History Characters / BreakingBadSalamancaFamily

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

A brutal and psychotic crime family influential in the Juarez Cartel. For various reasons, they butt heads with Walter White many times, but their greatest enmity lies with his employer: Gustavo Fring.
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[[foldercontrol]]

!!Salamanca Family

[[folder:In General]]
!!The Salamanca Family
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/BreakingBad'' | ''Series/BetterCallSaul''
->''"Me and my family: we built this whole business!"''
-->-- '''Hector Salamanca''', "Lantern"

A vicious family made up of drug lords who all work together to bring profit for themselves and to serve Don Eladio and the rest of the Juarez Cartel.
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* AbusiveParents: Or at least Hector was. He was shown to have physically abused Leonel and Marco back in TheEighties, specifically by nearly drowning the former to teach the latter about the importance of family [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor after Leonel says he wished his brother were dead]]. Hector was also more than willing to leave Tuco in jail for at least six months for having brutally assaulted Mike Ehrmantraut, although he does get upset when Tuco extends his own sentence.
* AppealToForce: The Salamancas are the muscle of the Juarez Cartel, and their attitude is generally that rules don't apply to them because, well, they have the muscle.
* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Salamancas are notorious for being one of the largest and most unstable crime families in the entire show. It's telling that those in the family tend to be stone-cold killers ''at best'', while the worst members have PsychopathicManchild-like traits.
* TheDreaded: Those in the game know that a Salamanca getting involved in any kind of situation is bad news bears. Nacho Varga does everything he can to get out from under Hector's thumb when he thinks things are going out of hand in ''Better Call Saul'', and Jesse is incredibly wary of doing business with Tuco during the first season of ''Breaking Bad''.
* EvilUncle: The Salamanca family is run by Hector, whose several nephews tend to be the main muscle within the drug trade. Hector was also abusive to his family ever since they were children so that they would become the powerful drug enforcers and hitmen seen in the present day.
* TheFamilyThatSlaysTogether: The one redeeming quality about the Salamanca family is that they are all extremely loyal to each other, no matter what happens.
* FamilyThemeNaming: At least three members of the family have their first names end with the letter "O" (Tuco, Marco and Lalo).
* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: The Salamancas used to be one of the pillars of the Cartel, providing most of its muscle, before they started taking major hits during the events of Better Call Saul. By the time of Breaking Bad, while they're still powerful, they're a shadow of what they once were.
* {{Hypocrite}}: For a family that lives by the motto that "family is all", they sure don't seem to respect the families of other people throughout the franchise. In ''Better Call Saul'', Hector bullies Nacho Varga into using his father's business as a front for his illegal activities, despite the man never being staunchly against crime in all forms. Tuco also ignores Walt's concern for his family in ''Breaking Bad'', telling him that he should just get another one when they go into Mexico together.
* MachoLatino: They are fixated with putting up a manly and intimidating Latin image, given their recurring obsession with huevos, respecting their rivals through a show of strength, aggressiveness in the cartel business and [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain disdain towards homosexuality]], especially regarding Gus Fring's suspected relationship with Max Arciniega.
* ThickerThanWater: Even when at their absolute worst, the Salamancas are always there for each other. When Hector has his stroke and becomes disabled in ''Better Call Saul'', Lalo immediately drops everything to help take over the family business. Later down the line, Leonel and Marco immediately seek retribution towards Walter White and later Hank Schrader for their involvement in their cousin Tuco's death.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Gonzo is said to be Tuco's brother-in-law, so Tuco definitely has an unnamed sister who is married to Gonzo. Other than that, nothing is known about this character and whether she's spared from Gus' vendetta or not is unclear.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:"Abuelita"]]
!!"Abuelita" Salamanca
[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/owqhcnm.jpg]]
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/MiriamColon
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/BetterCallSaul''

->''"Oh, my God! But they're so angry!"''

Tuco, Lalo, and the twins' paternal grandmother and Hector's mother.
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* AbsurdlyYouthfulMother: Miriam Colón is only three years older then Mark Margolis. Ir's possible [[TeenPregnancy she had Hector very young]] or she could simply be meant to be much older then her actress.
* AmbiguouslyEvil: She brazenly commits a hit-and-run, though it could be that she suspected that it was a scam, was afraid that the victims would hurt her, or forgot about it. She also accepts Tuco's suspicious "salsa" spill excuse a bit too readily.
* AmbiguousSituation: It's unclear if she knows anything about her family's extensive involvement in the cartel. Tuco's behaviour suggests that the others keep her in the dark, but there are a few hints she knows more than she lets on. When she sees Tuco cleaning "salsa" off the carpet, she tells him to use club soda to deal with it. Club soda wouldn't do much to a salsa stain, but is commonly used to remove dried in blood, implying that she knows enough to put together what's really going on.
* DontTellMama: Implied, as Tuco tries to hide his criminal activities from her.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Tuco is very kind to her, despite being a psychotically violent man.
* MoralityPet: To Tuco, him being an AxCrazy gangster who treats her with nothing but kindness... while also planning to [[DisproportionateRetribution torture and kill]] two scammers for calling her an "old biznatch". Jimmy tries to appeal to that by saying the scammers have an old mom to take care of.
* NoNameGiven: She's only ever known as Abuelita or Abuela (Spanish for "grandma").
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Only appears in two episodes, but the skater twins mistaking her Ford Taurus for Betsy Kettleman's car sets off the plot of the series and introduces Jimmy to the cartel for the first time.
* UncertainDoom: When Jimmy asks Lalo how his Abuelita is doing, Lalo doesn't answer and changes the subject with a dour expression, implying that she passed since the last time she appeared onscreen. [[note]]Her actress died in 2017, a few years before the episode where Jimmy asks Lalo about his Abuelita was filmed.[[/note]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hector]]

See [[Characters/BreakingBadHectorSalamanca his page]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tuco]]
!!Tuco Salamanca
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TucoSalamanca_4732.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"Nobody moves crystal in the South Valley but me, bitch!"'']]
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/RaymondCruz
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/BreakingBad'' | ''Series/BetterCallSaul''

->''"I like doing business with a family man. There's always a lot of collateral."''

