • No Holds Barred Beatdown: Gives one to Jesse in season 3.
  • N Word Privileges: Tends to assume he has them with his Hispanic colleagues, which is one thing that makes him so obnoxious.
  • Rescued From The Scrappy Heap: Starting in season 2 after he shoots Tuco and slowly starts to have a nervous breakdown.
  • Retirony: Subverted and somewhat inverted. After getting in a whole mess of trouble for beating up Jesse he tells Marie he thinks that "The universe is telling me I shouldn't be a cop anymore." and believes that he is ultimately going to be fired for it. Around this time Gus gives the cousins the okay to kill Hank. However, Hank ends up getting to keep his jobs and immediately after the cousins try to kill him but he narrowly escapes.
  • Scare 'Em Straight: Is asked these exact words by Marie about Walter Jr.'s presumably marijuana use.
  • Stepford Smiler: Despite being deeply traumatized by his shootout with Tuco and the bombing in Juarez, he continues to maintain his blustery, backslapping persona in front of colleagues and friends.
  • Wham Line: Since when do vegans eat fried chicken?
    • Following up on that in the next episode, "Except... What are Gustavo Fring's fingerprints doing at Gale Boetticher's apartment?
  • Wheelchair Woobie.

[edit] Gustavo "Gus" Fring

  • Affably Evil.
  • Badass Boast:
    • In "Crawl Space", Gus delivers one to Hector Salamanca at the retirement home, saying that he killed off all members of the cartel and Jesse killed his grandson, making him the last of the Salamanca line.
  • Bad Boss: As Victor finds out.
    • Again with Walter and Jesse, and he just can't kill him because he's got too many accumulated resources.
  • Badass Boast: "Don Eladio is dead. His capos are dead. You have no one left to fight for. Fill your pockets and leave in peace, or fight me and die!"
  • Batman Gambit: His ploy to have two attackers come after Jesse and Mike to cause Jesse to spring into action and then start questioning his loyalty to Walt.
    • In general, most ploys around getting Jesse's confidence. As he and Walt points out, he's not there. Yet.
  • Benevolent Boss: From Walt's point of view at first.
  • Best Served Cold: Gus once saw his friend and partner murdered in front of him by the cartel. He then proceeds to bide his time and establish trust for twenty years. Then, when the man who pulled the trigger is finally in his power, he still doesn't kill him, but visits him again and again, each time telling him that another one of his relatives has been killed, until he's the last member of his family alive.
  • Big Bad: Starting in the last episode of season 3 and through season 4.
  • Big Brother Is Watching: Is shown to have this habit even when he's not (apparently forced to) watching Walter. He has cameras over his entire washing company.
  • Blofeld Ploy: Pulls this in the season 4 premiere by slitting Victor's throat in front of Walt and Jesse. Justified in that Walt has him at a standstill so that Gus can no longer kill him and Victor had just tried to cook up a batch of meth to prove Walt was not needed, without Gus' approval, a move that could potentially cause thousands of dollars in lost revenue had the batch turned out wrong.
    • There's also the fact that Victor had just walked into a crime scene and left in a very suspicious manner, leaving his fingerprints behind. A later episode mentions a "person of interest" who may be Victor.
  • Bloody Hilarious: They manage to make his death funny and awesome too.
  • Chekhov's Gunman.
  • The Chessmaster.
  • Complete Monster: "If you interfere this becomes a much simpler matter. I will kill you. I will kill your wife. I will kill your son. I will kill your infant daughter."
  • Crazy Prepared: He had a secret hospital set up with medical staff on his payroll to revive him when he self-poisoned. Not only that, the hospital is supplied with matching blood types for himself, Jesse and Mike (and they even know Jesse's entire medical history).
    • More like Properly Paranoid: the poison effect were obvious, so unless taking the antidote on hand, he couldn't risk it or just go "Eh I'll just puke it out or just think of something on the way". The extra blood was also justified, as he didn't knew how many would drink the poison, how many would be standing and for how long. It may be that this was one of the best case scenarios for the situation.
  • A Day In The Limelight: "Hermanos" features a lot more of him than any other episode has and even gives him a flashback to develop a little bit of his past.
  • Devil In Plain Sight.
  • Dying Moment Of Awesome.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Invoked in "Full Measures" when he insists he would never order the death of a child. Is implied he did, anyway.
  • Facial Horror / Two Faced: Has this briefly before his dies.
  • Fake Nationality: The character at least claims to be from Chile; Giancarlo Esposito is half African-American, half Italian, and though his Spanish is very good he doesn't sound like a native speaker.
  • Fatal Flaw: His desire for revenge against Tio Hector proves to be his downfall.
  • Ho Yay: There seemed to be vibes between him and his late ex-partner Maximino.
    • Openly discussed by the creators in the Insider Podcast as a valid interpretation of their relationship.
  • It's Personal: As if learning nothing from Tio's mistakes, he goes personally to him to kill him. It ends up literally blowing up in his face.
  • Kick The Dog: Possibly his ordering the death of Tomas though it's never explicitly said that he did. Definitely his threat to Walt that he would murder his entire family including his infant daughter should Walt interfere with Hank's murder.
  • Kick The Son Of A Bitch: His taking out the Cartel.
  • Magnificent Bastard: With his successful scheme to wipe out Don Eladio and all his captains in "Salud" being the preeminent example thus far.
  • Manipulative Bastard: It works with Jesse at least.
  • Moral Event Horizon: "I will kill your wife. I will kill your son. I will kill your infant daughter"
  • Mysterious Past: Starting to be revealed as of "Hermanos".
  • Not So Above It All: All his ploy is not for profit as much as It's Personal. See below too.
  • Not So Different: Walt tells him this, to which he doesn't agree- he couldn't be further from the truth. He was in a partnership like Walt and Jesse, and even had qualifications similar to Jesse, took exaggerated actions to get attention similar to Walter, and ended up with a dead partner, something that he's holding over the two for over a season.
  • Oh Crap: When he realises what Tio was up to.
  • Out Gambitted: Ends his life like this to Walt.
  • Perfect Poison: Uses the same bottle of tequila to dispatch Don Eladio and all his captains at once.
  • Playing Both Sides: Plays the US and Mexican governments against the Mexican cartel to seize control of the West Coast meth trade. Also pulls this by telling the Cousins that they can kill Hank in place of Walter since he actually shot Tucco but then proceeds to anonymously tip Hank so that he can get the jump on them and take them out of the equation.
  • The Quiet One: Is very soft spoken, calm and collected even in the most stressful situations.
  • Signature Move: Gus tightening his tie / changing his clothes in a dramatic fashion in general.
  • Unflinching Walk: Into a hail of sniper bullets, even.
  • Villain With Good Publicity: Is the well respected owner of a chain of chicken restaurants who publicly supports the DEA at fundraisers.
  • Would Hurt A Child: Does it twice so far and threatens a third time with Walter's infant child.
    • Though by the end, this is deconstructed, if not even Subverted. He didn't poison Jesse's kid, which may mean he may have not ordered the first child's death. Still, it's quite gray.
  • You Have Failed Me: Initially he appears to be a nicer, stabler person than other druglords Walt and Jesse have encountered, but when Victor screws up and is seen leaving Gale's apartment after possibly leaving evidence there, he shows himself to be just as willing as Tuco to violently dispose of an employee who has become a liability.
    • He almost recites this trope word for word when he fires Walt, who (albeit unwillingly) led Hank to the laundromat.
  • You Killed My "Brother": Max, his partner in chicken making slash meth.


