< Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad/Characters


A list of major and supporting characters on Breaking Bad. There will be spoilers.


Walter White

Played By: Bryan Cranston

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.
  • Acquired Situational Narcissism: Walter gets seriously overconfident whenever he succeeds. It's most visible in season 4, after his small victory against Gus puts him on a huge power binge.
  • Alliterative Name
  • 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!"
  • Badass Bookworm
  • Badass Mustache: When he isn't sporting a full beard.
  • Badass Teacher: Despite leaving the job in Season three.
  • Bald of Awesome: Though as the show progresses, it's getting closer to Bald of Evil.
  • Batman Gambit: His victory against Gus hinged on Gus being so bent on revenge that he would want to kill Hector himself. It works.
    • Also, his poisoning of Brock. It exploits Jesse's protective instincts over children AND his distrust for Walt after "Bug".
  • Beard of Evil: Or at least Beard of Anti-Heroics, which Walt grows once his actions become less and less excusable.
  • Because I'm Good At It. One of the major (if unspoken) reasons Walt continues to cook. When Jesse cooks his own batch of meth crystals, Walter takes offense and examines the crystals, pointing out every flaw in them.
    • He also acts very smug in the Season 4 premiere, when Victor, one of Gus' henchmen tries to cook his own batch of meth.
    • It finally gets spoken, word for word, by Walt himself in the series finale.
  • 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: Does not like having his pride threatened or his decisions protested one bit.
  • Beware the Nice Ones
  • Blue Oni: To Jesse's Red.
  • 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 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. And boy, was the biting long overdue.
  • 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 Jesse finally believes him about one of Gus' schemes, 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 the season 3 finale but is at a loss for what his next move is. Until the season 4 finale, that is.
  • Completely Missing the Point: Of Mike's monologue in "Half Measures".
  • 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 that he's back into gambling to explain his injuries.
  • Consummate Liar
  • Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Inverted. He made barely anything legally, holding a job at a high school.
  • Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Gangster!: For Walt, it really does.
  • Dare to Be Badass: To Jesse. "Jesse, look at me, you are a blowfish."
  • 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.
  • Face Heel Turn: The whole series appears to be this for Walter.
  • Happily Married: With Skyler before the series.
  • Heel Realization: In "Salud" after his fight with Jesse. A tearjerking one, to boot.
    • Ignored Epiphany: Judging by his behavior at the very end of "Face Off".Completely outsmarting the most powerful drug dealer in the whole state can have that effect on you.
  • Heroic BSOD: In the last scene of Crawl Space.
  • Hidden Villain: To Hank.
  • Honor Before Reason: An interesting example of this trope. He refuses to accept money from former friends, despite the fact that it would solve pretty much all his problems, because he is still bitter about Their success with a company he optionally left. This is given as the first evidence of Walt's petty selfish nature and show just how prideful he is.
  • Idiot Ball: Picked up rather suddenly in the second episode of season 4 he tries to 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: "Badass, dad!"
  • 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.
  • Jerkass: To everyone (mostly Jesse) except his family.
  • Justified Criminal: Possibly a deconstruction as it's slowly being shown that his actions have far reaching consequences that he couldn't imagine.
  • Kick the Dog: Letting Jane die and arguably ordering Gale's death though that was for survival. The way he treats Jesse in Season 4. Using his neighbor as potential hitman fodder. Poisoning a little boy. The Kick the Dog moments are coming far more frequently as the show goes along.
    • Kick the Son of a Bitch: His early victims, such as the boys picking on his son or the obnoxious man in the bank, keep him from being too bad.
  • Laughing Mad: An epic instance at the end of "Crawl Space".
  • Let's Get Dangerous: Walter's brain seems to work best when he is in mortal danger. Practically every brilliant gambit he comes up with is created when (sometimes literally) looking into the barrel of a gun.
  • Love Makes You Evil
  • MacGyvering
  • Meaningful Name: His name was chosen to be deliberately bland and uninteresting to emphasise his everyman nature. As the series goes on, it reflects his increasingly unforgiveable actions.
  • Mr. Fan Disservice: Bryan Cranston does get naked fairly often, not for comedy and it is not pretty.
  • Morality Pet: His family.
  • Motivational Lie: Uses one to try to get Jesse on his side in the season 4 finale.
  • Motive Decay: An interesting case of this. Walt constantly tells himself that he's doing what he does to provide for his family, and on a certain level he may be right. However as the series goes on, it becomes increasingly clear that his decision to cook is as much motivated by his the desire to feed his ego as it is for helping his family.
  • Name's the Same: Walter White was the name of the ATC controller involved in the crash of Mexico Flight 498 which subsequently crashed into a suburban neighborhood in Los Angeles. Probably coincidental but eery considering that Walter is also involved in exactly the same thing happening on the show.
  • Playing Against Type: See Tom Hanks Syndrome.
  • Parental Substitute: To Jesse. Which doesn't stop him from being horribly abusive to Him.
  • Playing Sick: His fugue state in season 2.
  • Pride: Walt's biggest failing. The whole source of this mess even beyond his cancer. If not for his pride, he would have been a rich and successful, award-winning chemist, and none of the events of the show would ever have happened.
  • 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, though.
  • The Quiet One: Walt starts out as a man of few words and even fewer actions, but subverts this later on when he becomes comfortable with his new lifestyle.
  • Sarcastic Confession: To Hank in the season 3 premiere.
  • Science Anti-Hero: Think if MacGyver turned evil.