A drug distributor in Albuquerque's South Valley who initially acts as Walt and Jesse's first "boss". Freshly released from prison after doing a stint for [[Recap/BetterCallSaulS2E4GlovesOff assaulting Mike Ehrmantraut in a road rage incident,]] Tuco is an unstable, paranoid man who snorts meth all day. At first Walter (and reluctantly Jesse) want to be Tuco's main supplier, but they change their minds when they witness Tuco beating one of his subordinates to death over a minor misunderstanding. And by "minor misunderstanding," [[InsaneTrollLogic we mean being supportive.]]
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* ArcVillain: For the first two seasons of both shows.
** Tuco serves as the preeminent threat to Walt and Jesse in ''Breaking Bad'', from his introduction towards the end of the first season until his death at the beginning of Season 2. Subsequently, his organization ceases to pose a direct threat to the series' protagonists until more than a season later (by which time Gustavo Fring has all but eclipsed them as the story's foremost antagonist).
** In ''Better Call Saul'', Tuco serves as Jimmy [=McGill=]'s first encounter with the Juarez Cartel after a scam gone wrong, with him having to negotiate with the man to prevent him and the people he's working with from being killed at his hands. Later in Season 2, Nacho and Mike come up with a plan to get Tuco incarcerated in prison due to his unstable behavior, taking him out of the game for the rest of the show.
* AssholeVictim: It's outright cathartic when Jesse and Walt get payback on Tuco, and even more when Hank kills him, considering how much of a psychotic prick he was.
* AxCrazy: It's impossible to overstate just how murderously insane Tuco is. He snorts meth off a Bowie knife right out of the bag, [[NoIndoorVoice he's almost always screaming]], and is no problem with beating someone to death just for talking out of turn. He also has all kinds of gruesome fates planned for the skateboarders who insulted his Abuelita, and even gets threatening towards No-Doze for making a little comment against ''Jimmy''. After he dies, being "another Tuco" is shorthand between Walt and Jesse for someone possibly being AxCrazy.
* BadBoss: His underlings are terrified of him and for good reason. Tuco's mental instability and rampant drug use mean he can and will kill you for the most spurious of reasons, most of which exist only within the [[InsaneTrollLogic twisted logic]] of his own head. He kills No-Doze for saying something ''[[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext supportive]]''.
-->'''Jesse:''' Did you not see him beat a dude to death for, like, ''nothing?''
* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: He's shown spending his free time waiting for his cousins to arrive firing out the window at cows with his assault rifle. Walt and Jesse are even more horrified of him than they already were.
* BerserkButton: People helping him without being asked to, because it makes him feel like they think he's too stupid to do things without their help. During his first appearance, he snaps at Skinny Pete for the heinous crime of vouching for him in front of Jesse without being asked to. Later, He kills No-Doze for simply speaking out in his support for much of the same reason.
-->'''Tuco:''' You're just speaking for me, like I ain't got the goddam sense to speak for myself! Is that it?
* BigBad: Of season 1. Although Krazy-8 was the first antagonist in the series, in the end, he was just a small-time thug. Contrasting, Tuco is the first big shot to introduce the Cartels and represents a far more dangerous threat to Walt.
* BloodKnight: Getting put into checkmate via a police audience? [[VillainRespect No reason to stop punching with an appreciative smile]]. Hector even notes that Tuco aspires to be a boxer, hence his hot-headedness.
* BoomHeadshot: Hank finally takes him out with a well-aimed shot to the forehead.
* TheBrute: Of the Salamanca family. He's an important enforcer, but that's the limit of his talents. He's not as skilled a ProfessionalKiller as his twin cousins, and certainly not as clever as Lalo or Hector.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Despite being [[AxCrazy a hollering, red-faced lunatic]], he is nonetheless one of the Cartel's most reliable and trusted enforcers according to Juan Bolsa. It seems likely his terrifying reputation kept everyone in line and eager to please.
* ChronicVillainy: He can't even behave when in jail on a fairly short sentence that only requires good behavior.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Tuco doesn't think at all. He still manages to engage in a gunfight with Hank after being hit in the head with a rock, shot at close range, and kicked into a ditch.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: He has shades of this, notably when he [[ItAmusedMe brutally pummels one of his thugs for his own sadistic gratification]] and then is irrationally furious when the man dies as a result. The same goes for the time he beat up Mike over a (staged) fender bender.
* CoolCar: Drives a 1970 Pontiac Tempest GT-37.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Jimmy's entire negotiation with him to spare the skateboarders in ''Better Call Saul'' is a long, LONG string of Tuco taking small tidbits in the other man's words and twisting them into something they...really aren't.
-->'''Jimmy:''' Ever heard of the Code of Hammurabi? Eye for an eye?\\
'''Tuco:''' Eye for an eye...you want me to blind them!\\
...\\
'''Jimmy:''' See, I'm suggesting you make the punishment fit the crime.\\
'''Tuco:''' "Punishment fit the crime." Colombian neckties! I cut their throats, and pull their lying tongues out through the slits. Biznatch!
* TheDeterminator: After being critically wounded by a gunshot from Jesse, he engages in a pitched gunfight with Hank, and holds his own for a couple of volleys before being killed.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: Tuco was planned to last longer, but at the actor's request, he ends up dead early in Season 2, a victim of his own impulsive decisions.
* DontYouDarePityMe: {{Deconstructed|trope}} and PlayedForHorror. Tuco ''really'' hates the idea that he isn't capable or needs support from others (besides his family and certain close ones), and that can involve his own ''allies'' if they were to act "too" supportive. At his best, Tuco would give a calm but stern warning to cut it out, as seen with No-Doze in ''Better Call Saul'', and at his worst (when he's hopped up on meth), he'll ''beat them to near-death'' like with No-Doze in the first SeasonFinale of ''Breaking Bad''.
* TheDreaded: While not as powerful as Gustavo Fring or as industrious as his cousin Lalo, Tuco's violent and unstable personality still leaves him a force to be reckoned with. It certainly says something that even ''Don Eladio'' is wary of him.
* DisproportionateRetribution:
** Early in ''Better Call Saul'', Tuco plans on brutally executing the Lindholm twins for insulting his grandmother. Jimmy has to talk him down so that he ''only'' breaks one of each of their legs.
** He also attacks Mike for "accidentally" sideswiping his car (a gambit set up by Mike and Nacho to get Tuco out of the way without killing him). Although Mike did grab him and knock his gun away before he started seriously beating on Mike that's like beating someone for defending himself from a mugger.
* DrugsAreBad: Though he's frighteningly erratic at the best of times, after some meth, he typically becomes sadistically violent. He once killed a man named Dog Paulsen by shooting him point-blank with a shotgun, while hopping up on a peanut butter crank.
* EnfantTerrible: In his childhood, if the family photograph in "Face Off" is anything to go by. The picture depicts him standing casually, but glowering at the camera.
* EtTuBrute: He's on the verge of tears upon realizing that his brother-in-law Gonzo might have betrayed him.
* ExtremelyProtectiveChild: He tries to torture Jimmy and the two skaters for trying to scam his grandmother, and it takes both of Jimmy and Nacho's combined efforts to talk him out of it (although the skaters still get a broken leg each for insulting her earlier).
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes:
** Despite being an awful person, he still gladly takes care of his elderly uncle, who apparently beat the "family is all" mantra into all the young Salamancas. He also notably becomes extremely distressed when he thinks that Walt or Jesse interfered with Hector in some way.
** His love for his grandmother in ''Better Call Saul'' is even more genuine (especially when compared to his fear of Hector at the time), and he tries to hide his criminal activities from her. Insulting her in any way will either get you a painful death or some broken legs.
** In his own words, Tuco loves Gonzo like his blood brother. Most notably, Tuco never mistreats Gonzo as he does No-Doze. The possibility that Gonzo might have turned rat hurts him deeply.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: While Tuco obviously doesn't tolerate disrespect towards him and his family, he won't take kindly to people kissing his ass or helping him ''too'' much, as he thinks it makes him look weak.
* EvilIsHammy: He is so horrifyingly AxCrazy and proudly shows it off in every single scene he is in.
* EvilIsPetty: He literally beats his subordinate to death for simply reminding Walter to remember to only work for Tuco, because he found this disrespectful... or he just wanted an excuse to become violent.
* FatalFlaw:
