Top 10 Best Breaking Bad Characters

There isn't one season where we don't sympathize for the good hearted meth head. From his romances cut short and his neglecting family, his life is constantly throwing shade at him. Regardless, he's smarter than the characters give him credit for, great with kids, and overall a good person with potential. No one could've played Pinkman better than Aaron Paul. May you and Mr. White reign over television beyond eternities.
Jesse is SO much better than Walt. Walt transitions from an extremely likeable character into an evil, power hungry maniac. He destroys every other character in the shows lives and uses cancer, and his family as justification for his lust for power. Although his character is well portrayed Bryan Cranston, the only thing he could possibly rank number 1 in is most unlikable characters of all time.
As Walter became more and more proud and greedy, Jesse started showing signs of humility and humanity. He had always felt like his family never loved him, so he became a delinquent to vent his rage. He could never achieve the things his brother could, and things didn't get any better for him when he started working with his old chemistry teacher Mr. White, who had been hit equally hard in life.
He is just AWESOME! Literally the only reason I watch the show apart from Gus but he's gone now! Jesse is one of those characters you can't help but love! I feel sorry for him throughout the show because he seems to have no one really close to him! He also changes so much through the show, like when he kills someone you really see how badly that affects him, also when his girlfriend dies you see how emotionally hard that is for him to get through! Jessie is a character who never seems to get his way he's usually influenced by other people and when he meets all these new people he slowly starts to become the real Jessie! Aaron Could not do a better performance and couldn't make the character any better! Jessie is so funny/ serious/ emotional and so much more his personality has so many sides to it! I'm really not honing the character enough justice! One of the best on T.V.! Oh ye and how could I forget... BITCH!

I think the transition from good to bad is extremely fascinating for anyone who watches the show. He, of course, gets to the peak of his greed and cruelty during the first half of Season 5, but at the same time, when he does the things he does, there's a part of you that understands why he does what he does, given his situation. For example, if Walt didn't let Jane die, Jesse would have overdosed on heroin and died, and Jane probably would die anyway too. He made that decision to save Jesse, and it hurt him to do that. If he didn't have Jesse kill Gale, Walt would be dead, and Jesse would probably die too. If he didn't poison Brock, not only would he die, but everyone in his family would die. He also knew exactly how much to give him in order to keep him alive. The one time that I think he went too far was when he killed Mike, because there was no reason whatsoever to do it. I was fine with the prison killings because it sort of felt like a great big victory, not just for Walt, but ...more
Probably the most interesting character study in the history of television. We wonder how morally flawed Walter was before his cancer diagnosis and turn to a life of meth cooking. Is it possible for someone with a strong moral compass to sink to such depravity, even facing terminal cancer and wanting to provide for his family? Years of bitterness were just under the surface of Walt's character, as he was cheated out of profiting from a hugely successful company he helped start. Cranston is a seminal actor who shows us White's humanity rapidly disappearing as he sinks deeper into a sordid career of which there was never any escape. Walter is a sociopath and a narcissist, but we are not immune to his flashes of tears, tenderness for his children. Interestingly he never had any empathy for the end users of his product, whose lives would be ruined by meth. Brilliant character!
Walter white not only is the most developed and has the biggest arc but we also root for him even when he is organising prison massacres, poisoning kids or blowing up nursing homes. It means something when you go for a character despite the terrible crimes they commit. Jesse is great and has an amazing arc, that's why it's the best show of all time and always will be, because the ensemble cast all perform 100%. I just think Jesse is maybe the most likeable their for peoples favourite but as far as BEST goes, it can be none other.
The character is so beautifully written and portrayed that makes it the best character in television history.The transition of a person who is diffident, scared, nice to a monster is amazing. Vince Gilligan created a whole human out of it. When the show starts you have a soft corner for walter but as the show progresses you start hating him. And that's the beauty of the show as well as the character.