Tuco: What was that stuff?
Heisenberg: Fulminated mercury... a little tweak of chemistry.

  • 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 though he doesn't really make it all the way there until the end of season 4 when he out gambits Gus.
  • True Companions: With Jesse, despite the fact that they have sometimes violent disagreements and at least one major rift in season 4.
  • Villain Protagonist: Has been slowly sliding into this ever since his cancer went into remission and his actions have become less and less justified.
    • After "Face Off" he's become one. At this point it is obvious his actions aren't just for his family.
  • Would Hurt a Child


Jesse Pinkman

Played By: Aaron Paul

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.

  • The Aggressive Drug Dealer: Subverted. He tries very hard to be one, but ultimately can't bring himself to do it.
  • 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.
  • Berserk Button: Seeing children threatened or harmed drives Jesse into a near-homicidal rage.
  • Big Brother Mentor: He tries to be this to his younger brother Jake but fails. Though he does take the rap for Jake's joint and steps on the joint afterwards.
  • Book Dumb: Talks like an idiot, dresses like an idiot, but highly intelligent and deeply flawed and troubled. Freudian Excuse suggests that much of his behavior started as a way to piss off his parents for pushing him too hard until he left to take care of his aunt.
  • Buffy-Speak: Despite having been a high school washout, much of what he says would sound fairly intelligent if it weren't for his particular style of vernacular, yo.
  • The Caretaker: He was this to his Aunt before she died of cancer.
  • 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.
  • Cradle of Loneliness: Does this after Jane's death.
  • Deadpan Snarker: More snarky than deadpan, but has his moments.
  • Dirty Business: Killing Gale. It was the only way to save himself and Walt from being killed by Gus.
  • Everyone Has Standards: He refuses to sell meth to Andrea after finding out that she has a young son.
  • Functional Addict: Complete with a downward spiral into heroin addiction, rehab, and then later getting back on the meth.
  • Heel Realization: In the third season premiere.

Jesse: "I'm the bad guy."

    • Subverted by the end of the season.
  • Heroic BSOD: In the season 4 premiere he has one after killing Gale, being so shocked at what he's done that he can't even seem to drive away from the apartment complex. Afterwards he sits in stunned silence for most of the episode.
  • Hidden Depths: Is surprisingly kindhearted.
  • The Igor
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Shows signs of this.
  • Killed Off for Real: Subverted. Was originally supposed to die in episode 9, but has sticked around for the rest of the series.
  • Pretty Fly for a White Guy
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: He can be either depending on the relationship, as he acts as the blue oni to Badger and Skinny Pete and the red oni to Walt.
  • Sophisticated As Hell: "It's totally Kafkaesque, yo."
  • Star-Making Role: Turned Aaron Paul from a bit player to one of the biggest starts on Television.
  • This Is for Emphasis, Bitch: Jesse lives by this trope. He adds "bitch" to the end of every insult.
  • Tragic Villain: He's been forced to do things that have convinced him he'll never be able to leave the drug trade. Made worse by the fact that Walt blackmailed him into the heavier stuff.
  • True Companions: With Walter, despite the fact that they have their disagreements and at least one major falling out.
  • Undying Loyalty: Walt vouches for Jesse that he has this.
  • Verbal Tic: Yo, Jesse, yo. Bitch. Yo.
  • Villain Protagonist
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: Throughout the series, it's clear the Jesse desperately wants Walt's approval. Even after Walt's actions lead to Jesse getting hospitalized by Hank and even after Jesse emphatically tells Walt that his has been ruined since partnering up with him, Walt is able to get Jesse to work with him again by simply complementing his meth.


