Walt's Family (Walter White), Heisenberg's Empire (Saul Goodman), DEA and Police, Juarez Cartel, Los Pollos Hermanos, Madrigal Electromotive, Aryan Brotherhood, Other Criminals, Other Civilians
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Addicts
Wendy
Wendy
"Hey, I ain't holding, okay?"
Portrayed By: Julia Minesci
Appearances: Breaking Bad | Better Call Saul
A meth-addicted street prostitute, who associates with Jesse Pinkman and is featured in the online promotional material as one of Saul Goodman's clients.
- Butt-Monkey: She tends to get made fun of, picked on, and hassled whenever she shows up.
- Butterface: Years of meth addiction have not been kind to her.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Ultimately subverted; she reappears in Season 3 as part of Jesse's plot to kill the dealers who murdered Combo but doesn't end up going through with it.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Not quite a heart of gold, perhaps, but she is pretty nice to Jesse.
- Once a Season: She has shown up to play a small but somewhat crucial role in the first three seasons.
- Only One Name: Her last name is not revealed.
- Put on a Bus: Never appears again after the third season.
- Single Mom Stripper: She says she has a son and she does "all kinds of things for him".
- Streetwalker: Wendy isn't exactly catering to a high class of clients.
- Trademark Favorite Food: She has a fondness for Mug Rootbeer and constantly demands it from the cops interrogating her.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Disappears after Jesse's plot to poison the rival drug dealers through her is discovered. Whether the drug dealers in question learned from Gus she was planning to poison them, and whether they did anything to her in response, is never addressed.
Spooge
Spooge
"It's a victimless crime!"
Portrayed By: David Ury
Appearances: Breaking Bad | Better Call Saul
A drug addict who steals meth from Skinny Pete at knifepoint. Jesse later accosts Spooge in the latter's home as an effort to retrieve the stolen drugs and/or a cash payment.
- Abusive Parents: Spooge and his lady neglect the boy who lives with them, presumably their son.
- Asshole Victim: He's a meth-head who constantly insults and denigrates his lady, and horribly mistreats his young (possible) son, and also has killed a shopkeeper to steal an ATM. It's hard to feel sorry for him when his woman crushes his head with the ATM, while repeatedly calling her a skank.
- Atrocious Alias: "Spooge?" Seriously? He must have been completely spun when he came up with that name.
- Ax-Crazy: It's quite obvious from his first appearance that he's incredibly deranged and violent.
- Beard of Evil: A scraggly beard from being an unshaven mess in general.
- Blatant Lies: Spooge tells Jesse that his theft of the ATM went "smooth as silk" and was "a victimless crime". In truth, a clerk was brutally murdered during the robbery.
- Call-Forward: He has a brief appearance in Better Call Saul as one of Saul's clients in 2004. He's wearing expensive clothes and is much more clean-cut than he is when Jesse meets him four years later.
- Dirty Coward: When Jesse has a gun on him, he's whiny and submissive.
- Hate Sink: He has absolutely no redeemable or likable traits, and is meant to garner as much of the audience's disgust and revulsion as possible.
- Hidden Depths: He's well-aware of accurate medical terminology.
David Ury has speculated that Spooge used to be an EMT. - Jerkass: Between his abusive neglect of a very young child, his willingness to commit petty murders to facilitate idiotic thefts, and calling his girlfriend/wife a 'skank' over and over again (when it is clear that this infuriates her), Spooge is a pretty nasty fellow.
- Karmic Death: He dies when his head gets crushed by the same ATM that he had stolen (and murdered someone to do so), just after he had finished verbally abusing his girlfriend (who kills him out of anger).
- Too Dumb to Live: He repeatedly insults his lady while working underneath a big heavy ATM, constantly riling her up. He's also boosted ATMs six times and never got one open, yet steals another due to the 'law of averages'.
- Unfortunate Names: Jesse expresses disbelief at Skinny Pete getting robbed by someone named Spooge.
- Your Head Asplode: He gets his head absolutely smooshed under an ATM.
Spooge's Lady
Spooge's Lady
"Call me a bad mother? I'll show you a bad mother!"
Portrayed By: Dale Dickey
Appearances: Breaking Bad
A drug addict who stole meth from Skinny Pete at knifepoint with help from her partner Spooge.
- Abusive Parents: She and Spooge neglect the boy who lives with them, presumably their son.
