History Characters / BreakingBadMikeEhrmantraut

[[WMG:[[center:[-'''[[Characters/BreakingBad Main Character Index (Breaking Bad)]]'''\\
[[Characters/BreakingBadWaltsFamily 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/BreakingBadHectorSalamanca Hector Salamanca]]), [[Characters/BreakingBadLosPollosHermanos Los Pollos Hermanos]] ([[Characters/BreakingBadGustavoFring Gustavo Fring]], '''Mike Ehrmantraut'''), [[Characters/BreakingBadMadrigalElectromotive Madrigal Electromotive]], [[Characters/BreakingBadAryanBrotherhood Aryan Brotherhood]], [[Characters/BreakingBadOtherCriminals Other Criminals]], [[Characters/BreakingBadOtherCivilians Other Civilians]]-]]]]]

[[WMG:[[center:[-'''[[Characters/BetterCallSaul Main Character Index (Better Call Saul)]]'''\\
[[Characters/BetterCallSaulLawyers Lawyers]] ([[Characters/BreakingBadSaulGoodman Jimmy [=McGill=]/Saul Goodman]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulKimWexler Kim Wexler]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulChuckMcGill Chuck McGill]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulHowardHamlin Howard Hamlin]]), [[Characters/BetterCallSaulLawEnforcement Law Enforcement]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulCartel Juarez Cartel]] ([[Characters/BetterCallSaulNachoVarga Nacho Varga]], [[Characters/BreakingBadHectorSalamanca Hector Salamanca]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulLaloSalamanca Lalo Salamanca]]), [[Characters/BetterCallSaulLosPollosHermanos Los Pollos Hermanos]] ('''Mike Ehrmantraut''', [[Characters/BreakingBadGustavoFring Gustavo Fring]]), [[Characters/BetterCallSaulOmaha Omaha]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulPettyCriminals Petty Criminals]], [[Characters/BetterCallSaulOtherCharacters Other Characters]]-]]]]]

!!Michael "Mike" Ehrmantraut
%%Image kept per Image Pickin' thread:https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1659062395001279600
%%Do not change or remove without starting a new thread.

!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/JonathanBanks
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/BreakingBad'' | ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' | ''Film/ElCamino''[[note]]Flashback only[[/note]]

[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bcs_s4_mike_ehrmantraut_webp.png]]
[[caption-width-right:340:''"The lesson is: if you're gonna be a criminal, do your homework."'']]

->''"We all make our choices, and those choices - they put us on a road. Sometimes, those choices seem small, but they put you on the road. You think about getting off... but eventually, you're back on it... and nothing -'' '''nothing''' '' - can be done about that.''''