Skyler White

Played By: Anna Gunn

Walter White's wife, who is pregnant with their daughter when the show starts. Walt's criminal activities give rise to a lot of mysterious late nights and other odd behavior that he does not explain, which puts a serious strain on their marriage. While Skyler tries to be supportive, she can be a little bossy and overbearing, which clashes with Walt's need to show he can do everything himself.

  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She could be seen as this (more so in season 4) as she plays innocent to get what she want occasionally; YMMV whether she's a bitch or not.
  • Consummate Liar: Perhaps even a better one than her husband, which is saying something.
  • Dumb Blonde: Far from it, but she knows how to play the part.
  • Hot Mom
  • 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."
  • 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 buy 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."
  • 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.
  • Women Are Wiser: Averted. She may be more practical than Walt but She is even greedier and has quite a ruthless streak.
  • Your Cheating Heart: In the second episode of season 3 with Ted Beneke.


Hank Schrader

Played By: Dean Norris

Walter and Skyler's brother-in-law, Mike is a DEA agent. He is aware of Walter's alter ego "Heisenberg", knows that Heisenberg is the one who makes the blue meth, and has some connection with Jesse, but does not know that Walter is Heisenberg. Despite Hank's obnoxious behavior he is a decent guy and good at his job, but is not able to outmaneuver Walter. Instead Hank usually picks up the remains of Walter and Jesse's messes.

  • Anti-Hero: Type 2.
  • 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.
    • Now literally broken after getting shot by one of the Twins.
  • Cassandra Truth: With his suspicions about Gustavo Fring.
  • Genius Bruiser: Arguably, in is connection of Gale's murder with Gus Fring.
    • This is an important part of Hank's growing characterization. While he initially might have come off as a loud, overbearing dumb cop, he's actually a very skilled investigator.
      • This is actually shown very early on, when he's is able to find the hidden stash of meth hidden in Krazy-8's car, which Gomez couldn't locate earlier.
  • 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 seems mostly to be a textbook Boisterous Bruiser but in season 2 after he kills Tuco we begin to see that Hank secretly feels a lot of anxiety and fear about his job.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Though loud and obnoxious he is generous to and protective of his family and devoted to his job.
  • Nice Guy: By Season 4, He has evolved to be possibly the only genuinely likeable main character on the show.
  • Noble Bigot with a Badge: Subverted. 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist
  • 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?"


Gustavo "Gus" Fring

Played By: Giancarlo Esposito

Gus is the largest distributer of crystal meth in the American Southwest. His front is a chain of fast food chicken restaurants, "Los Pollos Hermanos", which he uses to give money to law enforcement and otherwise come off as an important member of the community. He employs Walt and Jesse in season two, but almost immediately looks for a way to get his hands on Walter's recipe and replace the two.