- Ax-Crazy: When she is shown crushing Spooge's head it proves just how murderous she really is.
- Berserk Button: Do NOT call her a skank. Or a bad mother. At best she'll knock you out cold, at worst she'll pulverize your head with an ATM machine.
- The Dog Bites Back: When Spooge repeatedly insults her by calling her a skank (even when she tells him to quit calling her that), she has enough and crushes Spooge's head with the ATM he's working under.
- Evil Laugh: Has a very disturbing cackle when she and Spooge rob Skinny Pete.
- Hate Sink: She's just as nasty as Spooge.
- Parental Neglect: Although her neglectful attitude toward her son would be this trope, she is greatly offended when Jesse calls her a bad mother.
- No Name Given: Only ever known as 'Spooge's Lady'. According to Skinny Pete, it's something "incomprehensible".
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: She says "I ain't no skank" before and after killing Spooge.
Scary Skell
Scary Skell
Portrayed By: Damon Herriman
Appearances: Breaking Bad
A dangerous drug addict. As part of the cartel's war with Gus, he came into possession of a Los Pollos Hermanos bucket containing a batch of blue meth, forcing Jesse and Mike to retrieve it.
- Ax-Crazy: He is deep down the hole of meth addiction, and as a result, he's impulsively violent and paranoid.
- No Indoor Voice: He literally shouts all his lines.
- The Paranoiac: He's violently paranoid about everything as a result of his meth addiction.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: He's right to distrust Jesse, but it's the meth that's making him paranoid as opposed to any good instincts.
- Say My Name: TUCKER!
- Shotguns Are Just Better: He brandishes a shotgun 24/7 as a result of his paranoia, making him a legitimate threat compared to Tucker.
- The Shut-In: Aggressively orders Tucker to shut the door immediately. Apparently, his meth addiction has made him sensitive to sunlight.
Tucker
Tucker
Portrayed By: Blake Berris
Appearances: Breaking Bad
Scary Skell's "friend." He's supposed to keep a lookout for intruders but barely seems to be aware of his surroundings.
- Zero-Effort Boss: Although he's noted to a potential obstacle by Mike, Jesse effortlessly walks by him upon realizing he's so out there in the head that he poses no real threat at all.
Other Criminals
Ted Beneke
Theodore "Ted" Beneke
"Being that rock takes everything you’ve got."
Portrayed By: Christopher Cousins
Appearances: Breaking Bad
The president and owner of Beneke Fabricators. He gives Skyler her old job back as an accountant during the second season.
- Asshole Victim: He deserves a lot of what happens to him. Sure, he's not a killer or drug kingpin and not as bad as Walt or Gus or Jack, but he's still a sleazy, selfish white-collar criminal who makes terrible decisions and considers himself a genius.
- Black Comedy: His near-death is probably one of the best examples of this in the show's history. It helps that it feels like a scene that would feel right at home in a Coen Brothers flick like Fargo.
- "Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: The creators themselves have stated that they can't decide whether Ted was attempting to blackmail Skyler during their final encounter in Season 4. Whether he intended it to come off the way it did or not, either way, he made it clear to Skyler that he felt there was no point in paying the IRS unless he could pay off his other debts, and he was aware that when he didn't pay them off they would inevitably audit Skyler and Walt and all three of them would go to jail.
- Break the Haughty: He dismisses Skyler when she tells him to pay off his debts to the IRS, but after the incident with Huell and Kuby leaves him paralyzed he starts singing a different tune. When Skyler visits him in the hospital, he's clearly aware that she ordered the pair to intimidate him and is quite scared of her and Walt, promising he will keep his mouth shut.
- Butt-Monkey: Poor guy has all kinds of bad stuff befall him. Granted, a lot of it is his fault for being such a cowardly and selfish fool.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Comes back in late season 4 when the IRS indicts him for tax fraud.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: He uses his position as president of Beneke Fabrications to embezzle money from the company.
- Dirty Coward: Ted slept with Skyler and hid from her husband when confronted instead of facing him like a man. His actions would have had negative repercussions for others, yet Ted would always try to save his own skin before others. Finally, after being forced to sign the check, he attempts to run from Huell and Kuby which results in him tripping and crippling himself.