One of the creepier but strangely likable major characters. Stoic, the Rambo of senior citizens. Mike is another deeply morally flawed guy, obviously a caring grandpa but with no compunction about blowing people away.
He's like my favorite character ever! He's so wise, loyal and despite all the things that go through his life, he never tried to kill any innocent person. He's a character to die and root for. Rip legend
Mike has both a good side and an evil side. A loving grandfather for his granddaughter and also a ruthless and deadly man. This guy is awesome.
I think Walter White is awesome mainly for his transition and I love Jessie, but I just have a soft spot for Mike.

Legally born James Morgan McGill, Saul felt he could never get anywhere in life by doing good. Clueless to the concept of proper law practice, Jimmy decided to let it go, becoming a lawyer for criminals. He's a very fun character, morally ambiguous, yet seeming like this charming, affable person who wants what's best for everyone. Until he suggests putting a hit on Jesse, that is.
He's very lost and misguided, and that's what's so fascinating about him.
Another deeply morally flawed character whose humor, charm, sleaze yet actual command of the law was counterpoint to the horrors of Jesse and Walt's meth life. Bob Odenkirk is a fabulous actor, and shines in the prequel Better Call Saul.
Saul has always been my favorite character. He's always positive and adds some brightness and humor to what would have been a generally dark-themed show.
Best on the show, got his own spin-off which is arguably awesome if not better than the the BB.

I like to think that gus didn't actually order his dealers to kill tomas and if you don't count that then there is only one murder he commits throughout the series that isn't purely about making hector suffer for what he did to his friend all those years ago.
That kind of dynamic is just so interesting and it makes gus stick out in my head. Kind of disappointed that they went with saul for the spin-off cause gus seems much more fascinating, I definitely could have used more scenes with gus and his "brother."
Of course I don't even need to mention his amazing death scene which is perfect, if I forget everything about the series I will still remember that scene.
Am I the only one whom seems to have quite a struggle to decide whether I hate Gus, or actually like him? To me he is controversial, and confusing, in a good way. He is a well-built (character wise) man, and it is surprising to see what he'll do next! (SPOILER: Like when he just BAM sliced Victor's throat) One minute I am supporting him, the next I want him dead! THAT, is a great villain.
I share his name, and I think he is pretty awesome. To prove it, watch the scene when Walter, who has previously tried to kill him, comes into Los Pollos Hermanos and Gus, with a completly straight face, says "May I help you with your order? ". He is the coolest cucumber in the meth business.
The most powerful, professional kingpin with a secret underground drug empire. Gus is the greatest, even his death was well earned. Also has anyone noticed that Gus never once refers Walt as 'Heisenberg'?

Reasonably the best character in the series. And by best, I mean as a DEA agent, as a brother-in-law and a good man in general. He didn't deserve what he got in the end but we all knew it was gonna happen at some point because every step he took to further the Heisenberg case only lead to increased risks to his life. Lego ASAC Schrader!
Perhaps the least morally flawed major character of the series, Hank is true to his calling in law enforcement, even to his death. I found him somewhat sexist and too traditional a male towards his wife, but the acting was terrific.
A great character that always tries to the do the right thing, and ends up losing his life for what he believes in (justice). It also really helps that he's played by Dean Norris, who in my opinion is the 2nd best actor in the show (just behind Bryan Cranston)
What a jerk! One dimensional. Full of self who sees world only in black and white. Even Gus has more humanity. Only wish his character had died sooner.

Though he only appeared in a total of five episodes, Tuco was a herald towards a bigger, much darker story revealed in season 4.
He is also the show's only extroverted villain, and Raymond Cruz makes the most of it. He's frighteningly psychotic yet also a ton of fun to watch. It seemed like he was going to literally fly off the walls every time he inhaled any meth.
His family life is also implied to be very intriguing. He loves his grandma, as shown in 'Better Call Saul', and his uncle... his relationship with his uncle was a complicated one.
Though a legitimate threat, Tuco was also an entertaining one, and should he appear again in 'Better Call Saul', he's always welcome.
Although Tuco's character was short-lived, he was badass and could intimidate anyone.
A whack job through and through. Evil incarnate. Gets his just desserts.
Tuco Salamanca is the best character in breaking bad. No comparison.!.!