  • Ambiguously Gay: 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.
  • Affably Evil
  • Bad Boss: As Victor finds out.
  • 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.
  • Benevolent Boss: From Walt's point of view at first.
  • Best Served Cold: Drags out his revenge against Hector Salamanca across 20 years, slowly picking off all of his relatives as he wastes away in a retirement home. This ultimately leads to his undoing though.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Holy shit.
  • Big Bad: Starting in the last episode of season 3 and through season 4.
  • 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 need, 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.
    • And the fact that Victor let Gale die at all.
  • Chekhov's Gunman
  • The Chessmaster
  • 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.
  • Critical Existence Failure: One can be pretty sure getting half of your face blown off counts.
  • Dangerously Genre Savvy: He's consistently at least one step ahead of Walter throughout season 4, anticipating and countering every attempted power play Walter makes. In the end he finally slips up however.
  • A Day in the Limelight: "Hermanos" features a lot more of him than any other episode and even gives him a flashback to develop his backstory a bit.
  • Devil in Plain Sight: See Villain with Good Publicity
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Invoked in "Full Measures" when he insists he would never order the death of a child. Subverted. He later threatens to kill Walt's entire family including his son and his infant daughter.
  • Evil Gloating: Generally he's too cautious and smart to indulge in it; the one exception is his propensity for psychologically torturing the mute and crippled Hector. This proves to be the weakness that allows Walter to finally get the better of him.
  • Face Death with Dignity: After a bomb literally blows half his face off, Gus walks calmly out the door, straightens his tie, then falls over dead.
  • Facial Horror: Walks away after an explosion and straightens his tie with half his face blown off right before he 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 obsession with personal revenge against Tio Hector proves to be his downfall.
  • Gut Feeling: Has a very good sense for when he's in danger, occasionally bordering on Spider Sense territory. Unfortunately for him it fails him at the worst possible time, resulting in his death.
  • Hidden in Plain Sight: his 'Friends of the DEA' ruse is a classic example.
  • Kick the Dog: Possibly his ordering the death of Tomas though its 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.
  • Killed Off for Real
  • Machiavelli Was Wrong: Gus refuses to use the threat of the Cousins coming after Walt in order to scare him into working for him stating that "I don't believe fear to be an effective motivator." Subverted in season 4 where he's not above doing things like brutally murdering his own henchman or threatening to kill Walt's family in order to keep Walt in line.
  • Manipulative Bastard: He convinces the cousins to go after Hank instead of Walt. This starts his scheme to take over meth production and distribution in the region.
  • Mysterious Past: Starting to be revealed as of "Hermanos".
  • Out-Gambitted: By Walt in season 4's finale.
  • 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.
  • Perfect Poison: Uses the same bottle of tequila to dispatch Don Eladio and all his captains at once.
  • The Quiet One: Is very soft spoken, calm and collected even in the most stressful situations.
  • Riddle for the Ages: What was his relationship with Max? And more pressingly, what was his mysterious past in Chile?
  • Rule of Cool: His death scene is this trope in full force.
  • The Stoic
  • Signature Move: Straightening his tie / changing his clothes in a dramatic fashion in general.
  • Unflinching Walk: Into a hail of sniper bullets, even.
    • Taken to Up to Eleven when he calmly walks away from an explosion with half his face blown off and even straightens his tie before falling over dead.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Suffers a brief, almost non-verbal one when it dawns on him that Hector has drawn him into a trap. Esposito goes out with a bang by conveying Gus' rapid transition from triumph to confusion to shock to terror with nothing more than facial expressions and a single scream.
  • Villain with Good Publicity: Is the well respected owner of a chain of chicken restaurants who publicly supports the DEA at fundraisers.
  • 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.


Walter White Jr.

Played By: RJ Mitte

Walt and Skyler's son. He does not take the news that his father is dying of cancer well and lashes out in a stereotypically rebellious teenager-ish way (including changing his name to Flynn), but eventually gets over it and acts a lot more mature as series progresses. Jr. has cerebral palsy and walks with crutches and speaks with a slight slur.

  • Big Ol' Eyebrows: Dear GOD.
  • 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 noticably older than he should be, which may be at least part of the reason for his becoming Out of Focus.
  • Disabled Character, Disabled Actor: RJ Mitte has mild cerebral palsy in real life but Walt Jr. was conceived from the start as having it, and Mitte had to learn to walk with crutches and speak less clearly to portray the level of affectation that the show's creator had in mind.
  • Disabled Snarker
  • Do Not Call Me Paul: Decides to be called Flynn for some reason.
    • Until his parents' separation, at which point he sides with his dad and demands to be called Walt Jr.
  • 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.
  • Written in Infirmity: Subverted, 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).


Saul Goodman

Played By: Bob Odenkirk

A sleazy lawyer Walt and Jesse hire as their legal council. Saul has vast connections, and is the one who introduces Walt and Jesse to Gus. Saul also helps them with other criminal activities, like helping Walter buy a carwash to launder his money with. While he initially likes the money Walt and Jesse bring in, later appearences mostly consist of Saul exasperated at the bigger messes Walt and Jesse get into. Has his own website.