- Epic Fail: He gets spooked when Huell and Kuby intimidate him into paying off his tax debt and attempts to flee. Where he intended to flee isn't made clear, because Ted doesn't make it ten steps before he trips on a rug and slams his face into a counter, breaking his neck and paralyzing himself. Note that successfully escaping would not have accomplished anything anyway, since he had already signed the cheque and given it to Kuby, and neither Kuby nor Huell made even a trivial attempt to stop him in the first place.
- Foil: He and Walt share a great deal of similarities - both men regard themselves as Justified Criminals doing their lawbreaking activities for the sake of some greater good (Walt's being his family's financial future, Ted's being his employees' livelihoods), but are really in it for their own selfish reasons (Walt for his ego and pride, Ted for continuing to maintain his own luxurious lifestyle) and are really terrible at thinking things through in the long term and tend to make immature decisions.
- Handsome Lech: Towards Skyler. In the past, he got drunk at an office party and groped her. In the present...well, watch his eyes whenever he's talking to Skyler. They're generally not aimed at her face.
- Hate Sink: In contrast to other criminals that at least have some cool, intimidating charm, Ted grows more and more loathsome and pathetic in each of his appearances. First, he has an affair with Skyler. Then it's revealed he's been committing tax fraud that also puts Skyler and Walt at risk, while carelessly buying a car with unaccounted money when he's very close to being arrested. He even claims he's "doing the right thing" refusing to pay the IRS with their money and won't acknowledge that he'll be sent to prison, which Skyler interprets as him blackmailing her. Saul's goons then force him to write the check, after which he runs away and trips and falls, paralyzing himself.
- Jerkass: While he makes the fair case that paying off the IRS will not simply solve all his problems, he also knows that when he doesn't pay them they will inevitably audit Skyler and Walt for her hand in his business, and the two will go to jail along with him.
- Justified Criminal: In his own mind, he is only cooking the books at Beneke Fabricators to save his father's company and the jobs of the people it employs. Becomes much less justified when he uses the obviously dirty money he receives through Saul to buy a Mercedes SL550 instead of paying off the debts, making it clear that he's actually siphoning money meant to be used for taxes and using it instead on his own lifestyle. In his mind, there's no difference between imprisonment and bankruptcy.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Ted spends most of his time spending his money on anything he wants in order to continue his lavish lifestyle, even if it puts him in danger of being audited by the IRS. His final moments on the series show him permanently crippled in a hospital bed thanks to his own incompetence, thus ensuring that whatever privileged life he had before is long gone.
- Manchild: Despite being well into middle age, his actions seem more that of a clueless teenager than a grown adult.
- Money Dumb: He seems almost pathologically incapable of being fiscally responsible and doesn't seem to understand that he can't just spend any money that goes into his hand on endless luxuries, even when someone else tells him the consequences. He's also very adamant about having as much money to do so, even if it could be used to avoid really bad things like imprisonment for tax fraud, and would rather refuse an incredibly generous offer if it's only meant to pay his debts.
- Not Quite Dead: Granted, it was left a bit ambiguous whether he died or not when he tripped, but a lot of people assumed he was dead until the season 5 premiere proved otherwise.
- Pet the Dog: For all of his problems, he loves his daughters. After getting crippled by Huell and Kuby, he covers up their involvement out of fear that they would go after his daughters next.
- Post-Victory Collapse: Discussed. When Skyler wonders why she doesn't feel happier after Walt goes into remission, Ted recalls that when he got some good news about his dad's cancer, all it took was the flu to knock him flat.
- Put on a Bus: After making one last appearance in the hospital in the season 5 premiere, he is never seen again, with Walt later telling Marie that he was left paralyzed from the neck down and not likely to recover anytime soon, if ever (though it's not clear how truthful Walt's being). He did reassure Skyler of his silence, so there's that.
- Small Role, Big Impact: By roping Skyler into tax evasion, he forces her to give him much of Walt's money to get the IRS off their backs. However, unbeknownst to Skyler, Walt has landed himself in hot water with his boss and needs that money to escape. With that option gone, Walt is forced to stay and fight Gus in a last-ditch attempt to save his family, which he emerges victorious and becomes the strongest druglord standing. This event boosts his ego so much that Walt officially goes on the warpath and builds himself the greatest American drug empire in the next season, allowing him to finally live up to his reputation as the great Heisenberg.
- Smug Snake: He's a sleazebag who has an affair with Skyler and seems to think he's smooth even though he commits tax fraud while claiming he won't be penalized. He takes the money Skyler gives him and buys a new car even though he's this close to being arrested for unpaid back taxes.
