History Characters / BreakingBadWaltsFamily

* {{Irony}}: He butts heads several times with Jessie, as he's the 'face' of the Heisenberg operation on the street level and he can tell he's involved in the drug empire, not to mention he has NoSympathy for a drug-user like Pinkman was at the shows' beginning. This leads to a vicious beatdown he gives to Jessie after Walter distracts him from breaking into their 'Crystal Ship' by faking a phone call that Marie's been hospitalized to lure him away from the RV long enough for them to destroy the evidence and Hank ''[[RagebreakingPoint losing it]]'' when he realizes the truth and believes Jessie somehow orchestrated the call. Jessie is afterward understandably antagonistic towards Hank, planning to sue him for the assault against Walt's pleas to have some {{Revenge}} against him and being overjoyed after seeing Hank getting wheeled into the Hospital in critical condition after his run-in with the cousins. [[spoiler:In Season 5B, after Hank hits a complete dead-end trying to arrest Walter or find evidence of his crimes thanks to Walt's preparations, and Jessie figures out the truth behind Brock's poisoning and Walter's hand in it, both men realize they're equally invested in seeing Walter punished for his sins and strike an uneasy alliance that's actually successful in capturing Heisenberg at long last, if not for the Neo-Nazis' intervention]].

* {{Unscrupulous Hero}}: [[spoiler:In Season 5, he will stop at ''nothing'' to take down Walt, even if it means going outside the law and getting Jessie killed.]]

!!Skyler White (née Lambert)

* AgeGapRomance: It's not especially noticeable by the time of the show, but Skyler is actually quite a bit younger than Walt, with their backstory detailing that she met him in 1990 when she was only 20 years old and he was already 32. For the record, Actress Anna Gunn is ''also'' 12 years younger than Bryan Cranston in RealLife.

!!Marie Schrader (née Lambert)

* CallingTheOldManOut: Noticeably averted for most of the series. He adores Walt and blames Skyler for their marital problems. [[spoiler:After he learns the full truth, he epically calls out Walt for his actions during "Granite State" and refuses to take any of his remaining drug money]].

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Delivers an epic, long overdue one to his father in "Granite State" when he [[spoiler:refuses any money from his father despite his mother likely going to prison soon and barely making ends meet, reminding Walt that he's responsible for Hank's death and Skyler's plight, and has been a blight on the family]].

* ObliviousToHerOwnDescription: Skyler, who is played by Anna Gunn and acknowledged in-universe as being hot by someone who is somewhat younger than her, does not know what a "[[StaceysMom MILF]]" is.

* NervousWreck: As the series progresses and the tension ratchets up, Skylar’s composure deteriorates and it appears she’ll start shrieking at the drop of a hat.

%%* ObliviousToHerOwnDescription: Skyler's first response upon seeing Jesse's Myspace is to ask what a 'MILF' is.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Because she has been married to Walt for years she tries to believe at various points that Walt really is doing everything for the family and still is ultimately a good man. She tries to rationalize Walt's drunken rant to discredit Gale as Heisenberg as "wanting to be caught", rather than acknowledging his horrific ego.

* ForbiddenFriendship: Skyler often forbid Walt from even touching Holly out of spite for being a DisappearedDad to Holly spending so much time out of the house.

* BrokenBird: [[spoiler:By the time we see her again in ''Series/BetterCallSaul'', Marie has become a cold, miserable woman who is clearly still grieving Hank's death years later.]]

* CrusadingWidow: [[spoiler:Denied the opportunity for revenge against Walt for Hank's death with Walt also dead, Marie's fervently determined to see ''anybody'' remotely linked with him (like Saul) punished in Walt's stead.]]

* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Even at the most stressful of times, Marie is always seen with her hair down and blown out. In "Felina," following the trauma of all the revelations, as well as [[spoiler:Hank's presumed death and prolonged disappearance]], it's the only time we ever see her hair in a ponytail. She's also wearing noticeably less makeup. By the time she appears in court [[spoiler:for the Better Call Saul finale, set two years after the events of "Felina,"]] she's back to her old style, although considering she is still very much in a BrokenBird state, it's likely just for the formal nature of the court appearance.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Her first appearance is her substituting Walt's bacon for turkey bacon on his birthday, which shows her controlling tendencies.