[edit] Walter White Jr.

  • Big Ol Eyebrows: Dear GOD.
    • Has nothing on Bogdan, though.
  • Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming: Walter Jr's speech to the news about how Walt is his hero.
    • Subverted though: his speech, in the episode right after he lets Jane die, hits home how far his morals have decayed since he started cooking meth.
  • Dawson Casting: Notably averted, RJ Mitte is actually 17 years old (as of season 3).
    • Though as the show's timeline progresses far more slowly than production time, he does become noticeably older than he should be, which may be at least part of the reason for his becoming Out Of Focus.
  • Disabled Snarker.
  • Do Not Call Me Paul: Decides to be called Flynn for some reason.
  • Dude Looks Like A Lady.
  • Jerkass With A Heart of Gold: At first, tells his dad he just wants him to die already, but by the fourth season, takes care of him in any way he can.
  • Mistaken For Junkie: For marijuana use.
  • Out Of Focus: Has appeared less in Season 4 than in any other season. It is likely due to not even a year passing in-story while the actor has aged visibly, as noted above.
  • Same Ordeal Syndrome: First gets shit for apparently consuming marijuana. Then gets scolded for other things Walter does.
  • Wheelchair Woobie.
  • Written In Infirmity: Averted, Mitte does actually have cerebral palsy in real life but Walter Jr. was conceived as having it ever since the writing of the pilot. Additionally, Mitte's cerebral palsy isn't as severe Walter Jr.'s (it doesn't affect his speech as strongly as it affects Walter, and he doesn't need crutches to walk).