- Stupid Crooks: To just an absurd degree, given he's in white-collar crime, where at least some degree of smarts is a prerequisite. He inherited his dad's business, which he not only ran to the ground but also siphoned money along the way for his spend-thrift lifestyle. He then cooked his books - and badly. Eventually, he's granted a "Get out of jail free" card in the form of Skyler secretly giving him loads of money to pay off the IRS... and he's dumb enough to turn that down, openly saying how there's no difference between going to prison for a decade for tax evasion and fraud as opposed to simple bankruptcy. And when he does get the exact amount of money needed to pay off the IRS from an "inheritance fund", he immediately leases a luxury coupe with it. Let's repeat this: the man has a chance to avoid a lengthy prison sentence and he throws it away. While siphoning money from the fund to further spend on himself.
- Too Dumb to Live: After Huell and Kuby force him to write the check to the IRS, all he had to do was sit tight for a few days until the check cleared; there was literally no threat to his life or well-being once the paperwork was signed. Ted decides to make a run for it, slips and trips over a rug, slams facefirst into the kitchen counter, and cripples himself.
- Unexpected Inheritance: Subverted, Skyler gets Saul to give Ted some of Walt's drug money by pretending that it's an inheritance from his "great aunt Birgit" in Luxembourg in order to pay off his tax debt and stop any further investigation by the IRS. Ted, being an utter moron, has no idea it's a scheme and plays it straight In-Universe: he marvels at his sudden good luck, ignores the fact that he has no idea who this "great aunt Birgit" is, and considers it a "sign from above" to re-open operations at Beneke Fabricators rather than pay his tax debt.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: His terrible business management and refusal to pay the IRS is what leads Walt to not have enough money to take his family into hiding. Thus, Walt instead kills Gus and re-enters the drug trade, and Season 5 happens...
- Upper-Class Twit: Rare non-comedic variant. Ted is profoundly stupid. He inherited his father's business and ran it into the ground. He then cooked the books — badly — to cover up his ineptitude. He considers the ensuing IRS audit some minor annoyance instead of a criminal investigation. Suddenly receives enough money to get himself out of trouble with the IRS? "Time to buy a Cool Car!" It's hard to overstate just how much of an idiot this guy is.
- White-Collar Crime: In contrast to the black-market variety practiced by Walt and Jesse, Ted cooked the books to keep his lavish lifestyle afloat.
Lawson
Lawson
Portrayed By: Jim Beaver
Appearances: Breaking Bad | Better Call Saul
"A man steps to you intent on doing bodily harm, you got every right to plant your feet and shoot to kill."
Walt's, and previously Mike's, gun dealer.- Affably Evil: Polite, respectful and honorable despite being a black market gun dealer.
- Almighty Janitor: Very qualified with his field of work and also helps as a sniper spotter for Mike when the latter buys a rifle from him.
- Arms Dealer: He illegally sells weapons.
- The Cameo: Jim Beaver is a pretty well known character actor but his part is rather minor given that his character only exists in Breaking Bad to provide Walt with a revolver and the M60, and in Better Call Saul to provide Mike with sniper rifles.
- Celebrity Paradox: As with Anna Gunn (Skyler), Lawson's actor Jim Beaver plays a medium-sized role in Deadwood, which exists in the Breaking Bad universe.
- Chekhov's Gunman: After selling Walt a revolver, he turns up in season 5 and sells Walt an M60 that kills all the occupants of Jack's Nazi funhouse.
- Consummate Professional: He knows his product, he doesn't take anything personally, and he makes clear that he feels the best thing he can do is keep a friendly and professional demeanor in order to encourage repeat business. He goes above and beyond for the customer and is so aware of forensics techniques that he not only files serial numbers of his guns but obscures where they once were with a stippling machine.
- On seeing how inexperienced Walt is, he suggests he buy a handgun legally, which would be cheaper and save him the felony of being caught with an illegal firearm. He also makes sure to provide Walter with a printed copy of the manual for the M60 he later sells him.
- When Mike initially refuses to buy any of the sniper rifles and wants to give Lawson money for wasting his time, he refuses and says it's on the house. And sure enough Mike does end up purchasing one of his rifles.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Lawson may sell guns to people who really shouldn't have them, but he's up-front and honest with clients even to the point of recommending they do things that would lose him money.