** [[HairTriggerTemper Wrath]]. He has a very, ''very'' short fuse, and would quickly resort to a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown towards anyone he feels has disrespected him or his family. On one hand, this makes him rather predictable, but at the same, all the more terrifying by the unpredictability of ''what'' will set him off. His unpredictable anger and violence issues are what drove Walt and Jesse to poison him after witnessing him beat No-Doze to death for over "nothing", and when they were making the ricin, Gonzo's accidental death from trying to give a proper burial for No-Doze causes the cops to find the location of Tuco's operation and nearly arrested him again.
** His [[GettingHighOnTheirOwnSupply drug addiction]] serves as another flaw. It makes his bad temper and mood swings ''worse'' and guarantees a fatal consequence on ''anyone'', besides his own family, or a one-way trip to the hospital ''at best''. In ''Better Call Saul'', Nacho mentioned to Mike that Tuco shot and killed his supplier Dog under the pretense of treachery while all hopping up on a "peanut butter crank" (i.e. meth), and in ''Breaking Bad'' he brutally beats No-Doze to the point that the latter died soon after taking a whiff of Walt's Blue Sky meth. On the flip side, Walt and Jesse can take advantage of Tuco's drug addiction by lacing the Blue Sky meth with ricin and giving a half-ass sales pitch to Tuco that it gets the user insanely high than ever. If wasn't for outside interference, such as Jesse overselling it by mentioning "Chili Powder" as the secret ingredient (which Tuco hates) and Hector pushing the ricin-laced burrito off the table, Tuco's addiction would have done him in rather than getting killed by Hank.
* FirstEpisodeTwist: Sure, he shows up very early in the show and it ''is'' a prequel, but the revelation that ''Tuco'' was the grandson of the skateboarders' scam victim was a large surprise for those who've seen ''Breaking Bad'' and didn't expect his actor to reprise the role. His appearance also marks where the show begins to shift towards the dramatic.
* FreudianExcuse: Possibly. Bolsa mentions that Hector instructed him in the drug cartel business and treated him like a son. Judging by the glimpse of Hector's shockingly brutal parenting methods in "Sunset" coupled with Tuco's glaringly apparent signs of mental illness, it is heavily implied that the time Tuco spent with his uncle [[SanitySlippage left him extremely traumatized]].
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: While Hector and his family do love him, the same cannot be said for his enforcers and dealers, who clearly fear him more than they respect him. His best friend at the time Nacho quickly turns on him after he starts losing it, and even ''Eladio'' considers him too insane to be around.
* GettingHighOnTheirOwnSupply: Part of what makes him so dangerous is that he is constantly snorting the very meth that he's supposed to sell or peddle, making his already pretty bad temper even worse.
* HairTriggerTemper: Tuco is constantly one broken shoelace away from attacking whoever's at hand. He dishes out {{No Holds Barred Beatdown}}s like candy to his victims including Mike, Jesse, and No-Doze. Nacho even puts a hit on him partly because he is sick of his boss's kill-happy attitude. Hell, "continue punching the insulter even though the police have boxed me in"? One hell of a temper, dude.
* HandCannon: In ''Better Call Saul'' he usually carries a snubnose revolver chambered to ''.454 Casull''.
* HiddenDepths: Tuco is frequently shown cooking (food, that is) whenever he happens to have some downtime, and he is clearly quite passionate about it; it is pretty much the only time where he genuinely seems to just relax, let his guard down, and enjoy himself. Seeing how it is a task that takes some concentration and planning ahead and is something associated with people with a nurturing personality, this hobby seems quite a bit at odds with the impulsive, violent, and mentally unstable drug lord persona he projects to the outside world.
* HisOwnWorstEnemy: Tuco's insanity, hot temper, ultraviolence, and drug addiction are his worst enemies in the line of Cartel work, more than it's considered an advantage by keeping his underlings in line. He cannot think and plan for any consequences that would arise from his actions, and any potential allies he has will quickly see him as a workplace hazard and would plan his downfall. If left to his own devices, Tuco would find himself either in jail swiftly with an extended sentence by picking fights, losing his base of operations and his gang to the DEA, or potentially getting poisoned by Walt and Jesse before finally kicking the bucket at the hands of Hank.
* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: He unloads an entire M4 magazine at Hank Schrader and doesn't hit him once. Meanwhile, Hank manages to shoot him in the head with a pistol [[CombatPragmatist while he was reloading]]. Justified because Tuco had a severe gunshot wound to the abdomen, and was probably high on drugs as well. He was also blazing away on fully automatic from the hip while jerking around, while Hank actually crouched and used his gun's sights. No surprise that he hit nothing but air.
* InsaneTrollLogic:
** He somehow concludes that Gonzo was a DEA informant with no other evidence beyond the fact Gonzo has been acting "pouty" over the death of No-Doze and hasn't been able to get in contact with him for two days.
** Earlier on when No-Doze tells Walt and Jesse "Don't forget who you work for." -- a statement that would sound like mere emphasis or supportiveness to any saner mind -- Tuco gets [[TranquilFury unusually stern]], asking No-Doze why he felt the need to say that, saying that he was implying the two were stupid. When No-Doze denies this as tactfully as he can, Tuco concludes that No-Doze is implying that ''Tuco'' is stupid, and [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown reacts accordingly]]. Jesse even lampshades this to Walt to emphasize how insane Tuco is to beat someone to death for over "nothing"[[note]]Technically speaking, Tuco ''did'' have a reason...[[EvilIsPetty just the most convoluted and pettiest one]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext could make with a twisted mind like his]][[/note]].
** In ''Better Call Saul'', Tuco somehow concludes that the term "eye for an eye" means "blind someone". Jimmy is not impressed.
* {{Irony}}: Despite being the most outwardly vicious and AxCrazy of the Salamancas, we only ever see him kill one person on-screen, fewer than even the mostly wheelchair-bound Hector.
* {{Jerkass}}: He's aggressive, violent, and extremely confrontational. There are times when there's absolutely nothing you can say to save yourself.
* KnightOfCerebus:
** The first couple of episodes had BlackComedy and the Jesse/Walt OddCouple, but the Tuco arc was very dark and dramatic in comparison. Things became more humorous after his death but were still darker than in Season 1.
** It's even more prevalent on ''Better Call Saul'', as the show was pretty light-hearted in the beginning until he shows up and nearly kills Jimmy and two skateboarders who had attempted to scam his grandmother.
* LargeHam:
** In direct contrast to the other, more understated villains in ''Breaking Bad'', Tuco screams, postures, boasts, and goes off the rails. He even lets out a [[EvilLaugh dramatically sinister-sounding laugh]] when he finds a condom in Jesse's wallet in "Grilled."
** Double-subverted in ''Better Call Saul''. Though he's actually [[SoftSpokenSadist very calm]] when his Abuelita is around, as soon as he takes Jimmy out into the desert he turns back into the screaming, AxCrazy madman that we are familiar with.
* LivingLieDetector: Nacho tells Mike that Tuco will stare at a dealer for five minutes, calling it his lie detector. Though it's more for intimidation than it shows actual intelligence, as he had failed to see Jimmy's CassandraTruth earlier, despite being actually ''sober'' for once.
* MeaningfulName: His name is Spanish slang for "rat" or "little terrorist".
* TheMillstone: Although his [[BunnyEarsLawyer fearsome management style and reputation is good at making underlings]] fear him according to Juan Bolsa, his temper is really bad for business to the point his partner was ready to kill him for it and despite Hector's intervention he keeps stretching his prison sentence by picking a fight while he's in there, ''[[TooDumbToLive with a guard no less]]''.
* MoodSwinger: When we first meet him, he's actually fairly quiet which makes him seem like a character who's all business. Then he gets a whiff of Walter's meth, and we see how he really is. His moods always run to the extreme, and he can go from being happy at a successful business arrangement to beating someone to death in an instant.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: According to Nacho, Tuco felt bad for killing Doug after he became sober from the effects of meth.
* TheNapoleon: He goes eye to eye with Jesse (Raymond Cruz is 5'7", which is just a little shorter than Aaron Paul's height), yet is probably one of the most unstable and terrifying villains on the show.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: It's ''[[HairTriggerTemper extremely easy]]'' to get him to administer one to you. Just say something, ''anything'', that's remotely insulting towards him (even if you didn't mean it that way) and you'll quickly find yourself beaten within an inch of your life and sent to the hospital, if you aren't killed outright.
* NoIndoorVoice: When he's not speaking quietly, he's shouting at the top of his lungs.
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: During his stint in jail, Tuco managed to stab a prisoner and slug a guard hard enough in the jaw to ''break it''. Unfortunately, it backfires on him and his family significantly [[SubvertedTrope as he gets locked up in solitary confinement over the issue.]]