  • 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: "Going gets tough, you don't want a criminal lawyer. You want a criminal lawyer, know what I mean?"
  • Bad Boss: For a lawyer, Saul is surprisingly fearless of sexual harrassment charges, probably because his secretary is too wrapped up in his criminal schemes.
  • Bunny Ears Lawyer: Saul's a smug boor with loud suits, but he always comes through for Walt and Jesse.
  • Catch Phrase: "Better call Saul!"
  • Comic Relief: Despite being a surprisingly skilled lawyer, pretty much every other word out of Saul's mouth is hilarious.
  • The Consigliere: Saul is more than just a lawyer. He acts as Walt and Jesse's advisor and handles all of their business arrangements.
  • Deadpan Snarker: If there's a sarcastic line said, there's a ninety-seven percent chance Saul is the one saying it.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Was unwilling to give up Walt and Jesse to Gus, only doing so when Mike threatened to break his legs.
  • 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.
  • Lovable Coward: In the season 3 finale, he insists he won't give Jesse's whereabouts to Mike and stands his ground... for about five seconds. Of course, there was never any question that Mike couldn't beat the information out of him eventually.
  • Vanity License Plate: LWYR UP
  • You Have to Have Jews: Subverted; he's actually an Irish-American named McGill who uses the name "Saul Goodman" professionally because he believes criminals will be more likely to hire a Jewish defense attorney.


Mike Ehrmantraut

Played By: Jonathan Banks

Gus' number one hitman, investigator, and all around problem fixer. Extremely loyal to Gus. Gets along with Walt at first, but stops liking Walt as Walt does more stuff that threatens to ruin their operation. Then he starts to develop a mild respect for Jesse. Despite his horrific profession, Mike at least acts like a decent person and loves his granddaughter.

Mike: "Don't make me beat you till your legs don't work."

  • One-Scene Wonder: Frequently makes brief appearances in episodes and his lengthy monologue in "Half Measures" is definitely this trope.
  • Punch Clock Villain
  • Put on a Bus: After he's shot in Mexico in season 4. This cleverly allowed the writers to take out his boss while leaving him alive to possibly return in season 5.
  • Start of Darkness: Described to Walt in the episode "Half Measure". Mike used to be a cop. He once gave a repeatedly abusive husband an intimidating warning rather than killing him. Later on the man beat his wife to death and that's when Mike decided to never take a half measure again.
  • The Stoic: Mike's too world-weary to get worked up over anything. He reacts to most problems with mild irritation.
  • Title Drop: For the episode "Half Measure".


Marie Schrader

Played By: Betsy Brandt

Skyler's sister and Hank's wife. Marie causes a lot of problems, like accusing Walter of smoking marijuana and shoplifting, but is also supportive of Skyler and her family and Hank and the problems his job causes.

  • The Cassandra: "None of this would have happened if you hadn't bought pot from that Pinkman kid!"
  • Color Coded for Your Convenience: She's obsessed with the color purple. Most of her clothes and furniture are purple.
  • 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.
  • Out of Focus: Has had the least amount of screen time of any of the original cast members.
  • Sticky Fingers: Is prone to shoplifting and other forms of minor larceny, particularly when she's under stress.


Brandon "Badger" Mayhew

Play By: Matt L. Jones

The first of Jesse's three friends introduced, and one of his dealers. Not the smartest person around, but is very upbeat.

  • Artistic License: Law: Badger is tricked into believing the urban myth that undercover cops have to identitfy themselves as such when asked.
  • Book Dumb: Enough to make Jesse look like The Chessmaster by comparison.
  • Chekhov's Gunman
  • The Ditz: Described by the creators as "Jesse's Jesse".
  • Dumbass Has a Point: Badger is able to spot a number of tell-tale signs that a particular drug deal is a sting. He doesn't listen to his own advice, however, and makes the deal anyway.


Christian "Combo" Ortega

Played By: Rodney Rush

Another one of Jesse's friends and dealers. Possibly smarter than Badger and Skinny Pete.

Walt: Which one is Combo?