- For example, he tells Walt that if he wants to buy a gun for legal self-defense purposes (as is the case with the revolver), he could save a lot of money and avoid committing a felony by just purchasing one from a legitimate source like a gun shop.
- Later, he won't sell Walt the M60 until he has his assurance it won't be crossing the border into Mexico.
- When Mike decides not to buy any of his wares, Lawson turns down Mike's offer to pay him just for Lawson's time and trouble. He might sell criminals the guns they use to hurt people, but he won't take a penny if he doesn't feel that he's earned it.
Old Joe
Old Joe
Portrayed By: Larry Hankin
Appearances: Breaking Bad | El Camino
The owner of a junkyard where Walt takes the RV to be crushed. He later helps Walt, Jesse, and Mike with their plan to use a magnet in order to destroy Gus' computer at the APD.
- The Bus Came Back: After a brief, but memorable appearance in Season 3 where he thwarts Hank's attempt to break into Jesse's RV, he comes back to play a rather pivotal role in the first half of Season 5. He returns again when Jesse calls him in El Camino.
- Cool Old Guy: He might have 'old' in his official casting name, but he's a smart and helpful guy.
- Deus ex Machina: A smart and helpful Cool Old Guy, just what Walt and Jesse need when Hank is about to bust the RV wide open.
- Hidden Depths: You wouldn't expect it, but Joe's legal savviness comes in handy when Hank comes to try to bust into the RV. He also seems to have a decent knowledge of engineering, helping rig the magnet that destroys Gustavo Fring's laptop.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: While Joe may know his legal rights and is willing to stand up to a DEA agent overstepping his bounds, he immediately hightails it when Todd's stolen El Camino is activated, as it's clear that no legal expertise is gonna save him from an FBI raid. Considering they sent dozens of police cars and a couple armored trucks to Skinny Pete's house, Joe's reaction is more than justified.
- Not So Above It All: When reuniting with Jesse in El Camino, Joe notes that he found Jesse's magnet trick and subsequent Large Ham celebration over pulling it off to be legitimately entertaining at the time, hence why he decides to help the man (though it doesn't last long)
- Not So Stoic: Joe very quickly panics and bails on helping Jesse once he realizes the authorities have got a lock on Jesse's stolen El Camino.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: We don't even know if Joe is his real first name.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Throughout all of Breaking Bad, Joe is incredibly calm when dealing with highly illegal situations, even standing his ground when Hank Schrader is badgering him. But when Todd's Lo-Jack tracker is activated by the police in El Camino, Joe immediately freaks out and drives off, as he knows just how high the heat is.
- Pet the Dog: Subverted. Old Joe returns in El Camino and plans to help Jesse get rid of the titular car for free, as he genuinely likes him and figures that with helping him is the least he can do given Jesse's situation. Unfortunately the police activate a tracking signal within the car right as Joe’s inspecting it, resulting in him taking off before he’s caught as a known associate.
- Rules Lawyer: Invokes this where Hank is concerned.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In El Camino, Joe promptly gets the hell away from Skinny Pete's house once he realizes the tracker in the El Camino was activated, leaving Jesse, Badger, and Pete to deal with the incoming cops but warns them to flee as well.
Clovis
Clovis
Portrayed By: Tom Kiesche
Appearances: Breaking Bad
Badger's jackass cousin. He operates a vehicle towing and repair service.
- Country Cousin: To Badger. While not exactly "rural" he is living out in the boonies and operates a towing and repair service.
- Dumb Muscle: Relies on his physical presence to intimidate customers while not taking any adequate security procedures, allowing Jesse to break in and steal back the RV after Clovis already caught him after breaking just minutes earlier.
- Honest John's Dealership: In addition to hiding evidence from a drug manufacturing ring, he also sells Jesse a used car. Given how at ease he is dealing with this, it seems likely that he has some history dealing with criminals.
- Jerkass: He might be Badger's cousin, but he still treats both him and Jesse with disdain and demands high payment.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Nonetheless, the police are currently looking for the RV he's being asked to hide and considering the "cargo" enclosed within, he's taking a considerable risk taking it in.
- Put on a Bus: After Jesse makes a deal with him to hide the RV on his lot, he doesn't appear again until he makes a brief cameo in Season 3 and is never seen again after that.