* OutOfFocus: Of all the members of the Salamanca family (discounting Joaquin, who was already a very minor character in ''Breaking Bad'' and doesn't feature at all in the prequel show), Tuco is easily the least relevant on ''Better Call Saul''. Compared to his cousins and uncle, Tuco only terrorizes Jimmy briefly in Season 1 and is tricked into getting arrested after attacking Mike in Season 2. From then on, Tuco spends the entirety of the show in jail, only getting released so that the events of ''Breaking Bad'' will occur.
* PetTheDog:
** He was willing to let Jimmy take the skateboarder when he genuinely apologized and swore they wouldn't bother his abuelita anymore. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Then they say Jimmy was on the scam]] and Tuco goes ballistic.
** After beating the snot out of Jesse during their first encounter, he briefly looks at Skinny Pete like he's about to do the same to him, then just walks away and allows him to bring Jesse to a hospital offscreen. That's downright merciful by his standard.
* PsychopathicManchild: He shows various signs of this. In addition to being prone to violent tantrums, Tuco possesses a highly impulsive personality which often leads him to make rash judgments with little forethought of the consequences. This is evidenced by the shock and distress he displays when one of his thugs dies after he [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown gives him a fatal beating]]. He also appears to have considerable difficulty [[ItsAllAboutMe comprehending (let alone genuinely empathizing with) others' needs and feelings]] aside from [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes his uncle, Hector, whom he both fears and idolizes]]. This is made apparent by his response to Walt's protest over his plan to take him to Mexico because he has a family: "So what? You'll get another one."
* PutOnAPrisonBus: Sent to prison for at least five years during the events of ''Better Call Saul''. His uncle arranged to make it six months but [[StupidEvil his behavior]] makes it harder. {{Enforced|Trope}} due to Raymond Cruz not wanting to play the role too often, as he finds it exhausting to be that AxCrazy even for pretend.
* RasputinianDeath: Gets hit on the head with a rock, shot at point-blank range on the abdomen, kicked and beat, shoved into a ditch (all of which is the work of Jesse), then finally shot in the head by Hank.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Tuco was supposed to be on the show a bit longer, but actor Raymond Cruz didn't enjoy playing such a disturbed character for so long and asked to be written out. As he was originally planned to be one of the {{Big Bad}}s later on, Tuco's early death caused the creation of Gus. Cruz did return to play the part again for ''Series/BetterCallSaul''.
* RealMenCook: Seems to be a pretty decent one. He makes burritos for himself, Walt, Jesse, and his uncle, and ''Better Call Saul'' sees him cooking lunch in an apron.
* RealMenWearPink: Wears a salmon pink shirt in his first appearance. Since hotter colors on the show mean he's further up on the crime scale, this was suitable.
* RedOniBlueOni: The Red to Nacho's Blue in ''Better Call Saul''.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: He probably wouldn't last as long in the cartel if it weren't for his Uncle. Said uncle is how he manages to get his prison sentence reduced, though he doesn't exactly help in keeping it that way.
* ShoutOut: His first name may be a reference to Creator/EliWallach's character in ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly''.
** His death at the hands of Hank mirrors [[spoiler: Ramón Rojo's in ''Film/AFistfulOfDollars'' (also from the ''Film/DollarsTrilogy'')]], where the villain ultimately lost because his weapon took longer to reload than the hero's.
* SmallRoleBigImpact:
** He's only in four episodes of ''Breaking Bad'', but his death has profound consequences for a lot of characters, namely Hank for doing it and Walt and Jesse for largely being responsible for it. His death is what sends the Cousins after all of them, causing long-term effects for the rest of the series.
** He only gets one scene in ''Better Call Saul'''s second season, but that one scene marks a big shift in Mike's life as it brings him into conflict with the other Salamancas and that's a major step in his path towards working with Gustavo Fring. His appearances in Season 1 also introduce Jimmy [=McGill=] to the criminal underground, paving the road that Jimmy will eventually go down to become Saul Goodman.
* SoftSpokenSadist: When his Abuelita is around he speaks in a very low and frightening whisper, as he obviously doesn't want to disturb her in any way. [[LargeHam When she's not around, however...]]
* StarterVillain: In both series, he appears as an antagonist early in the show before being written off to make way for other [[BigBad Big Bads.]]
* StimulantSpeedtalk: From his first episode onwards, Tuco frequently gets high on the meth he's supposed to be distributing, and not only features a very volatile, talkative personality, but he's also prone to ranting at high speed after every snort and shouting things that make sense only to him. Screaming "Tight! Tight! Tight!" is probably the ''least'' bewildering thing that he says under the influence.
* StockYuck: Walter's ricin-infused meth gets turned down when Jessie oversells it as his recipe by claiming it contains his secret ingredient: chili powder.
-->''"I hate chili powder."''
* StupidEvil: While not an outright idiot, Tuco is so incredibly hot-tempered and short-sighted that he effectively shoots himself in the foot, not caring if he beats one of his subordinates to death and buries his body in almost plain sight, thus making him a high priority for DEA to snoop around. He also extends his own prison sentence in ''Better Call Saul'', simply because he ''had'' to pick a fight with a prison guard.
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: He dies two episodes into Season 2 of ''Breaking Bad''.
* TensionCuttingLaughter: Shortly before beating an underling to death anyway.
* TranquilFury: Very calmly tells his TooDumbToLive sidekick No-Doze, [[UnwantedAssistance "Stop Helping"]]. Fast forward to, ''Breaking Bad'', and it's [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown not so tranquil]].
* TooDumbToLive: "Hey, my uncle got me a really sweet deal only getting 6 months in prison, better stab this other inmate and assault a guard!" Really it's a ''miracle'' that he was actually out of prison by 2008.
* TookALevelInJerkass: While he's still awful and HotBlooded in ''Better Call Saul'', Tuco isn't nearly as bad as he would become in his first appearance. It seems it's much easier to actually negotiate with him since he isn't on meth all the time.
** Though he shot and killed his supplier Dog due to believing he was supplying his competitor, he felt bad afterward according to Nacho. Cut to ten years later, he brutally beats his associate No-Doze to death for speaking out of turn, and later goes out of his way to ''defend'' his actions, even after sobering up.
** He beats Mike half to death in 2004, but it's only after the latter went out of his way to provoke him, even having to resort to ''grabbing his collar'' for Tuco to land a punch. In ''Breaking Bad'' he beats people around for fun and clearly takes sadistic pleasure in making those he doesn't respect bleed.
* TheUnfavorite: Implied to be this amongst Hector's nephews. Compared to how much Hector relies on Lalo and the Cousins to serve as the muscle for the Salamanca drug empire, Tuco is always regulated to running smaller organizations for them. Furthermore, Hector has no problem forcing Tuco to remain in jail after [[DisproportionateRetribution he beats Mike half to death for grabbing his collar]], clearly seeing his nephew's temper as a liability. With that said, Hector still loves Tuco in his own way, as he's genuinely upset when Tuco extends his own prison sentence, attempts to warn him of Walter and Jesse poisoning him, and later calls out for a hit on the former when Tuco's shot at Hank's hands.
* VillainOfAnotherStory: He only appears in three episodes of ''Better Call Saul''. Justified as his appearance was only meant to be an Easter egg for ''Breaking Bad'' fans.
* VillainsOutShopping: He is seen calmly doing housework when not on business in a way that almost makes him seem half normal.
* VillainRespect:
** When Tuco realizes that Mike Ehrmantraut had just set him up to be arrested by the dozens of cops surrounding him, he simply chuckles with amusement and punches him out.
** When Walter shows up to demand his payment, and then blows up his headquarters as a show of courage, Tuco smirks before handing him what he's owed. In general, it seems like Tuco likes those who stand up to him, and despises suck-ups and cowards. It says a lot that Walter later talks him out of killing Jesse while he's high and holding a gun to his face.
* WithFriendsLikeThese: He apparently regarded his supplier Dog Paulson as a friend. After getting high, he shot him in the head for allegedly selling out to his rivals. This caused Nacho, another friend of his, to turn on him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Cousins]]
!!"The Cousins" Leonel & Marco Salamanca
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/salamanca_cousins_3466.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''[[TheQuietOne "..."]]'']]
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Daniel and Luis Moncada
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/BreakingBad'' | ''Series/BetterCallSaul''

