And while, of course, Walter White is evil, too, (himself being an antagonist who makes numerous questionable decisions), it's no secret that fans root for him over the course of the series. Anyone who gets in his way is deemed an antagonist, but only a few Breaking Bad villains stand out as genuinely evil characters.
Breaking Bad is about how power can corrupt anyone, even a bumbling small-town chemistry teacher with terminal cancer. That is why Walter White is the ultimate antihero: unlike Tony Soprano (who is in therapy), White is past the point of redemption.
Arguably one of the most iconic anti-heroes on television, Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad sits in the unique situation of being the deuteragonist in a show where, technically, the protagonist is the real villain.
Walter is the villain. He is the main villain of the piece. He's not the only villain, he is not even the worst. But he is the villain that we spend the most time with and he is almost the entire focus of the series.
Breaking Bad is one of the rare series that features a villain as a protagonist. Whereas Walt is evil, Hank is good. For all intents and purposes, he is the hero of the show.
Walter White, Jr.
While he can be selfish and greedy — and he's always bugging someone to make him breakfast — Walt Jr. is Breaking Bad's one true innocent, a character whose transgressions never amount to anything more than standard teenage selfishness.
Gustavo "Gus" Fring, mockingly referred to as the Chicken Man, is the main antagonist of the Breaking Bad franchise, serving as the main antagonist of the AMC TV series of the same name, a major character in its prequel series Better Call Saul and a posthumous antagonist in the 2019 sequel film El Camino: A Breaking ...
Throughout the five seasons of Breaking Bad, Walt caused the death of almost 300 people, directly or indirectly. As the character descended into wickedness, Walt didn't necessarily seem to fall under the label of a psychotic murderer.
As much as Breaking Bad tried to say Walter White took a sinister turn due to cancer, his dark journey actually began after an act of kindness. In Breaking Bad, it's explained that Walter White (Bryan Cranston) began cooking and selling meth and became Heisenberg because of his cancer diagnosis.
No. From the moment Walt had him dragged out from under that car in the desert, Jesse never forgave his former partner. From that moment on, Jesse felt nothing but hatred and resentment towards him.
We didn't know it back then – perhaps even Breaking Bad's creator Vince Gilligan didn't fully understand – but Skyler was the precursor for the modern antiheroine, a character type who's only just now showing up on screen.
He simply bears up, and he does it. Because he's a man. Gustavo Fring manipulates Walter White into working for him. Gustavo "Gus" Fring, mockingly referred to as The Chicken Man by Hector, is a Chilean-American restaurant entrepreneur and major narcotics distributor who primarily worked in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
An extremely complex character, Breaking Bad revolves around Walter White's transformation from a mild-mannered and sympathetic family man into a dangerous and sociopathic drug kingpin. It also charts his constantly shifting personality and motivations as they become darker and more selfish as the series goes on.
Walter White
When he is Walt, he tends to be incredibly smart, thoughtful and caring which are traits that are certainly very likeable.
Walter White | Tyrant
Over the past five years, Walt has evolved from a harmless man to become a manipulative tyrant who will go after power at any price. Originally in the drug game to help his family, the Walt of season five wants only money, control, and respect.
Walter, while smarter, had some series issues which Fring didn't. Fring was more disciplined. He had a better logical mind than Walter and never let his ego get in the way of winning. He was more methodical in his approach and had a higher level of self control.
One of the "dark triad" traits, along with psychopathy and Machiavellianism, Walt's narcissism slowly reveals itself over the course of the series.
In 2016, Vince Gilligan finally revealed the true reason why Walter broke up with Gretchen and left Gray Matter: he felt inferior to her and her wealthy family, confirming that it was due to his ego and pride.
Walter "Walt" White (14)
145 is a good estimate of Walter White's IQ. That's just above genius level, which is 140. Somebody with an IQ of 145 is very capable of being a college professor or a chemist.
Numerous characters in television shows are informally described as psychopaths. Examples include Natalie Buxton in Bad Girls, Sean Slater and Michael Moon in EastEnders, Dexter Morgan in Dexter, Tuco Salamanca in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, and Frank Underwood in House of Cards.
Walter White in 'Breaking Bad'
There's no denying that Walter White is a calculated genius when he isn't letting his ego get in his way.