James Kilkelly
James 'Jimmy In-'N-Out' Kilkelly
Portrayed By: Jimmy Daniels
Appearances: Breaking Bad
James Edward Kilkelly, better known as Jimmy In-'N-Out, is a lifelong criminal who's made a profit by going to jail for other peoples' crimes. After Badger gets arrested, Jimmy gets set up as the fall guy for Heisenberg.
- Bald of Evil: Which helps convince APD that he's Heisenberg. Hank doesn't buy it, however.
- Bit Character: Doesn't even have any dialogue, but his memorable backstory left enough of an impression to be included.
- Fall Guy: He's a professional fall guy. He's institutionalized and willingly goes into prison.
- In-Series Nickname: He's known as 'Jimmy In-'N'Out' due to constantly getting in and out of prison.
- Not Used to Freedom: Naturally having spent too much time in prison makes modern-day America inconvenient for him.
- Off on a Technicality: Saul assures Walt and Jesse that he'll get Jimmy a reduced sentence.
- The Old Con: Due to being in prison for most of his life, he's a frequent face on the inside.
Olive Oil
Olive Oil
Portrayed By: Jesus Mayorga
Appearances: Breaking Bad
A frequent immigrant from Mexico to the US and back again. He ends up running into trouble when conversing with the Cousins during a trip to America.
- He Knows Too Much: When noticing the boots that the Cousins are wearing, recognizing them as being part of the cartel, Olive Oil quickly shuts up and stops trying to be friendly with them. Unfortunately, this is enough for the Cousins to simultaneously realize that he is too risky for him to know, and he is gunned down by them (along with the others in the truck for bearing witness).
- The Illegal: He has been smuggled across Mexico to Texas plenty of times as part of his job, which is to paint cars for Mexican gangsters, and is on his way to do the same for his cousin's body shop in the US.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Olive Oil (or "aceite de oliva" in his native language) has been tasked with painting cars that end up looking quite slick, which is how he got his nickname. Whatever his actual name is, he doesn't say.
- There's No Kill like Overkill: After being shot to death, along with the other passengers (plus the driver), the Cousins have the hay truck that was transporting them set on fire. It ends up exploding, incinerating the others' bodies, and an evidence photo in the next episode shows the charred remains in the wreck.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Him finding out that the Cousins are dangerous Cartel members gets him killed, in addition with the deaths of almost a dozen others, with their bodies blown to smithereens.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Has quite a captivating introduction, with plenty of background information, only to be killed in the same scene.
Ira
Ira
Portrayed By: Franc Ross
Appearances: Breaking Bad | Better Call Saul
A burglar that Jimmy enlists to help him steal a Hummel figurine. He later becomes the owner of a pest control company called Vamonos Pest, which Walt and Jesse use as a front for their meth-cooking operation.
- Affably Evil: Ira is an experienced criminal, but he's also a pretty affable guy who can generally be trusted.
- Ascended Extra: Though he still isn't a major player, he has far more screen-time in Better Call Saul than Breaking Bad.
- The Bus Came Back: He returns in the prequel series as a burglar hired by Jimmy.
- Butt-Monkey: Downplayed, but Ira doesn't exactly have the easiest time stealing that Hummel figurine. What should have been a quick and easy snatch-n'-grab turns into something much less pleasant when Neff, the guy he was hired to rob, ends up sleeping in his own office because his wife kicked him out. As a result, poor Ira is forced to hide under his desk, listening to him argue with his wife, play self-help tapes ad nauseam, and play solitaire in actual solitaire, with the slowly accumulating hours likely feeling like days.
- Honor Among Thieves: The Hummel figurine he stole at Jimmy's behest ended up selling for a lot more than what Jimmy had estimated. Ira could have pocketed the difference without Jimmy ever knowing or even suspecting, but he still split the take evenly.
- Pet the Dog: Splits the take evenly in response to Jimmy's Pet the Dog moment of rescuing him.
- Saved by Canon: His appearance in Breaking Bad indicates he'll survive the events of Better Call Saul.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Implied. Francesca mentions to Gene that Ira disappeared after Heisenberg became Public Enemy Number 1 in the U.S, much like Saul Goodman's other criminal associates.
Ed Galbraith
Ed Galbraith
"Seems to me just the spot for a man to rest up, think on things. If you look around... it's kind of beautiful."