* WhenYouComingHomeDad: Subverted. It's implied that Walt Jr. feels the strain on his and his father's relationship, but due to his dad being a ''criminal'' and all, this is not played judgementally towards Walt Jr.

-->[[spoiler:"It was you. All along, it was you! You son of a bitch. You drove into traffic to keep me from that laundry. That call I got telling me Marie was in the hospital... that wasn't Pinkman. You had my cell number. You killed ten witnesses to save your sorry ass. You bombed a nursing home. You're Heisenberg. Heisenberg! You lying, two-face sack of shit!"]]

* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: While Marie does love her older sister, she frequently gets on Skyler's nerves to the point that she had to scream at Marie to shut up.
* BackForTheFinale: [[spoiler:Makes a major appearance in the finale of ''Better Call Saul'', 9 real-life years after her last appearance in 'Felina'.]]

* TheBusCameBack: [[spoiler:Returns from ''Breaking Bad'' for the finale of ''Better Call Saul'' to confront a detained Saul Goodman and condemn him for his crimes, before witnessing his trial as a witness.]]

* GracefulLadiesLikePurple: [[spoiler:Until "Felina".]]

* {{Hypocrite}}: PlayedWith. [[spoiler:She calls Skyler out when she realizes how long she's known about Walt's drug empire, despite the fact that she definitely should've been in prison for all of the items that she stole (or attempted to steal). However, her crimes were more minor compared to the FAR more heinous act of Skyler knowing but not informing about a person who was running a criminal operation that involves making meth and killing people]].

* ObnoxiousEntitledHousewife: She is very self-centered and according to Skyler always had to be the [[ItsAllAboutMe center of attention]] even in childhood. Early on in the series, she shoplifts an expensive tiara as a baby shower present and initially refuses to apologize after Skyler almost gets arrested over it. When her husband Hank starts to suffer PTSD after a firefight and takes the day off work after receiving a big promotion, she chews him out over it, chalking his out-of-character behavior up to laziness and not bothering to ask if anything's wrong until his condition worsens.

* ThePollyanna: Even after Hank is severely disabled after the bomb blast, she retains her generally happy-go-lucky and positive outlook. [[spoiler:When he dies though, she loses all will to be like this.]]
* RevengeByProxy: [[spoiler:She is understandably ''very'' invested in seeing Saul Goodman convicted and rotting away in prison for the rest of his life because of Hank's murder. After all, she can't get revenge on Walter White because he's [[Recap/BreakingBadS5E16Felina dead]] (as are Jack, Todd, and the rest of the Neo-Nazis). Likewise, Jesse Pinkman is [[Film/ElCamino presumed to have fled to Mexico]] and is beyond the government's reach. That leaves Saul as Walter's last major associate still standing. So in her mind, Saul is the one left holding (and deserving) the blame for the murders of her husband and Gomez.]]

* SelfServingMemory: [[spoiler:Indulges in a bit of this regarding Hank in the series finale for ''Series/BetterCallSaul''. She notes that Hank was a kind, decent man who cared very much for the people around him. While it is true that Hank did gradually become a better person over the course of ''Series/BreakingBad'', he certainly wasn't as good as Marie says he was at first: particularly regarding his casual racism and sexism towards others, and his emotionally abusive behavior towards Marie herself after becoming temporarily paralyzed.]]

* StatingTheSimpleSolution: [[spoiler:In Season 5B, when Walt's identity as Heisenberg is finally made clear to her and Hank and Walt tries to argue against attempting to arrest him and publicly identifying him as the mysterious drug Kingpin on the grounds that his cancer has returned and is growing worse, to the point that he will likely be dead within a year [[AllForNothing before the charges can actually be brought against him]], not to mention the difficulty in definitively proving he's Heisenberg in the first place, Marie points out that if Walt's argument is that he wants the drama to stop because he'll be dead soon, then he should just [[DrivenToSuicide kill himself now]] and [[BrutalHonesty get it over with]]. Not only does this underline her utter rejection of Walt now she knows his true colours, it clearly catches Walt and Skyler off-guard. Hank rejects that out of hand because he wants to see Heisenberg ''punished'' and sees any other option that leads to Walt avoiding the courts and sentencing as unacceptable]].
* StepfordSmiler: She's really just that chipper most of the time, but still keeps up her regular behavior when she's actually deeply hurt by Hank's behavior after he's injured. When she loses her husband for good however, all attempts at putting on a happy facade crumble for good.