A [[SemperFi Marine Corps]] veteran, ex-UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}} Police Department officer, and a calm and calculating career criminal, Mike works for both Gustavo Fring and Saul Goodman as a private investigator, head of security, and hitman. A true professional that has extensive knowledge of how to operate on both sides of the law without detection, Mike holds the respect of just about everyone in the criminal underworld.
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[[folder:A-F]]
* TheAce: Pulls off all assignments given to him flawlessly. When things go wrong, he reacts professionally (like his truck getting shot in ''Better Call Saul'').
* AffablyEvil: A nice guy and a loving grandfather, but he is a remorseless killer who'll kill you without hesitation if it's his job.
* AFatherToHisMen: His partnership with Jesse is an example. He threatens Walt for calling the police on Tyrus Kitt (who'd been staking out Hank's house on Gus' orders) and he gets very serious with Lydia for suggesting that Gus' former employees be killed to prevent them from talking[[note]]ostensibly because Mike knows that killing them, even one at a time, might lead the others to turn to the police for protection out of fear that they'll be next[[/note]]. [[spoiler:Mike even goes as far as to compensate their hazard pay himself, by restarting a meth operation with Walt, to honor a deal and keep them from talking.]] A lot of this is likely out of guilt over the death of his biological son, Matty.
* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Mike dies refusing to sell out the Los Pollos security team, awesomely telling Walt where to go and stick it. This gets Mike, one of the more likable characters on the show, killed by Walt when he goes into a rage, and even Walt seems to come to regret it when he realizes how pointless it was. His actual death scene, as he stares into the sunset while dying in peace, is incredibly somber, and his death pushes Jesse further away from Walt, breaking up the partnership that the show ran on up to that point]].
* AmbiguouslyTrained: It's doubtful that he would have been able to [[spoiler:wipe out an entire armed Colombian gang in the desert with a sniper rifle from just being a former cop in "Bagman".]] It's strongly implied that he was a sniper in the [[SemperFi United States Marine Corps]] and served in [[TheVietnamVet the Vietnam War]], based on his familiarity with the M40 sniper rifle used by Marine snipers and complaints about the wood stock warping in the jungle, but it's only clarified outright on [[invoked]][[WordOfGod the official podcast]].
* AmbiguousStartOfDarkness: At one point Mike gives Walter a speech about how he doesn't believe in second chances or half measures because when he was a cop Mike tried to do a ScareEmStraight with a serial {{Domestic Abuse}}r, only for the guy to kill his wife two weeks later. Combined with Hank's statement that Mike's time as a cop "ended dramatically" most fans think the abuser case was why Mike broke bad, but it's never actually confirmed. ''Better Call Saul'' shows that Mike (along with the rest of his department) was already a DirtyCop before he moved to New Mexico after the revenge-killing of two crooked cops who killed his son Matty for [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules not being entirely willing to play ball]]. However, it's unclear if that was his first murder, or if he already covertly worked as a hitman while on the force. The finale of ''Better Call Saul'' reveals that Mike took his first bribe in 1984.
* AntiVillain: Types 1 and 2 He's an incredibly efficient assassin who stops at nothing to carry out his job, but he [[NothingPersonal hardly ever holds any ill will towards his targets]], and is a pretty decent guy when he's not on the job -- even better, he manages to keep professional and personal life separate. He's a NobleDemon who refuses to harm innocents but is ruthless when dealing with enemies. He's also a woobie TragicVillain who became evil due to the death of his son at the hands of corrupt cops.
* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:A direct victim of Walt's "empire building", at the end of "Say My Name".]]
* AscendedExtra: Goes from a supporting character on ''Breaking Bad'' to the deuteragonist of ''Series/BetterCallSaul''. He was originally intended to be a cameo, but his one appearance was well-received.
* TheAtoner: By providing for his granddaughter and doting on her, he's making up for [[spoiler:his participation in police corruption creating a situation in which his honest son, Matty, was eventually murdered for not going along quickly enough, even after Mike pushed him to become corrupt.]]
* TheAlcoholic: Fakes it as part of his scheme to [[spoiler: kill the two police officers who murdered his son and got away with it.]] It works.
** Later goes through a period of DrowningMySorrows for real due to his guilt after killing [[spoiler: Werner Zeigler.]]
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Lalo Salamanca. For some reason, Lalo always seems to be just one step ahead of Mike. [[spoiler:First, Mike is unable to find Werner before Lalo is able to find him, and Werner gives Lalo information about the superlab. Later, Mike takes his men away from guarding Saul's apartment, mistakenly believing that Lalo wouldn't show up there, which leads to the murder of Howard Hamlin. After the incident, Lalo is easily able to stay fully aware of and outmaneuver Mike's chase, with Lalo noting to Gus during their confrontation at the lab that he knew exactly how long before Mike would show up.]]
* AscendedExtra: Seen once in the Season 2 finale of ''Breaking Bad'', seemingly as a simple PI and fixer for Saul, but his role grows in importance as it's revealed that he's actually Gus' primary enforcer.
* AvengingTheVillain: He initially returns from Mexico to shoot Walter when he gets the news that Gus is dead. Jesse talks him out of it.
* BaldOfEvil: Or bald of anti-villainy. He's a remorseless hitman and an antagonist towards Walt after all.
* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: Throughout much of ''Better Call Saul'', Mike attempts to remain a street smart, yet still benevolent JerkWithAHeartOfGold, trying to keep himself as morally pure as possible and only targeting criminals he believes deserve their fate, even as he's SlowlySlippingIntoEvil while working for Gustavo Fring. Over the course of the show however, Mike is forced to commit several terrible acts that eat him up inside, all of which push him towards being more amoral and merciless. By the time we see him in ''Breaking Bad'', Mike has become far more ruthless.
* BeingEvilSucks: He made his peace with it long ago but confesses to Jimmy if he had a time machine he would go back to when he took his first bribe.
* BeingPersonalIsntProfessional: Mike has learned to handle this trope perfectly since his son's death. It's only Walter that causes him to subvert it when he gets on Mike's temper.
* BerserkButton: He keeps it under control but tends to be more aggressive and grumpy when someone comments on his age or derisively call him gramps. Jimmy immediately retracts his offer of elder law advice after Mike stares him down and later as Saul he pre-emptively apologizes when he refers to Hank's investigation on Mike as harassment of a senior citizen, which earns him a side glance from Mike. He also makes sure to painfully overextend the arm of a mugger after he called him gramps a bunch of times.
** Tying in with CodeOfHonour, endangering civilians, in his words, does not sit right with him.
* BestServedCold: When Hector threatens him into giving false testimony to the DA about the beatdown from Tuco, Mike takes a calculated revenge path: namely, monitoring Hector's drug operation looking for a weakness to exploit.
* BoringButPractical: One of the traits that make Mike so dangerous is his simplistic approach to his work. He won't fire a hundred bullets if he only needs one, he makes clear and concise observations to get the upper hand on opponents, and he favors reliable, basic equipment and vehicles that keep attention away from him.
* BreakoutCharacter: So popular after his initial appearance that he was brought back as a supporting character and later went on to become the {{Deuteragonist}} of ''Better Call Saul''.
* BrokenAce: Despite being among some the most capable of people one can encounter, whether in the criminal world or out, Matty's death completely devastated him in ways he's never been able to recover from.
* BrokenPedestal: To his son Matt, who was also a cop. [[spoiler:Unlike Mike, Matt was averse to taking money from busts, whereas Mike knew to do it in order to ensure his partners that he had their backs. It crushed Matt for him to find out that his father was corrupt like the other cops.]]
* BullyingADragon: [[spoiler:Mike really should have known better than deliberately provoking Walt, even though he's physically stronger. That's not counting the numerous times he attempted to kill him or threatened to do so in Seasons 3, 4, and 5.]]
* TheCameo: Appears briefly in a flashback in ''Film/ElCamino''. He and Jesse are discussing their futures at a riverbank. Mike was actually the one who suggested Jesse go to Alaska to start fresh.
* TheCassandra: As revealed in ''Better Call Saul'', Mike warned Saul that aligning with Walt was a bad idea, as Walt is a complete amateur who would bring them all nothing but trouble. Saul, too tempted by the money he could rake in, doesn't listen to him, with the end result being [[spoiler:Mike's death and Saul's exile to Omaha]].
* CleanUpCrew: For both Saul and Gus. One of the first tasks we see him performing is removing all evidence of drug abuse from Jesse's condo and coaching him on how to handle the police when they come to retrieve [[spoiler:Jane's body]].
* CodeOfHonour: No matter how cold and ruthless Mike becomes during his time as a criminal across ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' and ''Series/BreakingBad'', he does have some rules and is among the most professional people you'll find in the criminal underworld.
** If you're 'in the game' (I.E. a criminal), then Mike considers you fair game. You can have a spouse, kids, have completely justifiable reasons for what you're doing, and even be Mike's friend, and he'll still have little problem threatening, hurting, or even killing you if he feels he needs to. However, if you're ''not'' in the game, Mike won't go after you, and will even actively work to protect you as much as he can. If an innocent does suffer or die as a result of Mike's actions, he clearly feels terrible about it and does whatever he can to make amends for it.
** If he tells someone he's going to do something, he's going to do it, or he'll compensate you if he can't for some reason. Keeping his word is something that he feels separates him from other criminals.
** Gradually deconstructed however, especially in the latter episodes of ''Better Call Saul''; having a code of honour sounds admirable but ultimately doesn't mean very much when you nevertheless willingly work for and associate with vicious criminals who have none. [[spoiler: Nacho's father Manuel pretty much spells this out for Mike when Mike tries to console him that the men who killed his son will eventually face a form of justice, making it clear that as far as Manuel is concerned, any code that Mike tries to console himself with means nothing and he's just another criminal.]]
* ColdSniper: His familiarity with the Marine Corp M40 sniper rifle in "Gloves Off" and comments about the rifle's history imply that he served as one in [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam]]. His skills come in handy when he needs to shoot down some cartel button men preparing to kill Jimmy.
* TheComicallySerious: His unyielding attitude and lack of amusement towards Jimmy's schemes and antics makes for a good source of comedy.
* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: For Mike life as a DirtyCop was something that you just had to suck up and do to be part of the team. Then two of his "teammates" killed his son for putting them at risk. That caused Mike to kill them, which caused him to be put under investigation and lose his job. That in turn caused him to become a criminal himself, which caused him to be associated with Gus Fring. Read down the page to see how that ends.
* ConsolationBackfire: [[spoiler:He tries to alleviate his own guilt by informing Manuel Varga of Nacho's death, and then assures him that the Salamancas will receive justice for what they have done. Manuel has none of it, rejecting Mike's notions of justice as little more than revenge, before dismissing him as being just like all the other criminals.]]
* ConsummateProfessional: Very, very little even comes close to making him lose his cool. He's seen everything and worked most angles out. The one thing that angers him is people who refuse his advice. He's touchy since [[spoiler: accepting his advice]] got his son killed.
* CoolCar: Well, his Chrysler Fifth Avenue typically isn't considered even remotely cool, but here it feels like well-maintained, reliable ride.
* CoolOldGuy: AntiVillain he may be, but face it: you ''wish'' you could get to be this cool when you reach his age.
* CopKiller: He kills [[spoiler:the corrupt cops behind his son's murder.]]
* CorruptCop: Downplayed, at least according to Mike. [[spoiler:Mike argues that if a cop wanted to stay alive and make sure the other guys had their backs, you simply just went along with whatever was going on. Matt, his son, didn't have the same philosophy, which ended up getting him ambushed by his own partners.]] Given how easily he can make connections with the underworld and seems already an expert in drug dealing, if he did not like being corrupt he knew how to be competent.
* TheCorrupter: How he sees himself. [[spoiler:The system couldn't break his son Matt down... but he could, and did. It's hard to say if Mike blames himself more for doing that or for not letting his son go down in a blaze of riotous (if bureaucratic) fury.]]
* DarkAndTroubledPast: His tenure as a police officer in Philadelphia not only involved corruption, [[NoodleIncident but missions and operations probably not standard for a cop]], most likely using [[AmbiguouslyTrained skills he'd learned elsewhere]]. His time there ultimately ends under "dramatic" circumstances, eventually [[spoiler:following him to Albuquerque]].
* ADayInTheLimelight: "[[Recap/BetterCallSaulS1E6FiveO Five-O]]", which discusses a bit about his family life, [[spoiler:and his deceased son.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: Occasionally; his professionalism makes him more prone to simply keep his mouth shut however.
* DeathGlare: Whenever Mike gets angry at someone, he tends to express it by silently simmering while he venomously stares them down. If he is really pissed off about something, his usual tell is that his glare gets a slight EyeTwitch to it.
* ADeathInTheLimelight: [[spoiler:While he was never lacking in screen time, he basically becomes the third lead of ''Breaking Bad'''s fifth season after Walt and Jesse and he's dead by the penultimate episode of the first half.]]
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Of TheConscience. Of all the criminals in the show, Mike is the most morally-conscious of all and a moral barometer for all the other evil of characters. He makes no secret about preferring other criminals follow an HonorAmongThieves philosophy and often will advocate against hurting anyone who isn't in the game. However, even if he'd prefer they didn't, his actions repeatedly cause indirect harm and death to the innocent civilians he tries to protect. While it's hinted that he was once upon a time a good man and still in the present day tries to hold onto some semblance of human decency, his perpetual acts of violence and crime render any efforts of honor or consciousness he makes ultimately moot.
* DespairEventHorizon: Much of the light in his life died [[spoiler:when Matt did]], and it's very clear he blames himself for crossing the lines that ultimately led to it. He now only focuses on enjoying time with and providing for his remaining family by whatever means going, preferably in a way that can only directly bite him. TheAtoner, EmptyShell, VengeanceFeelsEmpty, MilesToGoBeforeISleep and/or DeathSeeker: it's open to interpretation what proportion of any of them he is.
* {{Determinator}}: Mashing his buttons just switches on an ostensibly low-key Energizer bunny... who... will... make... you... pay. However long he has to chip away at you for; however many careful steps or slices it takes to get there. [[spoiler:As his son's murderers and Hector found out.]]
* {{Deuteragonist}}: Of ''Better Call Saul''. He even gets his own [[ADayInTheLimeLight focus episode]].
* DirtyCop: Not in the shows, but in his backstory he was this, and doesn't seem especially proud of it.
* DisappointedInYou: [[https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/better-call-saul-point-shoot-writer-interview-1378877/ Gordon Smith]] explained that that the colder relationship between Mike and Saul in BB was down to Mike actually kinda liking Jimmy, but that like got less and less the more Jimmy morphed into Saul, seeming to do his utmost best to prove Chuck right. [[spoiler:Having to obscure Howard's death -- an innocent who wasn't 'in the game' -- because of Jimmy's scam putting him in the wrong place at the wrong time, and furthermore having to posthumously smear his reputation in support of Jimmy's narrative that he was a drug addict, seems to have been the point that killed any respect Mike had for Jimmy, outside of his usefulness as a criminal lawyer. Furthermore, he's revealed to have advised Saul against going into business with Walter after tracking him down after their meeting in the desert, only for Saul to ignore his advice, which puts a further spin on his [[IWarnedYou dissatisfaction]] with both men throughout ''Breaking Bad'']].
* DontYouDarePityMe: In "[[Recap/BetterCallSaulS2E7Inflatable Inflatable]]", while waiting for the elevator, Jimmy tells him about his experience with Tuco and tells him he made the right choice to take Hector's offer and even offers to waive his fee for his service. When the elevator arrives, Mike tells Jimmy to take the next elevator and refuses to take Jimmy's offer.
** Later, in Season 4, he calls out the group therapy session for wallowing in self-pity, after weeks of refusing to speak, suggesting that he doesn't want anyone else's pity.
* DotingGrandparent: He clearly loves his granddaughter more than anything else in the world. Although he loses his shit on his granddaughter after [[spoiler: he kills Werner and briefly quits working for Gus Fring]].
* DoWrongRight: Gives advice like this to Nacho and the hopelessly naive Daniel Wormald, who often don't think out their criminal schemes all the way through.
* TheDragon: If Gus needs something done and there's no room to have it done wrong, it's likely Mike doing it. Saul ''thinks'' that he's this to him, but is proven wrong when Mike threatens to beat him.