Portrayed By: Robert Forster
Appearances: Breaking Bad | Better Call Saul | El Camino
A vacuum cleaner repairman. He secretly offers the service of taking people and giving them new lives and identities.
- Affably Evil: Stoicism aside, Ed is accomodating, helpful, and professional. But if you try and ask for a discount, or beg him for special treatment, he will rat you to the police, as Jesse finds out.
- Almighty Janitor: Saul thinks that the "vacuum repair shop" is just an euphemism or a cover at least. Ed is really a vacuum repair man.
- Being Personal Isn't Professional: Walter offers $10,000 just for an hour of his time for a game of cards. He also demands Jesse pay his past dues and refuses to give Jesse a slight discount despite knowing about his imprisonment.
- Brutal Honesty: When Walt asks whether he can trust Ed to take the rest of his millions and give it to his family back in Albuquerque, the salty old crook just gives him a weary glance and asks if he'd believe him if he told him yes.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Walt tries to use his services, but didn't have the funds in Season 4. Jesse is convinced to use him, but backs down in Season 5 when he figures out that Walt poisoned Brock. However, Walt and Saul finally use him and gain new identities in "Granite State". Jesse peruses his services again to escape Alberqueque and gain a new identity in El Camino.
- Consummate Professional: He works in a very straight-forward way, with no corners cut and earns every dollar relocating Saul and Walt. He also refuses to close his store for anyone, even lucrative clients, and will not forgive past debts or lower his price for Jesse despite his troubles.
- Fauxshadow: Gene does call him onscreen in Better Call Saul, but he never actually uses his services after reaching Omaha.
- The Ghost: Despite being mentioned in Season 4, he does not appear visibly until "Granite State".
- Honor Among Thieves: He could have easily robbed Walt of all his money but he is too much of a professional for that. He also doesn't hold a grudge towards Jesse, even when he initially spurned his service and later forced him to call the police to get him to leave his shop.
- Incredibly Lame Fun: To keep Walt occupied in a cabin far from society, what kind of entertainment did Ed buy for him to watch? 2 copies of Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium!
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's a total hardass who has no sympathy on Jesse's torture sob story, but he covers for Jesse and visibly has his heartstrings pulled when he reads Jesse's goodbye letter to Brock.
- Mysterious Past: Absolutely no information is given on Ed Galbraith's history within the franchise. Who he is beyond just a vacuum cleaner repairman to how he came to run his disappearing side business is completely unknown.
- Not So Stoic: Despite his Consummate Professional attitude towards Jesse throughout the entirety of El Camino and his ambivalence for all the tragedy he's gone through, Ed is visibly touched by Jesse's letter to Brock Cantillo when he reads it. He promises him to mail it to him from Mexico City.
- Pet the Dog:
- When Jesse forces him to call the cops, Ed has mercy and gives the cops a completely fabricated description of him. Of course, he also was doing it to prevent the cops realizing what kind of business he actually runs.
- Unlike Saul and Walter, Ed also allows Jesse to choose where he wants to disappear to, which is a pretty rare luxury given that he's the most wanted man in America at the moment.note He also promises to send Brock Jesse's letter from Mexico City so that the kid knows what happened to his mother.
- Pragmatic Villainy: After a tense stand-off with Jesse in El Camino after Jesse ends up short on the funding needed for his services, Ed actually returns the money that Jesse also owes him since he rationalizes that trying to fight him over it would cause more problems than he needs.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Even though he works to make criminals (or any high-paying customer) disappear, he is honest, accommodating, and reasonable.
- Put on a Bus: Invoked, as he is the one who runs the literal bus station.
- Secret-Keeper: The final scene of El Camino implies that Ed Galbraith is the only man outside of Jesse who knows the circumstances behind Andrea Cantillo's murder, since he read the letter Jesse wanted to send to Brock.
- Spy Speak: To solicit his identity-erasing services, clients call his shop and specifically ask for a dust filter for a "Hoover Max Extract Pressure Pro, Model 60," at which point they are asked "how hot" to denote the immediacy at which they need to be picked up.
In reality, said product is actually a carpet cleaner that wouldn't require a dust filter, ensuring that only people requesting his services would ever ask for it. - The Stoic: Aside from some mild sarcasm, he's a non-judgmental professional who isn't affected by his clients.
- Visual Pun: Ed, the vacuum repair man, drives a red Pontiac Trans Sport, a minivan more commonly known as the "Dust Buster."