* SuicideDare: [[spoiler:See StatingTheSimpleSolution.]]
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: [[spoiler: Gives a devastating one to Saul in 'Saul Gone', blaming him for the death of her husband and condemning him for his cooperation with Walter White.]]

* TookALevelInJerkass: [[spoiler:While she was already on the road to this by the end of ''Breaking Bad'', her fury over Walter dying before he could receive his legal comeuppance and grief over Hank's death has made her a lot more curt and unpleasant. This not only extends towards Saul (for whom her unfriendliness is very justified), but towards the prosecution when she feels they aren't moving the direction she wants them to.]]

* TheGadfly

* {{Foil}}: To Walt. Walt lives a double life as Heisenberg, a ruthless drug kingpin, while Hank is a DEA agent trying to catch Heisenberg while having no idea about his true identity. Walt hides his dangerous criminal persona beneath the outward appearance of a harmless, bookish nerd, while Hank seems like an overly macho {{Jerkass}} but has a HiddenHeartOfGold. Walt uses tricks like poison and [[spoiler:hidden bombs]] to kill his enemies, while Hank is an ace with a gun. The more Walt becomes consumed by his pride and ego, the more Hank manages to subdue his GoodIsNotNice tendencies, becoming more humble and arguably an even better cop. When Hank [[spoiler:finally discovers that Walt is Heisenberg, he is insensed and willing to go to any lengths to take Walt down, while Walt has no desire to fight Hank, asking him repeatedly to back down, refusing to have him killed and ultimately unsuccessfully begging Jack Welker to spare his life]].

** Another of his core flaws is his lack of understanding of criminal psychology. For all of his skill as an investigator, he can't seem to comprehend that Walt would be so desperate enough to start cooking meth. That said, it does make sense as Walt is family and Hank genuinely thought Walt was a decent guy.

* {{Foil}}: To Walt. Terrible experiences change both men, but while Walt becomes even more consumed by pride and turns into a ruthless criminal, Hank manages to subdue his GoodIsNotNice tendencies, becoming more humble and arguably an even better cop. [[spoiler:Until season 5B, when Hank discovers Walt is Heisenberg and becomes fully obsessed with it, even being called out on the fact that the Heisenberg hunt is his personal obsession.]] Also during their conflicts with the ABQ kingpins, Hank is an ActionHero, whereas Walt is an EvilGenius.
* FatalFlaw: Ultimately, his obsession with catching Heisenberg (AKA Walt) proves to be his undoing, as he can't let go of his need to capture his man.

* CassandraTruth: Hank begins to have his suspicions Gustavo Fring's connection to the blue meth and Heisenberg, especially when he sees Gale (a noted vegetarian) buying food from Los Pollos Hermanos. Hank's fellow agents and superior don't buy it at all until Gustavo is found dead with half his face melted off in a nursing home and his underground meth lab is discovered.

* PrecisionFStrike: "I fucked Ted."

* StacysMom: Jesse tells Walt that Skyler is hot.

* VillainousBreakdown: Learning that [[spoiler:Hank finally knows about Walt's criminality]] causes Skyler to have a minor one in front of [[spoiler:Hank]] in a restaurant, though [[spoiler:Hank]] mistakes this display as the effects of StockholmSyndrome.

* WhamLine:
** "You're a drug dealer"
** "51" gives us [[spoiler:"[I'm waiting] for the cancer to come back."]]
** "Rabid Dog" gives us [[spoiler:"We've come this far. For us. [[AMillionIsAStatistic What's one more?]]" in regards to killing Jesse]].
** She receives one in the finale when [[spoiler:Walt tells her where the bodies of Hank and Steve are buried, finally confirming that they were killed]].
* WhatIsOneMansLifeInComparison: [[spoiler:When she asks Walt to kill Jesse when he becomes a risk.]]
* WhatTheHellHero: A particularly epic one in "ABQ" where she calls out Walt for having two cellphones, not telling his mother about cancer, and refusing Gretchen and Elliott's money for treatment.
-->'''Skyler:''' Lies on top of lies on top of lies.