->''"Hemos esperado suficiente. No vamos a esperar más."'' [[note]]"We have waited long enough. We will not wait any longer."[[/note]]

Tuco's cousins, ruthless hitmen and enforcers for the Juarez Cartel and their uncle Hector. Best described as two human [[Franchise/{{Terminator}} Terminators]], they go after Walter White to avenge Tuco's murder.
----
* AbsurdlySharpBlade: Their axe can apparently cut right into asphalt.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter; [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]: Marco seems to be the more dominant of the two, often having to save Leonel whenever he is spotted by a cop or pinned down in a shootout; he's also the one taking charge during most of their assignments or in business meetings, giving the impression that he's TheLeader of the two. Not to mention, Marco used to bully Leonel when they were kids. Nevertheless, this hardly matters given Leonel is still very dangerous, neither cousin appears to care about one-upping the other, and are both highly effective as a team.[[note]]This dynamic probably reflects the fact that Luis Moncada (Marco's actor) is older than Daniel (Leonel's actor), therefore indicating that Marco is the eldest twin. Luis' greater experience as an actor may also explain why Marco has a bit more dialogue and a slightly more active role.[[/note]]
* ArcVillain: The villains of the first half of ''Breaking Bad'''s third season, hunting Walt and later Hank to avenge Tuco's death.
* AnArmAndALeg: After Hank crushes him between two cars, Leonel needs both of his legs amputated. This doesn't stop him from trying to crawl up to Walt and murder him.
* ArmorIsUseless; [[AvertedTrope Averted]]: They purchase a pair of bulletproof vests before heading off to kill Hank, ones that prove to be very effective with Marco taking 5 close-range pistol shots to the chest.
* AssholeVictim: Both InUniverse and out, no one, except Hector, feel bad about their deaths, with Gomez firmly believing that they totally deserve it.
* AvengingTheVillain: Their objective is to avenge Tuco's death.
* AxCrazy: They kill almost everyone they come across. They also have a literal ax as their favored weapon.
* BadBoss: [[spoiler:They're willing to shoot one of their own men for shooting in Nacho's direction when they need him alive.]]
* BadassInANiceSuit: And boots. Even the production crew wanted to have a look at the skull-tipped shoes.
* BaldOfEvil: Both are completely bald and very, very evil.
* BewareTheQuietOnes: They barely speak in the entire series (save for their flashback as children), and on the rare occasion they do speak, it's in a low, menacing whisper.
* BigBadEnsemble: With Gus in season 3. It is they who attempt to assassinate Walt or Hank during the first half of the season, as well as the catalysts behind the conflict between Gus and [[TheCartel The Juarez Cartel]].
* BigBrotherBully: Downplayed. Marco used to bully Leonel as a kid, but this clearly stopped by the time they became adults (probably due to Hector's unorthodox parenting methods).
* BigBrotherInstinct: Marco immediately checks on Leonel after Hank injures him, with clear signs of worry all over his face in a rare moment of emotion.
* BondVillainStupidity: When Marco has Hank cornered, he decides not to execute him with his pistol and leaves to go get his ax. This gives Hank time to reload his pistol and kill Marco with a headshot.
* BoomHeadshot: Marco's fate at the hands of Hank, ironically with the very hollow point bullet Marco himself got as a freebie from the arms dealer.
* CarFu: How Leonel gets disabled by Hank.
* ChekhovsGun: The hollow-point bullet given to Marco for free by an arms dealer early in "One Minute" is dropped, unnoticed, by Marco when he's reloading during his attack on Hank. [[BoomHeadshot Hank puts it to good use]].
* ChekhovsGunman: They are mentioned by Tuco in the Season 2 premiere before finally appearing in the flesh in "No Más".
* CoDragons: Serve as this for Hector Salamanca and Juan Bolsa within the Cartel, as they're some of the most capable and deadly killers in the Salamanca family. Though Hector is helpless in a wheelchair, having the twins at his beck and call is part of the reason he's still so feared.
* TheComicallySerious:
** They both sit patiently in Walt's bedroom while they wait for the latter to finish his showering. Once Walt is done showering, they plan on assassinating him...until they get a page from Los Pollos Hermanos. At that point, [[QuizzicalTilt all the brothers can do is stare at each other in confusion]] before hightailing it out of the house before Walt sees them.
** Their quiet and intimidating stature also makes them somewhat goofy when they're doing something as mundane as watching Hector recover in the hospital. The enthusiastic and unfazed Dr. Marueen Buckner from Johns Hopkins really drives the point home [[GleefulAndGrumpyPairing as they answer her questions bluntly]]. And after the doctor recommends talking to the comatose Hector, they stand there in awkward silence for a moment and then tell others in the room to speak instead.
* CommutingOnABus: They leave Hector's side by Season 3 of ''Better Call Saul'', later only mentioning in passing that they are keeping an eye on Tuco's time in jail among other things. It's entirely possible they were only brought along in order to intimidate Mike, and once he agreed to Hector's deal they simply returned to their own business. By Season 4 onwards, they take more active roles following their uncle's stroke and begin appearing much more frequently.
* CopKiller: They kill a tribal police officer who stumbles upon them while investigating the death of a woman whose house they took over, and they later attempt to kill Hank.
* CreepyTwins: They do everything together and hold the following creed to heart, "Family is all."
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: The way they murder their victims is extremely savage and brutal.
* DeathGlare: Poster boys to say the least.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: After serving as the main threat for the first half of Season 3, they're both [[{{Pun}} axed]] off at the season's midpoint.
* DisproportionateRetribution: They full-on slaughter the whole group of illegal immigrants in the van just because one chatty lad spotted their boots.
* TheDividual: They look similar, dress similarly, and act together in almost perfect synchrony.
* TheDeterminator: Leonel was just crushed by a car and had both legs amputated. When he sees Walt, he unhooks himself from his [=IVs=], rolls out of his hospital bed, and drags himself toward Walt by his bloody stumps, death-staring him the whole time. While Walt is surrounded by half a dozen cops. Until Gomez and the others can stop him.
* TheDreaded: Mike is a mixture of angered and shocked by them just appearing overlooking the pool while he's supervising Kaylee, especially when Marco makes a gun gesture toward Kaylee.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Killing everyone in the truck they used to get into the United States, and torching the truck for good measure.
** Even before that, their enigmatic actions, always in perfect synchronization with each other, throughout the Season 3 premiere establish them as single-minded in multiple ways, in the sense that they are both [[TheDividual dividuals]] and [[{{Determinator}} determinators]].
* EtTuBrute: They clearly don't realize just how much Nacho hates them in ''Better Call Saul'', and take [[spoiler:his attempt on Lalo's life]] very personally. Unlike Hector's fury at Nacho, the Cousins look more emotionally hurt by [[spoiler:his final words and condemnation of them]].
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes:
** The whole reason they go after Walt (then later Hank) is that they hold him responsible for Tuco's death. During the parking lot shootout, after Leonel is incapacitated, Marco abandons his pursuit of Hank to check on him and only abandons him when Leonel tells him to.
** They also care deeply for their cousin Lalo, with them visiting the site of his (supposed) death with a solemn attitude. Leonel even looks genuinely shocked at how the body appears to have been burned so horrifically, [[DueToTheDead and covers it up with a jacket to pay his respects]].
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Leonel shares Hector's contempt for the DEA. After seeing Walt in the midst of DEA agents rather than tell anyone about Walt's true identity he merely attempts to crawl towards him violently.
* FacialDialogue: Regularly communicate with each other this way.
* FieryCoverup: A trait shared by all Salamancas. They burn the car with [[spoiler:Arturo's corpse in it]] after it was supposedly attacked by a rival gang.
* FingerGun: Marco gives Mike's granddaughter an ImpliedDeathThreat using this gesture.
* {{Flanderization}}: They talk even less and are even more deadly in ''Better Call Saul'' than they were in ''Breaking Bad''.
* ForTheEvulz: Some of the murders they carry out are pretty unnecessary and have nothing to do with TheCartel's business, [[{{Sadist}} suggesting that there is some pure enjoyment to it]].
* TheHeavy: Of season 3. With Juan Bolsa being the GreaterScopeVillain, it is they who have the greatest prominence in the USA and who trigger the greatest conflicts during the first half of the season. Plus, it's they who trigger the biggest conflict between Walter White, Hank, and Gus, after all.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Either they are really submissive to the Cartel's hierarchy or have completely missed the tension between Gus and their uncle. When the enemy of their family allows them to kill Hank and take the heat from the police and Bolsa on him, they accept readily.
* IWillOnlySlowYouDown: Marco pauses from pursuing Hank when he sees Leonel severely wounded, but his twin insists that he finish off Hank.
* ImplacableMan: No obstacle seems to deter them from their [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge objective]]. That is, until they go up against Hank.
* KarmicDeath: Leonel is given a lethal injection in the hospital by Mike, the grandfather of the little girl he threatened to assassinate back in 2002.
* LanguageBarrier: Unlike the rest of the Salamanca family, Marco and Leonel primarily converse in Spanish due to not knowing much English (in ''Breaking Bad'', they utter a grand total of ''three'' non-Spanish words between the two of them). That said, the fact that [[TheQuietOne they barely speak period]] doesn't make this much of an issue for people.
* LeaveNoWitnesses: During his shootout with Hank, Marco shoots one bystander dead, and another only survives because he'd run out of ammo shooting at Hank and the other pedestrian. As the attack was an ambush, they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
* LeeroyJenkins: While Nacho is laying out the plan to attack the Espinosa compound, the Cousins decide to walk out during his explanation and attack right then and there in broad daylight.
* LivingMacGuffin: The first half of season 3 frames their revenge quest as a major plotline, but it turns out to be a red herring from what the season is really about.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: They are remarkably unaware of how much their uncle and Gustavo Fring hate each other, and Lalo doesn't update them on it either. This backfires on the whole family since they can't confirm what their paralyzed uncle is saying but also years later they trust Gustavo enough to take on his offer which leads to their deaths.