Skinny Pete

Played By: Charles Baker

Jesse's third friend and dealer.


Tuco Salamanca

Played By: Raymond Cruz

Walt and Jesse's first boss. Tuco is an unstable, paranoid man who snorts meth all day. At first Walter (and reluctantly Jesse) want to be Tuco's main supplier, but they quickly change their mind after they are hired when Tuco beats one of his subordinates to death over a minor misunderstanding.


Hector 'Tio' Salamanca

Played By: Mark Margolis

A former kingpin and Tuco's uncle. Hector is confined to a wheelchair thanks to a stroke, and can only communicate with a bell.


Jane Margolis

Played By: Krysten Ritter

Jesse's landlord when his parents kick him out, and eventually Jesse's girlfriend. Jane is nice girl and a former drug addict, but relapses and becomes a lot less nice thanks to Jesse's drug habit.


Andrea Cantillo

Played By: Emily Rios

A single mother Jesse meets at a drug addict support group, eventually the two start up a relationship. Andrea has a son, Brock, that Jesse gets along with. Is the older sister of the kid who shot Combo.

  • Functional Addict: Seems to be one, at least compared to most of the other addicts on this show.
  • Hot Mom
  • Mama Bear: Though not a perfect person she clearly does love her son.
  • Morality Pet: Along with her son Brock, she serves as one for Jesse.
  • Replacement Goldfish: Initially serves as one for Jesse following Jane's death, but he later cuts off contact when he concludes that getting too close to her would endanger her.


"The Cousins" Leon and Marco Salamanca

Played By: Daniel and Luis Moncada

Two assassins who go after Walter to avenge Tuco's murder. Best described as two human Mexican Terminator robots.


Ted Beneke

Played By: Christopher Cousins

Skyler's former boss. Sexually harassed her at a Christmas party, allegedly because he was drunk. When Skyler gets her old job back he tries to get into her pants again.


Steven Gomez

Played By: Steven Michael Quezada

Hank's partner. Hanks makes fun of Gomez for being Latino, Gomez makes fun of Hank for being white, but they get along fine. A good cop in his own right.

  • By-The-Book Cop: Or at least, generally more insistent on following proper police procedure than Hank is.
  • The Danza
  • Nice Guy: Hank gives him a lot of crap, but he never loses his cool.
  • Pride: In season 4 Hanks goads him into conducting an extrajudicial search of Gus' industrial laundry facility by insulting his abilities as a cop.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue oni to Hank's red.


Gale Boetticher

Played By: David Costibale

Another meth cooker that Gus forces Walt to replace Jesse with. Walt and Gale get along well, but in reality Gus is using Gale to learn how Walt cooks his meth so he can dispose of Walt and Jesse and replace them with Gale, who is a lot more maneagable.


Domingo Gallardo "Krazy 8" Molina

Played By: Max Arciniega

A drug dealer Jesse brings along with him in the pilot. He and his partner try to kidnap Walt and Jesse to force them to make meth, but instead is caught by Walt and Jesse and tied up in Jesse's basement. He is the first person Walt kills.

  • Affably Evil: While in Jesse's basement. "Walter, you getting to know me is not gonna make it any easier for you to kill me. Not that I mind, you understand."
  • Asshole Victim
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Is disgusted by Walt keeping him locked in a basement.
  • Hidden Depths: He attempts to invoke this to get Walt to release him but it was merely a ruse so he could stab Walt as soon as he got out.
  • Kick the Son of a Bitch
  • Killed Off for Real
  • The Informant: For the DEA.
  • Mean Character, Nice Actor: On the DVD commentary, Aaron Paul described Max as one the nicest, sweetest guys in the world.
  • No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: Played with, Walter makes sandwiches for him while he's imprisoned in Jesse's basement.
  • Not Quite Dead: After the explosion in the pilot.
  • Real Life Writes the Plot: Was supposed to die in the pilot but the actors and crew enjoyed working with him so the character was kept for two more episodes.
  • Sacrificial Lamb: Serves this purpose by being Walt's first murder victim.
  • Self-Disposing Villain: After days of keeping him chained in the basement, Walt is just about to let him go (at which point he would be free to exact revenge at a time and place convenient to him) when he chooses to hide an improvised weapon, presumably with the intention of killing Walt as soon as he's been freed. It doesn't end well for him.