* YouKeepTellingYourselfThat: To Walt. [[spoiler:And in Season 5, she hears this herself from Marie.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: 'Very' bitchy and passive-aggressive towards Walter and Jesse and not brilliant with the small talk. She still loves her family and only wants what's best for them and even if she's capable of doing heinous things like Walt, she at least has the decency to feel [[EvenEvilHasStandards conflicted about it.]]

* CigaretteOfAnxiety: Smokes more and more as her dread of Walt grows. After admitting [[spoiler:she's waiting for Walter's cancer to come back]], she's seen smoking inside the house as he prepares to go to bed, [[spoiler:implying she [[KickTheSonOfABitch might be trying to exacerbate it with secondhand smoke]].]]

* KickTheSonOfABitch: In Season 5, [[spoiler: she tells Walt she hopes his cancer comes back. Given that Walt has killed several people, poisoned an 8-year-old kid, and essentially raped Skyler, it's ''very'' hard to blame her.]]

* AndAnotherThing: One of Hank's absolute favorite tactics. See WhamLine.

* TooDumbToLive: Downplayed. Taunting Jack he's bringing the "entire cavalry" while Walt is begging to have his life spared isn't the smartest move he ever made. [[spoiler:However, it's obvious Hank knows he's a dead man no matter what he says or does and chooses to accept his fate without debasing himself before criminal scum.]]

* WidowWoman: [[spoiler:After Hank's death in "Ozymandias".]]

* ADayInTheLimelight: While normally a SatelliteCharacter to Hank or Skyler, there's a subplot in a season 4 episode that revolves around her kleptomania.

* BuffySpeak: "My arches happen to be very arch-y."

* DeathGlare: She fixes a withering scowl at Saul whenever she looks at him during court proceedings.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: At least gets to see Walter White's lawyer [[spoiler: go down for life]], and according to word of actor, Jimmy talking about his complicated relationship with his brother inspired Marie to mend things with Skyler.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler:Under normal circumstances, bluntly telling your cancer-ridden brother-in-law to kill himself would be petty and cruel. However, when that brother-in-law happens to be a meth kingpin and a mass murderer that your husband has been hunting for the past year, well…]]

* ObnoxiousEntitledHousewife: She was very self-centered and according to Skyler always had to be the [[ItsAllAboutMe center of attention]] even in childhood. Early on in the series, she shoplifts an expensive tiara as a baby shower present and initially refuses to apologize after Skyler almost gets arrested over it. When her husband Hank starts to suffer PTSD after a firefight and takes the day off work after receiving a big promotion, she chews him out over it, chalking his out-of-character behavior up to laziness and not bothering to ask if anything's wrong until his condition worsens.

* NotSoDifferentRemark: [[spoiler:Walt Jr.]] tells her in "Ozymandias" that by lying about Walt's actions and helping him with his money, she's just as bad as he is. She is also entirely capable of being just as petty, self-righteous, and morally questionable as her husband, [[{{Hypocrite}} all while giving him hell for it]]

'''Walt's Family''' ([[Characters/BreakingBadWalterWhite Walter White]]), [[Characters/BreakingBadHeisenbergsEmpire Heisenberg's Empire]] ([[Characters/BreakingBadJessePinkman Jesse Pinkman]], [[Characters/BreakingBadSaulGoodman Saul Goodman]]), [[Characters/BreakingBadDEAAndPolice DEA and Police]], [[Characters/BreakingBadJuarezCartel Juarez Cartel]], [[Characters/BreakingBadSalamancaFamily Salamanca Family]], [[Characters/BreakingBadLosPollosHermanos Los Pollos Hermanos]] ([[Characters/BreakingBadGustavoFring Gustavo Fring]], [[Characters/BreakingBadMikeEhrmantraut Mike Ehrmantraut]]), [[Characters/BreakingBadMadrigalElectromotive Madrigal Electromotive]], [[Characters/BreakingBadAryanBrotherhood Aryan Brotherhood]], [[Characters/BreakingBadOtherCriminals Other Criminals]], [[Characters/BreakingBadOtherCivilians Other Civilians]]-]]]]]

-->'''Skyler:''' Are you sure you don't want to get a different kind. Like, you know, the skinny jeans? Those are really supposed to be in style now. The skaters wear them.