[edit] Saul Goodman

  • Absentee Actor: Noticeable in the season 2 finale when bizarrely we see Mike talking to the phone with Saul but never hear Saul's voice or see him on the other end despite both occurring during an earlier episode where's Saul's only appearance was in a phone call scene.
  • Ain't Too Proud To Beg: In his first appearance when Walt and Jesse kidnap him.
  • Ambulance Chaser.
  • Amoral Attorney.
  • Armchair Psychology.
  • Ensemble Darkhorse: Was destined to be this from day one.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Too bad they don't count on having people killed.
  • Genre Savvy: In his first appearance when Walt and Jesse kidnap him, he initially begs for his life. But once he realizes that they're not the drug dealers he thinks they are he starts calmly talking shop. He even asks them why they don't just kill the dealer they want him to defend.
  • Lampshade Hanging: Does a couple of these throughout the series (like lampashading his "scene name"), but goes on a 5 minute rant in season 4 finale about all the trouble the "partners" have gotten him into.
  • Lovable Coward: In the season 3 finale, he insists he won't tell Mike Jesse's whereabouts and stands his ground... for about five seconds.
  • Only Sane Man: Has moment of this between the cornered almost-psycho drug manufacturer, the even more psycho drug lord, his mole bodyguard, the often-on-drugs partner of the drug manufacturer that always gets in trouble, and the wife that puts her nose into what is definitely not her business and for all her high talk, makes pretty stupid money decisions.
  • Orange And Blue Morality: Cares about Walter and Jesse on some level, but has no problems in strongly implying Jesse should be killed when he becomes a liability.
  • Psychologist Lawyer: Seems to get pride out of this.
  • Unknown Rival: To Skyler's lawyer.
  • Vanity License Plate: LWYR UP
  • You Have To Have Jews: Saul Goodman is actually an Irish-American named McGill; he uses a Jewish-sounding pseudonym because he believes criminals will have more confidence in a Jewish attorney.


[edit] Mike Ehrmantraut


[edit] Marie Schrader

  • The Cassandra: "None of this would have happened if you hadn't bought pot from that Pinkman kid!"
  • Color Coded For Your Convenience: Objects, costumes, etc. associated with her tend to be purple, which is her favorite color.
  • Dumbass Has A Point: Marie is stupid enough to think you can overdose on marijuana and die from it, but during the "Talking Pillow" debate in Season 1 she's the only one who thinks Walt should decide on his own whether his cancer should be treated and calls out Skyler on not giving Walt a chance to speak and forcing everyone to have one opinion.
  • Gilligan Cut: NO WAY YOU'RE GOING TO THE HEADQUARTERS TO SPEAK TO THE BIG BAD DRUGLORD.
  • Happily Married: To Hank. For a while.
  • Motor Mouth.
  • Out Of Focus: Has had the least amount of screen time of any of the original cast members.
  • The Scrappy: Easily the most annoying, obnoxious character on the show. Especially since she has an annoying habit of talking and talking AND TALKING when it's long past time for her to just shut the fuck up.
    • In fact being Out Of Focus is just about the only thing that keeps the fanbase from bitching about her more than they do about Skyler. It's also notable that the writers have even really attempted to rescue her from the proverbial heap.
  • Sticky Fingers: Is prone to shoplifting and other forms of minor larceny, particularly when she's under stress.


[edit] Hector 'Tio' Salamanca

[edit] Jane Margolis

  • Black And White Beauty.
  • Call Forward: "I think I just threw up in my mouth a little."
  • Deadpan Snarker.
  • Hope Spot: She and Jesse get 600 grand and talk about going clean and the new life they'll have together. Unfortunately their decision to take "one last hit" backfires when Jane dies because of it.
    • Also, while she's choking/overdosing, Walt comes in. He probably thinks there's nothing to be done, or that he's better off without her, and doesn't try to save her.
  • Killed Off For Real.
  • Lady Macbeth: Tries to convince Jesse to turn on Walt when he won't give him his share of the money and it almost works. Too bad she dies before the plan can come to fruition.
  • Manipulative Bitch.
  • Not So Above It All: After falling Off The Wagon, her level-headed personality goes out the window and she becomes significantly more conniving and irrational.
  • Off The Wagon.
  • Perky Goth: Not overtly, though she does favor goth-style colors.
  • Poisonous Friend.
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