* MadeOfIron:
** While wearing a bullet-proof vest, Hank shoots Marco several times in the chest at close range, which does nothing to make him take a few steps backward. For comparison, the arms dealer they shot earlier was launched off of his feet by one bullet, evidently breaking his rib.
** During the Espinosa shootout, a bullet wound can be seen on Marco's shoulder, but he doesn't seem to notice it.
* MakeAnExampleOfThem: Their method of killing, which is [[TruthInTelevision what the real Cartels do]]. They die because of their insistence on abiding by this rule, which allows Hank to defend himself.
* MisplacedRetribution: Downplayed. While Walter White was ''indirectly'' responsible for the death of their cousin Tuco, Gustavo Fring notes that the Cousins' real vendetta should be with Hank Schrader, who was the man who actually pulled the trigger on him. The Cousins attempt to justify this by noting that their uncle insisted on never targeting anyone associated with the DEA under any circumstances, though Fring is easily able to sway them into ignoring this rule [[LoopholeAbuse by pointing out that said rule only applied while in Mexico]], and that there's no such restrictions when on Gustavo's territory in America.
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: You know it's time to run when they come for you. Almost everything about them is disturbing in nature.
* NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction: Deconstructed - in "One Minute", Marco gets close to killing Hank, but rather than finish him off right away, Marco declares the battle to be too easy. Marco returns to his car to grab an axe, so that Hank is killed off dramatically, but it ends up giving Hank the time to reach for a bullet and shoot his head.
* NonverbalMiscommunication; Averted: They rarely say anything to each other, and yet they work like they can read each other's minds.
* NotQuiteDead: After the confrontation with Hank, Leonel survives and [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe loses his legs]], but is determined to kill Walter. That is until Mike gives him a lethal injection.
* NotSoStoic: While the Cousins are generally pretty reserved and serious, they occasionally let the mask slip when external conflict challenges them to do so.
** Marco is visibly concerned with Leonel's injuries at the hands of Hank, but shows little else beyond a look of fear. Later, Leonel, while in a hospital bed, shows silent but clear signs of anger upon seeing Walter. While this isn't much emotion, it's more than they generally show.
** When meeting [[MotorMouth Jimmy McGill]] for the first time out of the desert, Leonel and Marco are nothing short of baffled that he's the one man Lalo trusts so much, exchanging a confused look with one another before dropping off their bag and taking off.
** In season 6, [[spoiler:both Leonel and Marco are visibly upset when they find and cover up Lalo's "corpse". They also offer an angry BringIt gesture in their standoff against Nacho, yet are also hurt and shocked by his final speech and suicide.]]
* OffWithHisHead: They killed Tortuga in this manner.
* OminousWalk: They're masters of it, especially when [[UnflinchingWalk there's an explosion just behind them]].
* OneManArmy: The two of them cleared out the lair of a rival gang with little effort.
* OneSteveLimit: Marco Salamanca shares his first name with Marco Pasternak in ''Better Call Saul''. Aside from them both having connections to Jimmy [=McGill=] though, they aren't related in any way.
* PetTheDog:
** The closest thing they have to a slightly civilized moment is when they refuse to hurt a peasant family in Mexico after stealing their clothes.
** After shooting their armor dealer to test its effectiveness, they also spare his life and leave the money behind.
** Even if it leans toward [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatism,]] they go through great strides to ensure [[spoiler:Nacho's survival following a (staged) shootout,]] even offering a blood transfer. A more genuine petting moment comes when Nacho [[spoiler:helps rescue Leonel from being pinned down by rival gangbangers]], after which Marco gives him a slight nod of respect.
* PragmaticVillainy: Surprisingly subvert the BallisticDiscount and let the man who sold them their bulletproof vests live by only shooting him once.
* ProfessionalKiller: Their role within TheCartel, but their vendetta against Walt is personal. Notably, in a series where gunfights often devolve into hiding and firing randomly, they more often than not hit their intended target.
* PsychoForHire: Behind the obvious personal reasons with Walt and Hank, [[{{Sadist}} they seem to take too much pleasure in slowly and painfully murdering their victims when they set their minds to it]].
* [[TheQuietOne The Quiet Ones]]: The pair speaks almost exclusively with cold stares. Even when they talk, they tend to keep things short.
* QuizzicalTilt: While waiting to kill Walter in his bedroom, Leonel briefly inspects the plastic eyeball in Walt's suitcase, giving this look.
* RealMenLoveJesus: Their first on-screen appearance in the series shows them crawling to a shrine dedicated to Santa Muerte in order to gain her blessing for their quest to kill Heisenberg. They do it again later (though without the crawling) when they switch their target to Hank.
* RevengeBeforeReason: They kill literally everyone who so much as slightly inconveniences them. Even when crippled, outmatched, and unarmed, they do not hesitate to try to kill their enemies.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: They go on one seeking revenge on Walt for his involvement in Tuco's death. Then they are redirected to Hank by Gus.
* RuleOfCool: They seem to live by it. They wear awesome clothes (shiny sharkskin suits and cowboy boots with silver skulls on the toes!), they're incredibly calm and collected, they walk unflinchingly away from exploding vehicles and towards those with targets in them, and they decide to kill Hank with an ax for the showmanship of it, rather than just shooting him down. [[DeconstructedTrope The last part two bits are their undoing.]]
* RunForTheBorder: After inflicting a MobWar against the Espinozas in ''Better Call Saul'', they are sent back to Mexico to wait for the heat to die down.
* SharpDressedMan: They're introduced wearing expensive suits which they ditch soon after to facilitate an inconspicuous border crossing, but once that's done, they're quickly [[{{Pun}} dressed to kill]] again.
* SickbedSlaying: The fate of Leonel: poisoned by Mike Ehrmantraut in the hospital.
* SignatureMove: Decapitation via ax seems to be their preferred method of killing.
* SilentAntagonist: For the most part.
* SingleMindedTwins: Both are more or less obsessed with killing "Heisenberg."
* [[TheSociopath The Sociopaths]]: Probably the best portraits of true psychopaths shown in the series. They are undeniably brutal and ruthless, they like to murder their victims in extremely brutal ways, and they have zero remorse for their actions.
* [[TheStoic The Stoics]]: Both are some of the coldest killers shown in the series.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Deconstructed. Marco prepares to shoot Hank while the latter is laying down on the ground, but chooses not to do it, due to the battle being to easy. Marco instead grabs an axe to chop Hank to death , but it ends up providing Hank the time to reload a bullet Marco had dropped and then shooting it at him.
* TriggerHappy: Are more often shooting at someone else than not. Without even hesitating, Leonel even shoots their arms dealer in the chest to test out his vests, simply because he was already wearing one.
* UndyingLoyalty: To their uncle, Hector Salamanca. Due to their uncanny ability to precisely discern his exact thoughts and feelings without the need for speech, they ''literally'' function as living extensions of his will.
* UnflinchingWalk: All the time, no matter what's happening. After an explosion a couple of yards away, one of them continues to smoke his cigarette.
* UnwittingPawn: A rare example of villains who end up unknowing pawns of another villain. Marco and Leonel are only interested in avenging Tuco's death and don't see much beyond that, but Gus is happy to manipulate their myopic quest for revenge so that the two of them die trying to kill Hank. Thus, the Cousins end up attempting to kill a DEA agent (normally, cops are off-limits as assassination targets because of the intense heat that such hits generally bring) and the manner of their deaths helps shut down the border to the Cartel, leaving Gus with uncontested domination of the meth market in the southwest.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: When they were children in TheEighties, Marco and Leonel were ordinary Mexican kids who loved to play and talk together, even if Marco was initially more of a BigBrotherBully at the time. Their upbringing under Hector twisted them into the silent, stoic hitmen they would become in their adult years.
* VillainBall: Marco's decision to finish Hank off with an ax rather than just shooting him when he's down and helpless [[BoomHeadshot backfires spectacularly]].
* VillainCred: After seeing Nacho [[spoiler:fight through his wounds to join the shootout with them]], Marco looks him in the eyes and gives him a subtle nod.
* VillainousFashionSense: Just as in ''Breaking'', wherever they go, both are always dressed in sharp suits, and with close-up shots of their distinctive boots.
* VillainRespect: Interestingly, despite [[spoiler: being mortal enemies by this point, the Cousins seem to indeed have a degree of lasting respect for Nacho. When confronting him face-to-face, they withdraw their weapons and allow him to make the first move with a BringIt gesture, only attacking when he reloads and strikes. This is retroactively in complete contrast to their near-identical encounter with Hank Schrader, where they attack him from behind the moment they see him. They also appear more hurt than angered when Nacho tells off the Salamancas, and are genuinely shocked by Nacho's suicide.]]
* TheVoiceless: More often than not.
* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Marco decides that shooting Hank to death isn't enough and decides to go grab his ax instead. Hank doesn't have that same compulsion and blows his head off when he comes back.
* WouldHitAGirl: They kill a woman on a tribal reservation and take over her house, and it's heavily implied they killed an elderly woman to steal her wheelchair-accessible van for Hector. Later, when Marco is attacking Hank, he shoots and kills a passing man who happens to surprise him, and a female passerby narrowly escapes the same fate thanks to Marco running out of bullets at that moment.
* WouldHurtAChild: Hector is willing to send them after Mike's granddaughter if he doesn't comply.
* YourHeadAsplode: Marco's head after receiving a BoomHeadshot from Hank causes the former's head to be blown open like a cabbage.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Joaquin]]
!!Joaquin Salamanca
[[quoteright:221:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/czxzljv.png]]
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Gabriel Nunez
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/BreakingBad''