* WhatTheHellHero: [[spoiler:After learning the truth, he calls out his mother on being complicit in his father's crimes. In "Granite State", he gives one to his father for everything he did, and for acting as nothing has happened.]]

* InformedKindness: Downplayed. [[spoiler: In the finale of ''Better Call Saul'', his wife describes him as the kindest person ever who lived to help the others. While he was morally better than many other characters (which is not too hard in this show), he was often an obnoxious jerk with NoSympathy for drug users, including Jesse. Justified, since when someone dies, the loved ones tend to remember only the positive things of the person they lost.]]

* {{Irony}}: He butts heads several times with Jessie, as he's the 'face' of the Heisenberg operation on the street level and he can tell he's involved in the drug empire, not to mention he has NoSympathy for a drug-user like Pinkman was at the shows' beginning. This leads to a vicious beatdown he gives to Jessie after Walter distracts him from breaking into their 'Crystal Ship' by faking a phone call that Marie's been hospitalised to lure him away from the RV long enough for them to destroy the evidence and Hank ''[[RagebreakingPoint losing it]]'' when he realises the truth and believes Jessie somehow orchestrated the call. Jessie is afterwards understandably antagonistic towards Hank, planning to sue him for the assault against Walt's pleas to have some {{Revenge}} against him and being overjoyed after seeing Hank getting wheeled into the Hospital in critical condition after his run-in with the cousins. [[spoiler:In Season 5B, after Hank hits a complete dead-end trying to arrest Walter or find evidence of his crimes thanks to Walt's preparations, and Jessie figures out the truth behind Brock's poisoning and Walter's hand in it, both men realise they're equally invested in seeing Walter punished for his sins and strike an uneasy alliance that's actually successful in capturing Heisenberg at long last, if not for the Neo-Nazis' intervention]].

* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler: As Skyler points out, telling her not to speak to a lawyer isn't helping her. The fact that he gloats when catching Walt also shows that whether there is a sense of justice in his reasoning or not, that he is driven by personal vendetta.]]

* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Hank frequently makes racist, sexist and classist jokes.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Hank is the one who originally offered to take Walter on a ride-along to a meth lab, claiming he should get a little excitement in his life. If he hadn't, Walter probably wouldn't have asked to go on one, he wouldn't have been reunited with Jesse and a lot of death and destruction wouldn't have happened. [[spoiler:This includes both of his fatal shootings.]] Poor Hank's own BoisterousBruiser tendencies helped pave the way for Heisenberg.

* StatingTheSimpleSolution: [[spoiler:In Season 5B, when Walt's identity as Heisenberg is finally made clear to her and Hank and Walt tries to argue against attempting to arrest him and publicly identifying him as the mysterious drug Kingpin on the grounds that his cancer has returned and is growing worse, to the point that he will likely be dead within a year [[AllForNothing before the charges can actually be brought against him]], not to mention the difficulty in definitively proving he's Hisenberg in the first place, Marie points out that if Walt's argument is that he wants the drama to stop because he'll be dead soon, then he should just [[DrivenToSuicide kill himself now]] and [[BrutalHonesty get it over with]]. Not only does this underline her utter rejection of Walt now she knows his true colours, it clearly catches Walt and Skyler off-guard. Hank rejects that out of hand because he wants to see Heisenberg ''punished'' and sees any other option that leads to Walt avoiding the courts and sentencing as unacceptable]].

** From ''"Bit By A Dead Bee"'': Do You have a second cell-phone?
** From ''"Ozymandias"'': [[spoiler:"Where's Hank?"]]

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: [[spoiler:"Where's Hank?"]]

!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/AnnaGunn

!!!'''Portrayed By:''' RJ Mitte

!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/DeanNorris

!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/BetsyBrandt

* TooDumbToLive: Taunting Jack he's bringing the "entire calvary" while Walt is begging to have his life spared wasn't the smartest move he ever made. [[spoiler:And it would be his last, though it's hinted Hank knows he's a dead man no matter what he says or does and chooses to accept his fate without debasing himself before criminal scum.]]