* DragonTheirFeet: He was still in Mexico recovering from his wounds when Gus was killed and was thus in no position to have helped him.
* DramaticIrony: Mike's turn to the dark side began when he started accepting bribes to show the other dirty cops he "had their backs." Two of the corrupt officers murdered Mike's son in cold blood because he might have told the truth about them, even though it would have been his word against the rest of the department's. On a lesser but still painful note, a large part of the "dirty" aspect of his career as a cop involved him and the other corrupt officers taking confiscated drug money and keeping it for themselves. Years later, the money he saved for his family was seized for being connected to drugs.
* DueToTheDead: [[spoiler:When he has to bury Howard Hamlin's body, he treats it as respectfully as he can, recognizing that he was an innocent who was just in the wrong spot at the wrong time and even giving a frown to show his feelings at such a pointless murder]].
* EarlyBirdCameo: Appears briefly at the beginning of "ABQ" to help Jesse prep for the police inquiry following Jane's death, without any indication of how important to the ''Breaking Bad'' universe he'd later become.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: His role as Gus' right-hand man is clearly decided later on, considering that he runs errands for Saul in his first few appearances as though he's just another one of his henchmen. When introducing Walt to Gus, Saul even says that he only knows Gus through "a guy who knows a guy who knows another guy", even though Mike should be the only guy he needs to know at that point. Personality-wise, Mike also seems to be a lot more ruthless than his later characterization, telling Walt that he has learned from his cop days to always kill liabilities instead of merely taking them out of the picture, which contradicts him being reclutant to kill [[spoiler:Werner in the prequel]] and [[spoiler:Gus' imprisoned men in Season 5]].
* EasilyForgiven: At the end of "[[Recap/BreakingBadS3E13FullMeasure Full Measure]]", he tried to kill both Walt and Jesse and threatened to break Saul's legs. No more than two episodes later, Walt tells him that he understands he was just doing a job and Jesse comes to greatly respect Mike and even like him more than Walt. When Mike enters a partnership with them after Gus' death, Saul is the only one to be bitter about Mike's past actions and Walt pretty much just tells him to get over it. There is still plenty of tension between Walt and Mike but that is due to Mike's anger over Walt killing Gus and Walt's greed. The times Mike tried to kill Walt and Jesse aren't brought up much, [[{{JerkassHasAPoint}} though Walt does mention to Saul that Mike had threatened Jesse and himself before, but they're still willing to put aside their differences for a common goal.]]
* EmptyShell: Jonathan Banks describes Mike as having lost his soul but at the same time being fearless and goal driven. There's a strong implication that the death of his son Matty may have been the cause of this.
* EnigmaticMinion: To a point. Despite his dedication to Gus, he is still a man that is hard to predict.
* EntitledBastard: He gets pissed off about Jimmy needing his approval (read: treating him like a Chuck replacement) but he does know how to use it for his own advantage. Jimmy slightly calls him out on it in "Witness".
* EstablishingCharacterMoment:
** ''Breaking Bad'': He's introduced cleaning up the site of Jane's death and does it with ruthless precision, expertly getting rid of any traces of drugs, wiping down every site to cover his tracks, and coaching Jesse through what to say to the police, even slapping him when he's unresponsive. It shows everything we need to know about him: he's thorough and efficient at his job, covers his tracks, and doesn't care much for other people's feelings if they get in his way.
** ''Better Call Saul'': His first interactions with Jimmy are him steadfastly and pedantically enforcing the parking sticker system and [[DeadpanSnarker rolling his eyes at]] all of Jimmy's excuses, establishing Mike as having a set of rules that he follows, and he doesn't care what anyone else thinks about them.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: His granddaughter and, as revealed in the prequel, his family in general including his daughter-in-law.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** Mike is no saint, but he still has a strong moral code he doesn't break easily. He particularly dislikes innocent civilians being put in danger; having to cover up the deaths of [[spoiler:Howard Hamlin and Drew Sharp]] in particular greatly upsets him.
** Mike has no qualms about murder but only if it is directly part of the job. Jesse is able to see through his bluff of killing a petty thief and Nacho immediately knew he was the one that stole Hector's truck because no one else would bother sparing a cartel mule.
** Likewise, Mike is no petty thief. He's more than happy to steal from someone either to prove a point (the Kettlemans) or to damage an enemy's operations (the Salamancas) but him refusing to help Jimmy steal Mr. Neff's Hummel figurine shows he above burgling someone purely for monetary gain, especially if the target hasn't wronged anyone in anyway.
** Mike's professionalism also means that he's very impersonal towards the people that he works for and/or targets. In particular, he refuses to give his opinion on Chuck [=McGill=] to Jimmy, as he doesn't see the need to divulge his feelings on a guy he hardly knows.
** As he tells Lydia he is not going to murder the men he hand-picked himself just to be sure of their silence. He'd rather make sure they are paid off to take the years even if has to put up with Walter for more than he wants to.
** Ultimately deconstructed at several points however (particularly in the ''Better Call Saul'' episode "Fun and Games" [[spoiler: where Nacho's father dismisses Mike's insistence that his son's killers will receive a form of justice]]). Mike's moral code may make him [[ALighterShadeOfBlack slightly better than many of the others around him]], but ultimately he still chooses to work as an enforcer and murderer for a vicious criminal cartel, and he willingly works with and for those who lack such a code, meaning his actions nevertheless cause harm and death both directly and indirectly. Despite what he might believe and tell himself, he still makes the world a worse place and any moral or ethical distinction his standards might give him over anyone else we encounter is ultimately negligible.
* EvilFeelsGood: Is put in a really good mood after stealing $250,000 from Hector's truck, enough to buy drinks for an entire bar or be a bit flirty with the waitress. Though it ends the moment he learns that a bystander was killed by Hector as a result of the heist's aftermath.
* EvilOldFolks: Well, more like "Anti-Villainous Old Folks". He is around his 60's or 70's but is in surprisingly good form to be TheDragon to a ruthless drug lord.
* EvilParentsWantGoodKids:
** He dotes on his granddaughter Kaylee and hopes to form a large nest egg for her with all of his work. [[spoiler:Part of it also stems from wanting to make up for what he did to her father and his son, Matty]].
** ''Better Call Saul'' shows him as proud to have raised his son Matty into one of the few honest cops on the force, when he himself was corrupt throughout his career. It tore Mike up inside to [[spoiler:push his son to betray his morals to prevent him from getting killed, especially since Matty wound up dead anyway due to his partners' paranoia]].
* ExperiencedProtagonist: Of the {{Deuteragonist}} variety. He is a former crooked cop who knows both sides of the law, can beat and kill people half his age with no difficulty thanks to old reflexes and thorough planning. It is also hinted that he was in the service during UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:After he gets fatally shot by Walt, he gets out of his car, runs away, and sits down to watch the sunset over a river. When Walt catches up with him and tries to apologize, Mike tells him to shut up and let him die in peace.]]
* FaceHeelTurn: Had one years before the start of the series. See StartOfDarkness below.
* FatalFlaw: Self-Righteousness & Hypocrisy - His high and mighty attitude and tendency to rub it in other criminals faces ultimately makes him fall out with Walt and [[spoiler:gets him killed]], not to mention ignoring his own advice about not taking half-measures.
** Ultimately, another of Mike's core flaws is his inability to be honest about his feelings, both to himself and the people he cares about, so he buries his feelings and ignores them. It makes him effective as a hitman, but a mess as a human being.
** Like the other characters who go up against Walt, he made the mistake of underestimating him and viewing him as less serious a threat when he should have known better. [[spoiler: He dies for the trouble he was put through]].
* FauxAffablyEvil: Puts on a front of this to scare Lydia, "Where will I shoot you? In the head, that's a pistol, not a gun. We're expecting precision here.".
* {{Foil}}:
** To Walt. Season 5 reveals that Mike has a considerable amount of money stashed away in his granddaughter's name, making him and Walt two men committing crimes for their families. However, Mike's professionalism and caution allow his work life and home life to remain completely separate, while Walt managed to get Skyler, and then the rest of his family, horribly entangled in the meth business. Mike's emotional stability has allowed him to retain an excellent relationship with his granddaughter Kaylee and daughter-in-law Stacey as well, while Walt is emotionally isolated from his family and manipulates them.
** To Gus Fring. Both wear masks to get revenge, both put the goal over immediate gratification, and neither can stand shoddy workmanship, regardless of whatever else they're dealing with. They also both harbor hatred for Hector Salamanca because he threatened (in Mike's case) or killed (in Gus' case) a loved one of theirs. The main difference is [[spoiler:Mike left whatever morals he had behind upon getting his revenge in a day rather than years before, and had to live dead inside afterward rather than messing up by dying to get it.]]
** To Jimmy. Mike was devoted to his son, letting that loss shape his entire identity and set him down the road of getting revenge. Jimmy, on the other hand, has so many complicated feelings about Chuck's death, his own guilt about setting off events that caused it and the self-loathing/resentment brought on by Chuck treating him badly, that he just runs away. Mike sees right through the Saul Goodman mask and knows where this shit is coming from, but by Season 6 and into ''Breaking Bad'', has lost all patience with him.
* FriendInTheBlackMarket: "Fixer and Intermediary" is basically his job description and he lies at the heart of the connection map of relationships in the show. Being a former dirty cop, Gus middleman and scouting talents for Saul made Mike well known in the criminal underworld.
* FriendToAllChildren:
** He looks annoyed when the Kettlemans blame their kids for money being outside the house and yell at them for it.
** Completely subverted in ''Breaking Bad''. [[spoiler:It's hard to call him a Friend to All Children considering he helped dissolve a child's body in acid. He didn't kill the child himself to be fair but still. Plus, it's not made clear whether or not part of the reason he aggressively warned Todd not to bring a gun to a job, without telling him, was partly due to the fact Todd just shot the child.]]
* FromCamouflageToCriminal: He spent most of his career as a cop but the way he handles the sniper rifle in "Gloves Off" and his comments about it imply that he has a military background.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:G-L]]
* GeniusBruiser: Mike's more than a simple thug. He's also a great investigator and tactician. He is also way sturdier than he looks and can beat up people half his age in seconds.
* GoodSamaritan: Is actually a pretty amicable (if rather grouchy) person when left to his own devices, and stepped up to help Jimmy when the police tried to pinch him undeservedly -- even going so far as to advise him on how to find the Kettlemans. Also walks Daniel, the out-of-his-depth white-collar criminal he is hired to escort, through how to deal with the drug traffickers instead of just watching him stutter through it and get screwed over like he could have done as just the bodyguard. Of course, [[DoWrongRight this all stretches the term "good" a bit]].
* GoneHorriblyRight: Mike raised his son Matty to be a good, honest man so he can be someone better than the crooked cop he is. Unfortunately, Matty would go on to join the police force himself, and is so full of IncorruptiblePurePureness that he refuses to take bribes like his father, and is shot dead by his partners due to their paranoia about him ratting them out.
* GuileHero: Mike's trademark is using his surroundings and creative tactics to best his enemies.
** His take on the situation at Duane Chow's warehouse in ''[[Recap/BreakingBadS3E13FullMeasure Full Measure]]'' best demonstrates this. He uses a bundle of balloons to fry the warehouse electrical system and get the drop on the cartel. He takes a hostage's shoe and [[ThrowingTheDistraction uses it to imitate footsteps, luring out one of Chow's captors]]. When he sees Chow, he's putting his hands up and looking at a cartel member in Mike's blind spot, which Mike takes as a clue that someone is right behind the wall and watches Chow's raised hands to nonverbally estimate where his captor's head would be behind the wall.
** ''[[Recap/BreakingBadS5E2Madrigal Madrigal]]'' has him use a stuffed toy as a distraction so he can silently enter Chow's house.
** In ''[[Recap/BetterCallSaulS4E10Winner Winner]]'', he forces Lalo to get off his tail by entering a paid parking lot, waiting for an incidental driver to exit, then cutting in front of him to the ticket machine and jamming it with gum and a gum wrapper. By the time Lalo forces the incidental out of the way, Mike's driven off without a trace.
* HatesBeingTouched: The armbar Mike gives to Jimmy is provoked by [[DisproportionateRetribution little more than an aggressive poke]], and he is visibly angry when the cop patted him on the shoulder.
* HeelRealization: [[spoiler:[[Recap/BetterCallSaulS6E9FunAndGames Manuel Varga]]]] seems to get him to realize what he is right at the end of the ''Better Call Saul'' timeline. For all his compunctions concerning honor, his professionalism, and genuine desire to keep innocent people safe, he's still a killer who works for a ruthless drug kingpin, and his morals have degraded to the point where [[spoiler: he is ultimately complicit in the capture and suicide of Nacho and covering up the murder of Howard Hamlin]] with little compunction. [[spoiler: Manuel]] tells him that he's no better than the Salamancas, and Mike can't disagree. However, it seems like this realization just made Mike dig in harder, as the next time we see him in ''Breaking Bad'', he's a much bigger {{Jerkass}} and doesn't seem to have any of the friction he had with Gus at first.
* HitmanWithAHeart: Despite being Gus' [[TheDragon ruthless right-hand]], it doesn't make Mike any less sympathetic or emotional. Even though his job requires him to be a ruthless and methodical killing machine, he nevertheless does what he does to financially support his granddaughter. He also develops an affectionate father-son relationship with Jesse Pinkman, and consistently shows that he has a much better moral compass than Walt. All of this makes it exceptionally sad when [[spoiler: Mike is forced to abandon his granddaughter and is needlessly murdered by Walt]].
* HonorAmongThieves: He follows a strict set of rules for his conduct in the criminal world, making sure he stays honest to his word even if there's something to be gained from doing otherwise.
** When Jimmy asks why he [[spoiler:didn't or wouldn't just run off with the millions of dollars they stole from the Kettlemans for himself]], Mike responds that it wasn't part of the job that was asked of him.
** Later, Gus and Victor try to pay him for helping sabotage Hector's business, and he refuses since he believes they're already even by that point, making payment unnecessary.
* HonestAdvisor: Always. Even if he does happen to dislike you. However, he'll be more inclined to break out the high-grade BrutalHonesty in that case.
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** Early in Season 3, Mike advises Walt to use a [[UnusualEuphemism full measure]] on Jesse in Season 3 when it seems like the kid is a liability that can't be resolved, and makes an entire speech explaining why doing this is better in the long-term. This is despite the fact that Mike himself constantly applies half-measures to situations when it would've been in his best interests to apply a full measure, such as when he adamantly refuses to kill his men when they become liabilities in Season 5, or to hold off on killing Lydia Rodarte-Quayle when she constantly acts erratically during their partnership. This is doubly ironic as he too would develop a deep bond with Jesse like Walt, despite him being the one who ordered him to kill Jesse in the first place. ''Better Call Saul'' further establishes that Mike had been constantly using half-measures for a ''lot'' longer than he implied he did in his speech to Walter.
** Mike will frequently insult people for actions he's either taken in the past or been forced to do himself.
** Mike despite not liking the deaths of innocent people, regularly works with people who are responsible for their deaths.
* HypocriteHasAPoint:
** The men Mike was protecting were people that did their job and got arrested for it, Jesse was trying to kill people that technically are his co-workers out of revenge. We do see that Mike will kill his own men if they start murdering each other so while he can't judge Walter for getting rid of Jesse after personally knowing the latter he still raises a valid point.
** Mike might not have any moral high ground in saying that maybe Jesse's loyalty towards Walt (while admirable) is misplaced, while trying to win Jesse over to Gus' (who originally wanted Jesse dead) side. But given that Walt manipulates and belittles Jesse constantly, causing him a lot of pain, Mike's point isn't entirely wrong. Plus, towards the end, Walt continuously tries his hardest to manipulate Jesse into staying by him, no matter how much it hurts his protégé. Whereas Mike ultimately realizes that Jesse should decide what's best for himself, and only he (Jesse) can decide that.
* IconicSequelCharacter: One of the universe's most iconic characters, he doesn't appear until the very end of ''Breaking Bad'' Season 2.
* IgnoredExpert:
** If Saul had listened to him that going after Walt was a bad idea, and wasn't obsessed with distracting himself from trauma with money and the deluded idea that he could both control the guy and get the love he never got from his brother, then a lot of shit in ''Series/BreakingBad'' could have been avoided.
** Back in BCS Season 4, he knows full well that Jimmy going deeper into scamming is a response to his brother's death, and tells him to quit while he's ahead. Of course Jimmy doesn't, and he's still sulking about what Mike said a season later.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Mike manages to weaponize ''balloons from a party with his granddaughter'', letting them go so that they fly into a set of power lines and knock out the power of the compound he's infiltrating.
* ItsPersonal: There is no real reason why he would want to survey and plan to attack the Cartel other than Hector threatening his family. Everything is said and done and Mike has $50,000, but he won't let that slide.
* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Threatens Saul with this when he refuses to give him Jesse's location.
-->'''Mike:''' Don't make me beat you 'till your legs don't work.
* JackOfAllTrades: Once he starts doing dirty business, Mike does everything from muscle to sniping to infiltrations.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Even at his grumpiest and lowest point, especially come ''Breaking Bad'', Mike always looks out for his family's and colleagues best interests. Despite his sour exterior, there's still some of pop-pop still in Mike, not just limited to his family either. He goes the extra mile to make sure his [[{{BenevolentBoss}} colleagues and people working under him are well provided for.]] As long as you haven't already gotten on his bad side, he's also [[PunchClockVillain a fairly pleasant person to be around when off the clock]].
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: Before ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' starts, he was a police officer in Philadelphia. He ''was'' a dirty cop, taking money from some of the more successful criminals that were arrested by his department, but everyone in his department did it, and Mike would probably have been killed if he didn't partake, so being crooked was about self-preservation as much as greed. He starts down a darker path after his son is killed, murdering the two cops responsible and fleeing to New Mexico. Once there, he starts doing bodyguard work for drug deals, nearly accepts an assassination job, robs a cartel truck of a quarter million dollars, and eventually starts working for a meth kingpin. Still, he does have some lines he won't cross, is frequently uncomfortable with the work he does, and occasionally outright antagonizes Gus over his more ruthless actions and orders. He strikes up friendships with Jimmy and Werner, tries to be genuinely helpful and insightful with Wormald (although it doesn't take), and even does volunteer work with his daughter's support group. By ''Series/BreakingBad'', he's lost almost all his redeemable qualities, fully entrenched into his {{Jerkass}} persona. He's pretty much completely loyal to Gus no matter how ruthless he is (about the closest we get is Mike looking mildly shocked when Gus slits Victor's throat), thinks nothing of killing anyone who gets in his way, and won't hesitate to use threats and violence to get what he wants. His only concern is making money and being able to pass it along to his granddaughter. Even Saul, who he was friends with previously, is someone who he now mostly just tolerates for his connections. We get a couple glimpses of the previous Mike (trying to convince Walter to not attempt to protect Jesse when he became a liability, trying to get Jesse away from Walter when it became clear a partnership with him could only end badly), and he still tries to spare innocents, but there's not much left outside of a cold blooded killer.
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Mike had several occasions where he came really close to killing Walter, but because of the circumstances, [[CantKillYouStillNeedYou he couldn't do it]]. But when Mike is forced to leave the city after the DEA finds solid proof to arrest him, he is killed by Walter after giving him one last rant. His death is also poetic in the way that Mike didn't follow his own advice about "taking full measures instead of half measures". Mike only did half measures on Walter (threatening him), and Walter did a full measure on Mike (killing him). However, despite all of this, it is made clear that [[AlasPoorVillain Mike was one of the least deserving men to die, and even Walter himself quickly regrets it and tries to apologize, but Mike just brushes him off.]]]]
* KickTheDog:
** When he rescues Chow from the cartel hitmen, Mike shoots Chow in the hand as a penalty for not informing Gus about the situation.
** Mike rarely loses his cool, so to see him [[spoiler:yell at his granddaughter for reminding him of his son's profession and untimely death]] was a real gut punch.
** His threat to break Saul's legs and leave him in a hole in the desert if he doesn't give him Jesse Pinkman retroactively becomes this in light of the prequel series. The desert is implied to be [[TraumaButton a particular sore spot for Saul]] after [[spoiler:having watched Tuco Salamanca gruesomely break some skater's legs in front of him after a scam gone wrong]] and [[spoiler: suffered PTSD from having to watch a shoot out]], both of which Mike is aware of.
* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Stops doing business with Daniel after Daniel shows up for a meet in a flashy Hummer, Mike knowing full well that it's only a matter of time before Daniel attracts the attention of the cops.
* KnowsAGuyWhoKnowsAGuy: Saul admits that Mike has even more connections than himself, explaining to Walt that Mike gives Saul most of his connections and planning a hit on Gus would be an "epic fail" because it would go through Mike first, and trying to find a hitman without going through Mike risks encountering undercover cops. In the fifth season, Mike is easily able to [[spoiler:cover distribution for a meth operation without a question from Walter, Jesse, or Saul.]]
* LawmanGoneBad: His backstory involving his StartOfDarkness and NoodleIncident. The [[spoiler:death of his son]] may have had to do with it.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:M-R]]
* MadeOfIron: For a guy his age he sure can take a beating, as seen during his ploy to get Tuco arrested.
* ManlyTears: When discussing the conversation he had with [[spoiler:his deceased son that revealed how the former wasn't the hero the latter thought he was.]]
* MoralMyopia:
** A frequent coping mechanism he employs. Mike will do what he has to do, but likes to make excuses for his more dishonorable acts and will frequently insult people for actions he's either taken in the past or been forced to do himself. For example, in ''Better Call Saul'', he tells [[spoiler: Manuel Varga]] that the Salamanca's are dogs who will [[spoiler: pay for Nacho's death]]. [[spoiler: Manuel]] retorts that Mike is part of plan that resulted in [[spoiler: Nacho's death]] and will continue to make excuses for the horrible things he's done. His lack of a response seems to imply a HeelRealization, which explains his more curt attitude come ''Breaking Bad''.
** Even in Breaking Bad, he still seems to have this mentality, as he has a tendency to preach about "doing the right thing" when he regularly commits crimes as Gus' enforcer. Most notably when he visits Walt regarding Jesse attempting to kill the two drug dealers who caused [[spoiler: Combo's death, as well as a child's death shortly afterwards,]] saying that half-measures shouldn't be used with Jesse, ignoring of the fact that they were using children as their gunman.
** Another example is while Mike was starting to get along with Jesse, and sees that Jesse does have genuine loyalty, he suggests that maybe he has it to the wrong person. While [[{{HypocriteHasAPoint}} Mike might not be entirely wrong in Walt not deserving Jesse's loyalty,]] Mike did conveniently forget that he and Gus originally planned to get rid of Jesse the season before, whereas Walt saved Jesse's life from their attempt.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: His reaction when he learns about what happened to an innocent person after his heist on a Salamanca drug truck.
* MomentOfWeakness: [[spoiler:The badass OneManArmy that is Mike Ehrmantraut is taken down by a single gut shot by a noncombatant just because Walt manages to catch him by surprise.]]
* NeverHurtAnInnocent: At the start, he would rather not kill bystanders or even relatively harmless cartel members if he has to. Backfires when Hector shoots the good Samaritan who untied said member. His partnership with Gus compromises him into killing some relatively harmless people like Ziegler but he will draw the line at targeting innocent family members.
* NervesOfSteel: He is one of the few people who isn't intimidated by the likes of [[BigBad Gus Fring]] or the [[AxCrazy Salamanca family]]. Next to those people, storming a compound guarded by multiple gangbangers seems almost boring to Mike. Being a broken, bitter old man with nothing to lose might have something to do with his attitude.
* NobleDemon: He's a criminal but he has a strict code against hurting innocent bystanders and he is extremely loyal to his bosses and employees, believing firmly in keeping his word.
* NobleTopEnforcer: Is the right-hand man of Gus and is one of the more honorable and less "evil" mobsters in the game (certainly less evil than his boss) and his ultimate goal is just to financially secure his granddaughter's future.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished:
** In "Say My Name" Mike absolutely refuses to let Jesse deliver his money as he grew to like the kid and doesn't want him in trouble with the authorities. This leads to Walt delivering the money instead and murdering Mike when he refuses to trade the names of his men for the cash.
** He wanted to avoid killing during the heist of Hector's money (and attempt to have cops put the squeeze on him). [[spoiler:It ends up with a Good Samaritan helping the driver and Hector shooting said Samaritan for his trouble.]]
* NoodleIncident: His career as a Philadelphia police officer ended under "dramatic" circumstances. Mike doesn't want to talk about it, and Hank isn't really interested in it either because he's more interested in knowing why Gus Fring would hire someone like Mike to run his corporate security since doing background checks on pimple-faced fry cooks seems like overkill in Hank's book. [[spoiler:There's some evidence from ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' that implies that the circumstances in question were in fact the death of his son, Matthew.]]
* NotSoStoic: There are a few times where Mike has been pushed far enough to react with real rage. Like when Walt killed Gus and he [[spoiler:prematurely checked himself out of the makeshift Mexican hospital to race back to New Mexico to kill Walt]], or when Walt followed him to a bar and asked him to kill Gus. Walt just has this knack for getting under his skin more than anybody else. He is also genuinely scared when Gus [[spoiler:slits Victor's throat out of nowhere]] to the point he points his gun at Gus on reflex.
* ObfuscatingStupidity:
** He pretends to be falling-down drunk to get the corrupt cops who killed his son off guard and make sure it was really them before he kills them. He may have been planning the murder for ''months'' beforehand as well.
** When baiting Tuco into a fight, he acts the part of a doddering old guy who seems totally ignorant to "accidentally" hitting Tuco's car.
* OddFriendship: Mike and Jesse. When they first met, and for a while, neither of them were particularly fond of each other, and Mike even was prepared to kill him on more than one occasion. When Jesse protects Mike in Shotgun, Mike instantly warms up to Jesse, and they are more comfortable around each other. Mike constantly gives Jesse advice, and almost treats him more like he was his own son.
* OlderSidekick: Gus isn't exactly young but Mike is clearly much older.
* OldMaster: He has worked on both sides of the law and lived long enough to have a granddaughter, which means he knows how to casually overcome most threats that would kill people a third his age. He is a master investigator, negotiator, clean-up guy, assassin, sniper, burglar, infiltrator, instigator, tracker, reverse-tracker, and has a bunch of other skills that make him a high-level criminal. The saying "Beware of an old man in a profession where men die young" fits him perfectly.
** Two current (and much, much younger) cops try to enlist his experience to help them put pressure on Jimmy to put pressure on Nacho. Turns out he's even better at the job than they bargained for when the very experience they hoped to use shoots them down for being too narrow-focused to see the big picture, once he gets hold of more than just their synopsis.
** He later walks the clueless Daniel Wormald through the criminal side of the street with a master class performance as a bodyguard and a mentor. It's very clear that Mike knows all the moves for both sides of the law, forwards and backward.
** He casually dusts off his background knowledge in tailing and stakeout skills to great effect when figuring out exactly how Hector's operation works. It doesn't take him all that long, and he makes it look ''depressingly'' easy, despite the (complacent) precautions the cartel tries to take.
** In both of his interactions with Lawson, the ConsummateProfessional gun dealer, he makes it abundantly clear that, unlike Walt, Lawson has nothing to teach him when it comes to picking the right gun for a given job. There's a strong implication that his knowledge and skills stem from being a marine sniper in UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar.
** When he realizes that he's been bugged, he meticulously uses a gambit that allows him to turn the tables so that ''he'' is the one tracking them. Explained in detail [[https://imgur.com/a/njg5C here]].
* OneManArmy: A realistic take on this. Mike has on several occasions dispatched large groups of heavily armed criminals single-handedly. He relies on ambush since he stands little chance in direct confrontation at his age.
* OnlySaneMan: Clearly ''convinced'' he is, always acting professionally on the job and irritated when someone acts out of line such as Walt and his eccentric problem-solving solutions. He would qualify for this trope, if he didn't let his temper get the better of him where Walt was concerned.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
** Gus' method of killing Victor is so sudden and so brutal that Mike actually raises his gun on instinct before he realizes what is going on.
** Mike is usually one of the most cool-headed characters on the show, but when [[spoiler:he's warned that his lawyer ratted him out and sees the cops show up at the park looking for him]], his reaction, while subdued, serves to illustrate the gravity of the situation. Mike, almost always TheUnfettered, looks downright ''terrified''.
** When he gets a call from Stacey at work, he waves a car past his parking booth so he can focus on the call. Anyone who's been watching the show up to the point knows that's a big sign of how much he cares about his family.
** When he realizes that someone has been following him and has left a "don't" note on his car, he looks freaked out.
** Mike losing his cool is a surefire sign that things are getting out of control.
** When Gus orders Tyrus to bring Nacho's dad as leverage Mike gets in the way of the door and simply says no with a choked up voice.
* OutOfCharacterMoment: Jonathan Banks considers the moment where [[spoiler:Mike abandons his granddaughter at the playground to escape the police]] to be something Mike never would have done, but didn't protest out of respect for the writers and producers. He also found the end of the [[spoiler:train heist]], and Mike's lack of reaction to [[spoiler:Todd killing Drew Sharp]], as out-of-character.
* PapaWolf: What he tried to do for Matty was pure, unadulterated Wolf. As was what he did after his son's death. [[spoiler:How those guys stayed in one spot when he let his expression change is anybody's guess. Running for the hills and/or needing brown trousers would have been more common reactions.]] Pro-tip: hands off his daughter-in-law and granddaughter.
* ParentalSubstitute: To Nacho, Jesse and Jimmy. The last is a very ToughLove version, but he was a little fond of the guy, and even when Jimmy is Saul and Mike is tempted to kick his skull in, he'll keep Saul out of the Gus and Salamanca loop to protect him so he doesn't have a trauma FreakOut. (Though he'll press the desert TraumaButton if needed.)
* PayEvilUntoEvil:
** Shooting the two DirtyCop partners that killed his son.
** Reving up the drill to torment Chuck.
** Mike ends up nearly killing Walt on Gus' orders, Walt was willing to have someone like Gale murdered at this point.
** Strangling Gaff to death and nicking Don Eladio's necklace. Both men were remorseless criminals, with Gaff in particular being responsible for the similarly brutal death of two Los Pollos guards.
** Threatening Lydia.
* PerpetualFrowner: Anytime he's not with his granddaughter, his default expression is a weary scowl that rarely ever leaves his face.
* PetTheDog:
** Reporting the GoodSamaritan's body to the police so that the family can have closure.
** While he's polite to his face, and doesn't take the disparaging bait Jimmy sets out for him, word of god is that he doesn't like Chuck because he treats his brother badly and revs his drill just a bit more than is required to torment him.
** Upon learning that Lalo is coming to interrogate Jimmy, Mike wastes no time rushing over to save him. This is after Gus tells him under no circumstances is Lalo to be harmed in America, yet Mike's willing to defy that for his friend anyway. Something similar happens when Kim tells him that Jimmy is being held hostage by Lalo (or so she thinks), Mike doesn't particularly like either of them by this point, but he's visibly alarmed and goes off to rescue him. He also tries his best to calm Kim down gently.
** [[spoiler: He might be willing to let Nacho die, but he will absolutely not tolerate Gus going after his innocent father. He even makes a promise to Nacho to take on whomever Gus may send to harm him.]]
** An attempt to do this with Jimmy backfires badly, as he tells Kim that Lalo is alive, thinking she can handle it better. She really can't, keeping it to herself because she's having too much fun with the scam, and it sets off DisasterDominoes.
* PragmaticVillainy: "[[Recap/BreakingBadS3E12HalfMeasures Half Measures]]", he doesn't go through with Walt's plan to have Jesse thrown in jail because it would've upset Gus. He's also much more efficient than the cartel, which [[StupidEvil makes a point of being as vicious as possible.]]
* PrivateDetective: His "official" position on the Los Pollos Hermanos payroll, which is what he is meant to say if the police think he's involved in Gus' drug network.
* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: Mike is the deuteragonist of ''Better Call Saul'', and it's as much a journey of Mike going from a vengeful ex-cop doing side business to support his family to Gus's chief enforcer, as much as Jimmy's transformation into Saul.
* PutOnABus: After he's shot in Mexico by Joaquin, it's stated he'll have to stay at the medical tent Gus had set up to recover for at least a week. This cleverly allowed the writers to take out his boss while leaving Mike alive to [[TheBusCameBack return in the following season premiere]].
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Gives one to Walt [[spoiler:during their last encounter]].
-->'''Mike:''' [[spoiler:We had a good thing, you stupid son of a bitch! We had Fring, we had a lab, we had everything we needed, and it all ran like clockwork! You could have shut your mouth, cooked, and made as much money as you ever needed! It was perfect! But no! You just had to blow it up! ''You'', and your pride and your ego! You just had to be the man! If you'd done your job and known your place, we'd all be fine right now.]]
* RelativeButton:
** Harm his family, and he returns the favor in kind.
** When his family needs money, the first thing he does is to contact the criminally-connected veterinarian.
* ReplacementGoldfish: He believes he failed with his son, so tries to do right by Nacho and is visibly upset when he [[spoiler: kills himself]], and does better with Jesse.
* {{Retirony}}: Is just about to skip town and presumably retire from the criminal life forever [[spoiler:when Walt caps him]].
* RevengeBeforeReason: Hector already forgot about what Mike did to him and moved on, but Mike refuses to forget that he threatened his family. His actions indirectly [[spoiler:got a Good Samaritan killed by Hector]].
* RulesLawyer:
** You're ''not'' getting past his booth without the appropriate number of validation stickers or cash. Unless his daughter-in-law is on the phone, that is.
** If you're buying drugs from his employer, you also better make sure you have every penny you promised, otherwise no deal.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:S-Y]]
* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Walt kills him simply because Mike refuses to give him information, but mostly because Mike insulted him. Mike's death signals how just far Walt has fallen. It's the first time in the series he kills someone without any kind of legitimate justification.]]
* SavedByCanon: He is a major character until [[spoiler:"Say My Name"]] in ''Breaking Bad'' so there's no chance of him dying in ''Better Call Saul'' despite similar brushes with death to Gus'.
* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules:
** He could have run off with the [[spoiler:Kettlemans' money]], either all of it or splitting it with Jimmy, and probably would have been happy to do so if Jimmy had wanted to. That wasn't why Jimmy hired him, though, and as Mike himself says when you agree to do a job, you keep your word.
** He also returns some of Nacho's payment to him [[spoiler:after his plan to get rid of Tuco does not work as well as he had expected.]]
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: With Jimmy/Saul. Mike is a stoic GrumpyOldMan who dresses sensibly, is very professional and has no time for nonsense, while in both versions of himself, Jimmy is a flamboyant dresser, way in over his head, and a manchild very ProneToTears.
* SeenItAll: The kinds of stuff that send normal people or even criminals into a panic? Mike has probably seen, or likely committed them before. The only events in the series that ''shock'' him are Walt putting out the hit on Gale, Gus cutting Victor's throat, and Gus' death.
* SelfServingMemory: His loyalty to Gus has skewed his perception of certain pivotal events that Gus was responsible for.
** Mike blames Walt for Gus' death and their business relationship deteriorating and calls him out on wanting to "be the man" and turning on Gus out of his pride and ego. In actuality, Gus was arguably the one who turned on Walt: Jesse protested Gus' dealers using a child to conduct business, Walt ended up killing them to stop them from killing Jesse, and then Gus ordered Walt and Jesse killed, ''and'' Mike was the one who almost carried it out. He's also forgetting that Gus was going to have Hank killed and warned Walt that he'd have his entire family killed too if he tried to intervene (though Mike may not have been aware of that, since he was in Mexico at the time). While Mike is likely thinking about how Walt had been trying to kill Gus throughout Season 4 and even tried to turn Mike against him, the season began with Gus killing Victor in a clear warning to all three of them, and Gus spent the season grooming Jesse to replace Walt, and both Walt and Mike knew it.
** "[[Recap/BetterCallSaulS6E9FunAndGames Fun and Games]]" is another drop of morality for him, as he tries to console Mr. Varga that the Salamancas will pay for what they did to Nacho. This is cruel irony, as the Salamancas did nothing to Nacho, wholeheartedly trusting him due to being unaware of his deception, until Lalo's assassination -- an assassination that Nacho was forced ''by Gus'' to participate in. It was Gus who had enslaved Nacho and caused most of his misfortunes, including his ultimately being targeted by the Salamancas.
* ShootTheDog: [[spoiler: When he kills Werner for becoming a liability. Werner would have been killed regardless by Gus, Mike only does the deed to make his death quick and ensure his wife's safety. This sets up Mike for later on pointing a gun towards Walt's head in "Full Measure", both men in similar circumstances, but this time Mike showed no hesitation or remorse before Walt turned the tables on him.]]
* ShootTheShaggyDog: Quite literally "shoot" in this case. All the money Mike was saving up for his granddaughter? All of it is seized the moment he gets implicated. His decision not to give the names of his locked-up men to Walt? [[spoiler: Walt makes it known that, after shooting him, he plans to get the names from Lydia anyway.]]
* StartOfDarkness:
** Described to Walt in "[[Recap/BreakingBadS3E12HalfMeasures Half Measures]]". 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.
** [[Recap/BetterCallSaulS1E6FiveO Five-O]] goes more into depth about the loss of his son to corrupt cops fundamentally broke Mike at his core.
* StealthMentor: More than once Mike gives solid advice to the hapless criminals he works with on how to be better at what they do.
* TheStoic: Mike's too world-weary to get worked up over anything. He reacts to most problems with mild irritation and exasperation.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: With Walt after Gus' death. Mike can barely conceal his contempt for him.
** While he's often annoyed by Jimmy he does have some affection for the guy but he ''barely'' tolerates working with/for Saul Goodman.
* ThisIsUnforgivable: The Salamancas threatening his family is a hard pill for him to swallow.
* TitleDrop: For "[[Recap/BreakingBadS3E12HalfMeasures Half Measures]]", he drops the title in his famous speech to Walt.
* TookALevelInJerkass: A retroactive example. Mike, as depicted in ''Breaking Bad'', is mostly a pitiless, thuggish monster despite some standards and the love he has for his family. For the entirety of ''Better Call Saul'', he is much more of a conflicted, empathetic person despite being a hardened criminal willing to be ruthless when forced into a corner. Compare his gentle approach to calming a traumatized Jimmy, who was just in the middle of a gunfight he almost got killed in, to him slapping a despondent Jesse, who just witnessed Jane's corpse, into getting his attention. Although many fans long chalked this up to a case of CharacterizationMarchesOn, his final scene in the latter series suggests he took [[spoiler: Manuel's]] [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech words]] to heart and embraced his lot in life as a mere gangster with no genuinely meaningful ethics. Lending credibility to this, the first time we see him in the ''Breaking Bad'' timeline in ''Better Call Saul'', his personality is perfectly in line with his characterization in the former series, being very ill-tempered and [[KickTheDog threatening to cave Saul's skull in]] for joking with him.
* ToughLove: He actually does have some affection for Jimmy, and quite a bit of sympathy, but he also realizes just how fake everything about the guy is (which gets worse as he becomes Saul, which Mike knows is a response to Chuck), so Jimmy will barely get an inch from Mike.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Mike takes Pimento cheese sandwiches along to stakeouts and drug deals.
* TragicVillain: A former cop who [[DirtyCop went dirty]] and accidentally dragged his son down with him, resulting in his son being killed. Holding himself responsible, Mike takes on a life of crime to provide for his widowed daughter-in-law and granddaughter in place of his late son, gradually losing his morals and becoming a more ruthless threat in the criminal underworld. The most tragic part? [[spoiler:After Walt kills him, Mike's money is seized by the government, meaning that [[AllForNothing his granddaughter will never get the money that he sacrificed so much of his humanity for]].]]
* TraumaCongaLine: In Season 5A of ''Breaking Bad'':
** He gets shot during the escape from the cartels' base and has to be hospitalized for a week.
** While he's in recovery, his boss gets killed and [[spoiler:he loses his relatively comfortable job]].
** His boss's slush funds are seized, meaning both the two million dollar inheritance he left for his granddaughter and the hazard pay to buy off his nine incarcerated men are gone.
** He is forced to go against his better judgment and work with Walt, whom he regards as a ticking time bomb.
** Pressure from the DEA forces him to retire with a five million dollar buyout (sounds like a lot to a normal person, but not so much when you've got nine guys to pay off).
** [[spoiler:The DEA busts his lawyer and seizes his money ''again'', and now he has no way of paying off his men or supporting his granddaughter.]]
** [[spoiler:His lawyer tricks him into revealing his present location, a playground he took his granddaughter to, to the police. Mike has to exit his granddaughter's life without saying goodbye.]]
** [[spoiler:When he finally tells Walt ''exactly'' what he thinks of him and explains how he is responsible for basically ruining his life, he is fatally shot by Walter.]]
** [[spoiler:Mike accepts his death and watches peacefully at the sunset, but Walt has to ruin the moment by reminding Mike that his guys are all going to be killed anyway.]]
** [[spoiler:Even in death, Mike can't catch a break. His body is implied to be chemically disincorporated by Walt and Todd.]]
* UnderestimatingBadassery: As mentioned, he has a bad habit of repeatedly underestimating the savviness of Walt, which ends up being his downfall.
* UndyingLoyalty: To Gustavo Fring. However, after Gustavo dies, he's still willing to work with Walt and Jesse in order to provide for his granddaughter. He makes it very clear that he's unhappy about the situation.
* TheUnfettered: When Gus attempts to intimidate Mike for his involvement with Nacho's actions against Hector, Mike isn't even a bit phased when Gus raises his voice in front of Gus' goons. Instead, he tells Gus to cut the bullshit and get to the real reason why Gus invited Mike to their meeting place.
* UngratefulBastard: Gus implies that Mike is this regarding hurting Hector after Hector paid him off therefore no longer thinking about harming Mike's family. Mike, however, smoothly defends himself by asserting that Hector's attempted murder was justified after he killed a GoodSamaritan who wasn't in the game. Played straighter when he's unwilling to return Jimmy's favor while he pretty much forces him to do things for him.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom:
** His "half measure" speech to Walt is something the latter ends up [[TheUnfettered taking to heart]], with Walt eventually becoming as ruthless as Gus or the Cartel, and leaving a long trail of bodies behind him in the process, [[spoiler: Mike included]].
** He genuinely meant well in telling Jimmy who was deep in PTSD that one day he might not think about what's happened to him, and telling Kim she's made of sterner stuff than her husband, but it plays into their {{fatal flaw}}s of Jimmy putting his head in the sand and Kim thinking she can deal with everything on her own, [[spoiler: leading to their break-up and becoming hollow shells of their former selves]].
* TheVietnamVet: Not heavily emphasized, but his familiarity with the M40 sniper rifle and complaints about the wood stock it came with in the past strongly imply he served as a Marine sniper during the war.
-->'''Mike:''' Wood, warped like hell. You get it wet, you put it in the sun, gone. Somebody probably should've figured that out before they sent it into a damn jungle.
* VillainProtagonist: In ''Better Call Saul'', as the deuteragonist. Unlike Jimmy, who has yet to become a full-on AmoralAttorney, Mike is a full-on criminal, albeit one who starts out avoiding violence when he can. He has his endearing moments though. As the series goes on, he is shown becoming Gus' hitman and his hesitation to use violence is gone, although he still tries to go out of his way to avoid hurting innocent people.
* VillainRespect: He goes from assuming Kim is some nervous little wife who'll call the cops when her husband hasn't come home, to telling her about Lalo being alive because he heard her telling the cartel leader to get out of her house, and thinks she's made of sterner stuff than Jimmy.
* VillainousBSOD: He drinks himself stupid to cope with his guilt in killing Werner Ziegler.
* VillainHasAPoint: Sums up Walt more accurately than even he could have guessed:
-->'''Mike''': "You...are trouble. [leans forward] I'm sorry the kid doesn't see it, but I sure as hell do. You are a time bomb, tick-tick-ticking. And I have no intention of being around for the boom."
* VitriolicBestBuds: With Jimmy. Jimmy has his "needing approval from a Chuck replacement" deal, and Mike considers Jimmy an annoying insect, but has a little affection and sympathy for him. He sees more of Jimmy's potential than Jimmy does. He likes Saul far less, having got an innocent man killed with his wife, but will still keep him out of the loop for his own sake.
* WeUsedToBeFriends:
** To Walt of all people, although it's more like ''We Could Have Been Friends''. In their earlier interactions, Mike is noticeably soft towards Walt, almost like he genuinely wants to reach out and get to know the guy better. Walt, however, [[UngratefulBastard doesn't reciprocate]] and coldly shuts down any of Mike's attempts to be friendly. Post-Season 3, any and all chances of Mike and Walt getting closer have gone out the window, and the two men demonstrate nothing but mutual disdain for each other. During the S3 interviews, Jonathan Banks [[WordOfGod outright states]] that Mike "has a soft spot for Walter and doesn't want to see him drown", and that Walt's impulsively honorable decision to pick Jesse over Gustavo is what changes the whole situation drastically.
** To Saul as well. As revealed in the prequel series, Mike used to put his loyalty to Jimmy above his loyalty to Gus, even going as far as potentially defying Gustavo's orders to save Jimmy. He also mentors Jimmy on dealing with trauma as best he can, with Jimmy noting that Mike is the only person he can talk to about this stuff. Come the original series, and Mike has no problem threatening to break Saul's legs, or pressing his TraumaButton by threatening to bury him out in the desert just so he can follow Fring's orders to the letter. While they still work together, it's clear that the relationship between them is purely professional now. It's hinted that Mike, who has known Saul since he was a promising young lawyer, disdains the sleazebag AmbulanceChaser that Jimmy gradually became as well as his petty criminal schemes, which ultimately got an innocent killed and gave Mike a major headache dealing with the aftermath. [[https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/better-call-saul-point-shoot-writer-interview-1378877/ Gordon Smith confirmed this]]; Mike was disappointed that Jimmy became hellbent on proving Chuck right about him.
* WifeBasherBasher: Tells Walt all about his "half measure" of scaring the piss out of a DomesticAbuser, and that guy killing his wife made him realize he can never do a half measure again. There's also the subtext of him trying to get Jesse away from Walt. Thirdly, his anger at Jimmy turning into Saul because Mike knows Jimmy is attempting to prove his brother right about him, while on top of that seeking out Walt partly out of wanting to recreate his dynamic with Chuck, when Mike explicitly told him not to chase.
* WouldHitAGirl: Mike is perfectly intent on killing Lydia when he threatens her at her house in "[[Recap/BreakingBadS5E2Madrigal Madrigal]]". [[spoiler: He only doesn't because Lydia's love for her daughter hits home given his own relationship with his granddaughter.]]
* WouldHurtAChild: [[ImpliedTrope Implied]] when Lydia doesn't stop hysterically squealing with her oblivious daughter in the vicinity. It's clear he doesn't want to do it...but also clear that he ''will'' do it if need be. While he hasn't hurt a child himself on screen, he doesn't berate Gus or Todd for doing so.
* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Is genuinely disappointed in Jimmy for running and hiding into another persona, and sees more of his potential than actually Jimmy does. Not that he ever really told the other man this, who might have done better if he'd heard it.
* YouAreWhatYouHate: In "[[Recap/BetterCallSaulS1E6FiveO Five-O]]", Mike kills a pair of crooked cops; the cops had killed his only son because they were paranoid his son might expose their crimes. Later on, Mike is forced to kill Werner, a relatively innocent man because he implicated himself and will expose Gus' secrets. The realization of this sends Mike into an alcoholic BSOD.
** He is confronted with this further in Season 6 of ''Better Call Saul''. Despite continuing to try and maintain a moral standard, he is still ultimately [[spoiler: complicit in the capture of Nacho and his eventual suicide and the cover-up of Howard's murder]]. Despite being openly disgusted with both, he continues to serve Gus willingly, [[spoiler: and his attempt to soothe his own guilt by assuring Nacho's father Manuel that the Salamancas will pay for it are ultimately thrown in his face, with Manuel bluntly telling him [[NotSoDifferentRemark he's no better than the gangsters he hates]]]]. It's all but stated from his harrowing facial expression after Manuel leaves that this is where Mike became the ruthless asshole he is in ''Breaking Bad.''
* YouCantFightFate: With a little self-justifying in there, this is his view, as you make a choice that puts you on a road, and no matter what you do to try and get off, you'll be right there again.
[[/folder]]
----
->''"You just had to be the man! If you'd done your job, known your place, we'd all be fine right now!"''