So much to say about Skyler. The comments against her are a double standard of gender roles.
Skyler is not the perfect wife or the perfect mother. In fact, she and Walt have several aspects in common which people accept more about Walt. Like her husband, she lies and keeps secrets. She hid the fact that she was having an affair with Ted the same time Walt was first leading his double life as a meth cook.
She has drive and initiative. She's not afraid to try dirty tricks to get her own way when she aids Walt in the money laundering operation. She is just as manipulative and dangerous as him, though not quite as physical.
She's smart, possibly smarter than him. She's definitely more logical than him, and provides a good foil to Walt's increasing paranoia and delusions of grandeur.
Despite all this, unlike Walt, she has more of a domestic role to fill. On one hand, this makes her an overbearing mother, one filling a traditional role of a wife in a television series. On the ...more
One of my favorite characters, Skylar got a very bad rap among early viewers but seeing the series in 2021, I can't help but love and root for her, even as she got enmeshed in Walter's life of crime, and had an affair. Humans are not black/white but nuanced in emotion and motivation. She was fundamentally a devoted wife and mother, Walter dragged her into a life she never wanted, and her sole motivation was to protect her family. The emotions she experienced were that of an abused wife who eventually had Stockholm Syndrome. Even to the end, she on some level loved Walter, evident in their last meeting before his death.
I don't think Skyler deserves the bad rep she gets from the fans. It's always felt like that kind of stigma came from the same place as most complaints about nagging female characters. They get disregarded simply for being annoying.
And yeah she can be pretty annoying, but I don't think that makes her a bad character. If we as viewers are getting annoyed at her opposition to Walter's clandestine lifestyle, that just goes to show how the series is twisting our own sense of morality through perspective. The series is told from Walter's perspective. Therefore we grow to support him even though he is clearly in the wrong. Yet Skyler (in early seasons at least) is actually in the right. Far more than him at least.
We start to root for the bad guy, and I think most of us start to feel a bit guilty about that. Yet, we don't feel too guilty though. Because we see how the journey to the dark side for Walter is one of many small steps backed by good intentions. We sympathize ...more
I don't understand why people hate skyler so much, just because she's a strong, independent, smart woman. Sometimes people don't like women like this, which in my opinion is quite sexist. She does her best to protect her children and I respect her a lot for that

Come on, Huell is awesome. He's played by Lavell Crawford, who is a great stand-up comedian. He is the perfect bodygaurd for Saul because they both add humor to the show.
THE GOAT. Deserved way more than 12 min of screen time. He's just such a unique character.
I like this guy. Reasonably.
The best bodyguard ever

The fact that a bell is the most terrifying sound on the show should tell you something about how great Hector is.
Once he rings the bell, you know you're screwed.

Maybe the most likable and charming character in the show. He's the only one whose genuinely trying to be a good person and live his best life, and even though her sometimes snaps at Skyler or Walt, they usually deserve it, and he's easily the best person out of the main 9 characters.
Why isn't this guy higher up? He should be nr. 1! Like seriously. Look at him! Look how tough he is! Look at all he has to gone through and his spirit is still tough as hell! He is the one who is able to hold the family together! And he's 16! What kind of teenager manages to do that? Walter family plus almost everyone here must barely realize how lucky they are to have him! He is always kind and nurturing.
He is just too innocent for the harsh and dark world of Breaking Bad. I seriously like this character.

That's church, yo.

You gotta love this man






Despite being another short-lived primary antagonist, he did some of the most damage in the series. From killing poor Hank and murdering Jesse's second girlfriend, he was a walking pile of destruction that need to be put down.
Say what you will about the mans morality but at least he gets it done. I'd love to see a show about the gang.

By far the most missed character upon his death. I personally relate to that character and seeing him die struck me hard.
Gale is just like me. My favorite character
Gale is the best character in the worst job.
Literally nicest meth cook ever.


Underrated character. Marie is annoying and exhibits grandiosity most of the time, but is redeemed by her dedication to her husband, sister and family.
Such a fun character and Betsy Brant gives one of the best performances in the show.
I think her character is the comic relief in the show, so funny.
How the hell is Marie in the 23th position?


She doesn't even belong here!
Should be higher on list

I Love Combo! I met Rodney Rush the actor who plays him and he is amazing as well.