Tortuga

Played By: Danny Trejo

The DEA's informant on the Mexican Cartel. He is beheaded, his head is put on a turtle, and is rigged with bombs, blowing up all the DEA members who sent ot meet him except Hank.

  • Affably Evil: Is obviously a pretty despicable guy but we mostly see him lounging around, listing off Sky Mall items he would like in return for informing on the Cartel.
  • Alas, Poor Yorick
  • Death by Cameo: Trejo's not exactly a huge star, but he is a bigger name than most of the lead actors. His run on the show lasts all of two scenes.
  • Dropped a Bridge on Him
  • The Informant: The DEA's in the Mexican cartel.
  • Meaningful Name: He says so; his name means "tortoise" in Spanish, which he claims is reflective of his way of getting things done - slow, but successful. When the Twins murder him, they deliver his head to the DEA on the back of a tortoise.
  • One-Scene Wonder


Don Eladio

Played By: Steven Bauer

The head of the Mexican Drug Cartel and Gus' main competitor for control of the Southwest drug trade.


Bogdan

Played By: Marius Stan

Walter's boss at the carwash. Reappears in season four when Walter and Skyler buy his carwash.

  • Bad Boss: Forces cashiers to do menial labour. He tries to justify his actions by explaining that "a boss has to be tough."
  • Big Ol' Eyebrows: There are almost no episodes he appears where the characters don't call attention to his freakish eyebrows.
  • The Bus Came Back: After disappearing early in season 1 he comes back in season 4.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: At the beginning of the series he's the obnoxious boss at Walt's second job, but he comes back in a big way.
  • Jerkass
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives a couple of them to Walt.
    • They ring hollow, however, since he treats running a carwash as something that requires a degree and an iron fist (and he's talking to someone who by that time directly killed at least three people) and Walt shuts him up completely by taking his first earned dollar from him.


Carmen Molina

Played By: Carmen Serano

The principal at Walter's school.


Wendy

Played By: Julia Minesci

A prostitute who works out of a motel that Jesse sometimes does drugs with.

  • Chekhov's Gunman: Ultimately subverted; she reappears in season 3 as part of Jesse's plot to kill the dealers who murdered Combo, but doesn't end up going through with it.
  • Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Not quite a heart of gold, perhaps, but she is pretty nice to Jesse.
  • Once a Season: So far has shown up to play a small but somewhat crucial role in one episode of every season.


Don Margolis

Played By: John de Lancie

Jane's father. Does not like Jesse.

  • Berserk Button: His daughter's drug problem.
  • Chekhov's Gun: His job plays a major role in the season 2 finale.
  • Chekhov's Gunman
  • Despair Event Horizon: Crosses this after Jane dies, afterwards it's all downhill.
  • Driven to Suicide: Tried to shoot himself after causing the plane crash at the end of season 2. Its uncertain if he ultimately survived or not.
  • Papa Wolf: Subverted. Don is a permissive father who tries to lay down the law on his daughter, but utlimately caves.


Victor

Played By: Jeremiah Bitsui

One of Gus' henchmen.


Tyrus Kitt

Played By: Ray Campbell

Another one of Gus' henchmen.

  • Bald of Evil
  • Failed a Spot Check: Sent into Casa Tranquila ahead to make sure it's safe, he fails to notice the bomb strapped to Tio Hector's wheelchair, resulting in the deaths of both him and Gus.
  • Jerkass: Sure a lot of the mean things he does can be chalked up to "just doing his job" but not even extending his hand to pass Jesse a phone and instead making him pull it from his hand? This places him firmly under this trope.
  • The Quiet One: Even more taciturn than Mike or Gus, which is saying something.
  • Killed Off for Real
  • Replacement Goldfish: He's Gus' replacement for Victor.
  • Scary Black Man


Maximino "Max" Arciniega

Played By: James Martinez

Shown only in flashbacks, Max was the meth cooker to Gus' meth distributor, mirroring the relationship between Walt and Jesse. He was the one who proposed cooking meth for the Mexican Cartel, and was killed when they were unimpressed with crystal meth and felt he had wasted their time.

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