** Mike might not have any moral high ground in saying that maybe Jesse’s loyalty towards Walt (while admirable) is misplaced, while trying to win Jesse over to Gus’ (who originally wanted Jesse dead) side. But given that Walt manipulates and belittles Jesse constantly, causing him a lot of pain, Mike’s point isn’t entirely wrong. Plus, towards the end, Walt continuously tries his hardest to manipulate Jesse into staying by him, no matter how much it hurts his protégé, Mike ultimately realizes that Jesse should decide what’s best for himself, and only he (Jesse) can decide that.

* HypocriteHasAPoint: The men Mike was protecting were people that did their job and got arrested for it, Jesse was trying to kill people that technically are his co-workers out of revenge. We do see that Mike will kill his own men if they start murdering each other so while he can't judge Walter for getting rid of Jesse after personally knowing the latter he still raises a valid point.

** Mike blames Walt for Gus' death and their business relationship deteriorating and calls him out on wanting to "be the man" and turning on Gus out of his pride and ego. In actuality, Gus was arguably the one who turned on Walt: Jesse protested Gus' dealers using a child to conduct business, Walt ended up killing them to stop them from killing Jesse, and then Gus ordered Walt and Jesse killed, ''and'' Mike was the one who almost carried it out. He's also forgetting that Gus was going to have Hank killed and warned Walt that he'd have his entire family killed too if he tried to intervene (though Mike may not have been aware of that, since he was in Mexico at the time). While Mike is likely thinking oh how Walt had been trying to kill Gus throughout Season 4 and even tried to turn Mike against him, the season began with Gus killing Victor in a clear warning to all three of them, and Gus spent the season grooming Jesse to replace Walt and both Walt and Mike knew it.