An enforcer for Don Eladio, and Hector's grandson.
----
* AlasPoorVillain: His grandfather Hector is left completely broken after his death. Even his killer Jesse is clearly uncomfortable with how sadistically Gus taunts Hector about the event.
* BeardOfEvil: Is a bearded enforcer.
* BullyingADragon: Goes after Gus, Jesse, and Mike even though Gus warned the Cartel they'd die. Subverted in that he [[NotSoHarmlessVillain wounds Mike]], one of the most dangerous members of Gus' crew.
* LastOfHisKind: He and Hector were the sole remaining members of the Salamanca family and considering Hector is a decrepit old man, his death effectively wipes out the family.
* LeeroyJenkins: Even after witnessing Gus poisoning Joaquin's bosses, and when Gus was given the opportunity for any surviving cartel members to leave, Joaquin still chooses to attempt to kill Gus, Jesse, and Mike. Subverted in that he actually manages to surprise Mike and wound him and would have killed both him and Gus were it not for Jesse.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Despite being a Salamanca, Gus and Mike don't seem to see him as an important loose end in their plan (even though Gus clearly knows who he is), and were perfectly happy to leave without chasing him down after the mass poisoning of Eladio and The Dons was complete. This almost gets them both killed when he comes back to avenge his bosses.
* OneShotCharacter: Dies in one episode, "Salud". Jesse guns him down at the end when he tries to kill him and Mike.
* PosthumousCharacter: Of a sort. We don't find out his name or his significance until after he's been killed and Gus is boasting about it to Hector. Heck, it wasn't even indicated that Hector ''had'' any other living relatives before then.
* TheQuietOne: He clearly takes after his uncles Leonel and Marco.
* RedShirt: He only appears in one episode and has no characterization beyond being Hector's grandson.
* {{Revenge}}: Being a Salamanca, when he finds out Eladio and the other dons are dead, he rushes to kill the men responsible. This gets him killed by Jesse.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Joaquin doesn't even have any dialogue, but if it weren't for his last-ditch effort to kill Gus, Mike would have never been wounded and would have been present for Gus' showdown. In addition, since he's killed by Jesse and not Mike, Gus has to bring Jesse along with him to Hector, thus allowing him to learn about the one place where Gus is vulnerable. This knowledge would later prove decisive in his assassination.
* UndyingLoyalty: The only Cartel soldier that tries avenging Eladio even though there is no one left to reward him for it.
* WouldYouLikeToHearHowTheyDied: Gus relates his demise to Hector to taunt him, putting the final nail in the elderly gangster's coffin.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Lalo]]
See his [[Characters/BetterCallSaulLaloSalamanca character page]].
[[/folder]]