** A frequent coping mechanism he employs. Mike will do what he has to do, but likes to make excuses for his more dishonorable acts and will frequently insult people for actions he's either taken in the past or been forced to do himself. For example, in ''Better Call Saul'', he tells [[spoiler: Manuel Varga]] that the Salamanca's are dogs who will [[spoiler: pay for Nacho's death]]. [[spoiler: Manuel]] retorts that Mike is part of plan that resulted in [[spoiler: Nacho's death]] and will continue to make excuses for the horrible things he's done. His lack of a response seems to imply a HeelRealization, which explains his more curt attitude come ''Breaking Bad''.
** Even in Breaking Bad, he still seems to have this mentality, as he has a tendency to preach about “doing the right thing” when he regularly commits crimes as Gus’ enforcer. Most notably when he visits Walt regarding Jesse attempting to kill the two drug dealers who caused [[spoilers: Combo’s death, as well as a child’s death shortly afterwards,]] saying that half-measures shouldn’t be used with Jesse, ignoring of the fact that they were using children as their gunman.

* MoralMyopia: A frequent coping mechanism he employs. Mike will do what he has to do, but likes to make excuses for his more dishonorable acts and will frequently insult people for actions he's either taken in the past or been forced to do himself. For example, in ''Better Call Saul'', he tells [[spoiler: Manuel Varga]] that the Salamanca's are dogs who will [[spoiler: pay for Nacho's death]]. [[spoiler: Manuel]] retorts that Mike is part of plan that resulted in [[spoiler: Nacho's death]] and will continue to make excuses for the horrible things he's done. His lack of a response seems to imply a HeelRealization, which explains his more curt attitude come ''Breaking Bad''.

[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tna4i46.jpg]]

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: His role as Gus' right-hand man is clearly decided later on, considering that he runs errands for Saul in his first few appearances as though he's just another one of his henchmen. When introducing Walt to Gus, Saul even says that he only knows Gus through "a guy who knows a guy who knows another guy", even though Mike should be the only guy he needs to know at that point. Personality-wise, Mike also seems to be a lot more ruthless than his later characterization, telling Walt that he has learned from his cop days to always kill liabilites instead of merely taking them out of the picture, which contradicts him being reclutant to kill [[spoiler:Werner in the prequel]] and [[spoiler:Gus' imprisoned men in Season 5]].

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: His role as Gus' right-hand man is clearly decided later on, considering that he runs errands for Saul in his first appearances as though he's just another one of his henchmen. When introducing Walt to Gus, Saul even says that he only knows Gus through "a guy who knows a guy who knows another guy", even though Mike should be the only guy he needs to know at that point. Personality-wise, Mike also seems to be a lot more ruthless than his later characterization, telling Walt that he has learned from his cop days to always kill liabilites instead of merely taking them out of the picture, which contradicts him being reclutant to kill [[spoiler:Werner in the prequel]] and [[spoiler:Gus' imprisoned men in Season 5]].

[[folder:S-V]]

** To Saul as well. As revealed in the prequel series, Mike used to put his loyalty to Jimmy above his loyalty to Gus, even going as far as potentially defying Gustavo' order to save Jimmy. He also mentors Jimmy on dealing with trauma as best he can, with Jimmy noting that Mike is the only person he can talk to about this stuff. Come the original series, and Mike has no problem threatening to break Saul's legs, or pressing his TraumaButton by threatening to bury him out in the desert just so he can follow Fring's orders to the letter. While they still work together, it's clear that the relationship between them is purely professional now. It's hinted that Mike, who has known Saul since he was a promising young lawyer, disdains the sleazebag AmbulanceChaser that Jimmy gradually became as well as his petty criminal schemes, which ultimately got an innocent killed and gave Mike a major headache dealing with the aftermath. [[https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/better-call-saul-point-shoot-writer-interview-1378877/ Gordon Smith confirmed this]]; Mike was disappointed that Jimmy became hellbent on proving Chuck right about him.

** "[[Recap/BetterCallSaulS6E9FunAndGames Fun and Games]]" is another drop of morality for him, as he tries to console Mr. Varga that the Salamancas will pay for what they did to Nacho. In a hilarious twist of irony, the Salamancas essentially did almost nothing to Nacho, wholeheartedly trusting him until the end due to being unaware of his deception until Lalo's assassination; it was his boss Gus who had enslaved him and caused most of his misfortunes.

* AmbiguouslyTrained: It's doubtful that he would have been able to [[spoiler:wipe out an entire armed Colombian gang in the desert with a sniper rifle from just being a former cop in "Bagman".]] It's strongly implied that he was a sniper in the [[SemperFi United States Marine Corps]] and served in the Vietnam War, based on his familiarity with the M40 sniper rifle used by Marine snipers and complaints about the wood stock warping in the jungle, but it's only clarified outright on [[invoked]][[WordOfGod the official podcast]].

* AmbiguouslyTrained: It's doubtful that he would have been able to [[spoiler:wipe out an entire armed Colombian gang in the desert with a sniper rifle from just being a former cop in "Bagman".]] It's strongly implied that he was a sniper in the [[SemperFi United States Marine Corps]] and served in TheVietnamWar, based on his familiarity with the M40 sniper rifle used by Marine snipers and complaints about the wood stock warping in the jungle, but it's only clarified outright on [[invoked]][[WordOfGod the official podcast]].

* AmbiguouslyTrained: It's doubtful that he would have been able to [[spoiler:wipe out an entire armed Colombian gang in the desert with a sniper rifle from just being a former cop in "Bagman".]] It's implied throughout the series that he was a sniper for some form of military unit (largely just thanks to his familiarity with sniper rifles) but it's only clarified outright on [[invoked]][[WordOfGod the official podcast]].

* EasilyForgiven: At the end of "[[Recap/BreakingBadS3E13FullMeasure Full Measure]]", he tried to kill both Walt and Jesse and threatened to break Saul's legs. No more than two episodes later, Walt tells him that he understands he was just doing a job and Jesse comes to greatly respect Mike and even like him more than Walt. When Mike enters a partnership with them after Gus' death, Saul is the only one to be bitter about Mike's past actions and Walt pretty much just tells him to get over it. There is still plenty of tension between Walt and Mike but that is due to Mike's anger over Walt killing Gus and Walt's greed. The times Mike tried to kill Walt and Jesse aren't brought up much, [[{{JerkassHasAPoint}} though Walt does mention to Saul that Mike had threatened Jesse and himself before, but they’re still willing to put aside their differences for a common goal.]]

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: His grandaughter and, as revealed in the prequel, his family in general including his daughter-in-law.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Puts on a front of this to scare Lydia, "Where will I shoot you? In the head, that's a pistol, not a gun. We're expecting precision here.".

* ImprobableWeaponUser: Mike manages to weaponize ''balloons from a party with his grandaughter'', letting them go so that they fly into a set of power lines and knock out the power of the compound he's infiltrating.

* JackOfAllTrades: Once he starts doing dirty business, Mike does everything from muscle to sniping to infiltrations.

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Stops doing business with Daniel after Daniel shows up for a meet in a flashy Hummer, Mike knowing full well that it's only a matter of time before Daniel attracts the attention of the cops.

* PapaWolf: What he tried to do for Matty was pure, unadulterated Wolf. As was what he did after his son's death. [[spoiler:How those guys stayed in one spot when he let his expression change is anybody's guess. Running for the hills and/or needing brown trousers would have been more common reactions.]] Pro-tip: hands off his daughter-in-law and granddaughter.
* ParentalSubstitute: To Nacho, Jesse and Jimmy. The last is a very ToughLove version, but he was a little fond of the guy, and even when Jimmy is Saul and Mike is tempted to kick his skull in, he’ll keep Saul out of the Gus and Salamanca loop to protect him so he doesn’t have a trauma FreakOut. (Though he’ll press the desert TraumaButton if needed.)

* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Walt kills him simply because Mike refuses to give him information, but mostly because Mike insulted him. Mike's death signals how just far Walt has fallen. It's the first time in the series he kills someone without any kind of legitimate justification.]]

* StealthMentor: More than once Mike gives solid advice to the hapless criminals he works with on how to be better at what they do.

** He genuinely meant well in telling Jimmy who was deep in PTSD that one day he might not think about what’s happened to him, and telling Kim she’s made of sterner stuff than her husband, but it plays into their {{fatal flaw}}s of Jimmy putting his head in the sand and Kim thinking she can deal with everything on her own, [[spoiler: leading to their break-up and becoming hollow shells of their former selves]].

* YouAreWhatYouHate: In "[[Recap/BetterCallSaulS1E6FiveO Five-O]]", Mike kills a pair of crooked cops; the cops had killed his only son because they were paranoid his son might expose their crimes. Later on, Mike is forced to kill Werner, a relatively innocent man because he implicated himself and will expose Gus' secrets. The realization of this sends Mike into an alcoholic BSOD.
** He is confronted with this further in Season 6 of ''Better Call Saul''. Despite continuing to try and maintain a moral standard, he is still ultimately [[spoiler: complicit in the capture of Nacho and his eventual suicide and the cover-up of Howard's murder]]. Despite being openly disgusted with both, he continues to serve Gus willingly, [[spoiler: and his attempt to soothe his own guilt by assuring Nacho's father Manuel that the Salamancas will pay for it are ultimately thrown in his face, with Manuel bluntly telling him [[NotSoDifferentRemark he's no better than the gangsters he hates]]]]. It's all but stated from his harrowing facial expression after Manuel leaves that this is where Mike became the ruthless asshole he is in ''Breaking Bad.''

* VitriolicBestBuds: With Jimmy. Jimmy has his “needing approval from a Chuck replacement” deal, and Mike considers Jimmy an annoying insect, but has a little affection and sympathy for him. He sees more of Jimmy’s potential than Jimmy does. He likes Saul far less, having got an innocent man killed with his wife, but will still keep him out of the loop for his own sake.

** Mike blames Walt for Gus' death and their business relationship deteriorating and calls him out on wanting to "be the man" and turning on Gus out of his pride and ego. In actuality, Gus was arguably the one who turned on Walt: Jesse protested Gus' dealers using a child to conduct business, Walt ended up killing them to stop them from killing Jesse, and then Gus ordered Walt and Jesse killed, ''and'' Mike was the one who almost carried it out. He's also forgetting that Gus was going to have Hank killed and warned Walt that he'd have his entire family killed too if he tried to intervene (though Mike may not have been aware of that, since he was in Mexico at the time). Although, in all fairness to Mike, Walter had been trying to get rid of Gus throughout Season 4, and even tried to manipulate Mike into helping him, when Walter had another opportunity to stay as Gus’ chemist. Mike and Jesse also had started to get along, so their past animosity was gone.

[[folder:G-R]]

[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tna4i46.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:340:''"The lesson is: if you’re gonna be a criminal, do your homework."'']]

* AntiVillain: He's an incredibly efficient assassin who stops at nothing to carry out his job, but he [[NothingPersonal hardly ever holds any ill will towards his targets]], and is a pretty decent guy when he's not on the job -- even better, he manages to keep professional and personal life separate. He's a NobleDemon who refuses to harm innocents but is ruthless when dealing with enemies.

* NeverHurtAnInnocent: At the start, he would rather not kill bystanders or even relatively harmless cartel members if he has to. Backfires when Hector shoots the good Samaritan who untied said member.

* AFatherToHisMen: His partnership with Jesse is an example. He threatens Walt for calling the police on Tyrus Kitt (who'd been staking out Hank's house on Gus' orders) and he gets very serious with Lydia for suggesting that Gus' former employees be killed to prevent them from talking[[note]]ostensibly because Mike knows that killing them, even one at a time, might lead the others to turn to the police for protection out of fear that they'll be next[[/note]]. [[spoiler:Mike even goes as far as to compensate their hazard pay himself, by restarting a meth operation with Walt, to honor a deal and keep them from talking.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Even at his grumpiest and lowest point, especially come ''Breaking Bad'', Mike always looks out for his family’s and colleagues best interests. For all his insistence of no “half-measures,” he tends to sometimes still take some of those measures instead of the full measure. Despite his sour exterior, there’s still some of pop-pop still in Mike, not just limited to his family either. He goes the extra mile to make sure his [[{{BenevolentBoss}} colleagues and people working under him are well provided for.]] As long as you haven't already gotten on his bad side, he's also [[PunchClockVillain a fairly pleasant person to be around when off the clock]].

* WouldHurtAChild: [[ImpliedTrope Implied]] when Lydia doesn't stop hysterically squealing with her oblivious daughter in the vicinity. It's clear he doesn't want to do it...but also clear that he ''will'' do it if need be.