!!Associates

[[folder:Krazy-8]]
!!Domingo Gallardo Molina AKA "[=Krazy-8=]"
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6vdg46t.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"Walter, I don't know what you think you're doing here, [[{{Irony}} but trust me, this line of work doesn't suit you.]]"'']]
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Max Arciniega
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/BreakingBad'' | ''Series/BetterCallSaul''

->''"I got my share man. I swear."''

A former street-level dealer of Tuco Salamanca's, and now a meth distributor associated with his cousin Emilio and Jesse Pinkman. Unbeknownst to Walt and Jesse, Krazy-8 is a DEA informant, who acquired the customers of the dealers he ratted out.
----
* AintTooProudToBeg:
** When dragged off for a beatdown on Hector's behest, [=Krazy-8=] desperately begs Nacho for mercy. [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone This visibly shakes Nacho later that day.]]
** When Saul confronts him at the prison as his lawyer, he's initially confused and standoffish. Upon hearing Saul clarify that Lalo sent him, he [[YouHaveFailedMe assumes the worst]] and anxiously promises he stayed quiet. Saul stops him since they, fortunately, have something else planned for him.
* AscendedExtra: He died rather early in ''Breaking Bad'', but becomes a recurring character in ''Better Call Saul''.
* AssholeVictim: He might've once been a good person before and still remains a charming son-of-a-bitch later, but the fact that Domingo was still a stone-cold killer and opportunist might sour people's feelings about his death in ''Breaking Bad''.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: He's a SmugSnake up until he faints, and Walt and Jesse lock him up in Jesse's basement. There he puts on a friendly facade only to persuade Walt to release him.
* BlatantLies: Tells Walter that he's willing to "live and let live" if Walter will just let him go. He sells it so well that even the audience almost believes it, and of course, Walter ''wants'' it to be true.
* ButtMonkey: All throughout ''Better Call Saul''. First, he is intimidated by Tuco. Then Hector has him brutally beaten for being short on payments. Then Lalo humiliates him with a nickname that he will be stuck with for years. And then he gets arrested in an incredibly embarrassing manner - all while we know that he's doomed to die in a basement, choked by a bike lock by a chemistry teacher in way over his head.
* CharacterDevelopment: His arc in ''Better Call Saul'' consists of showing how this nervy little guy ended up as a merciless killer with nerves of steel; he steadily rises through the ranks of the cartel, slowly gaining confidence and losing his gentler side altogether.
* ChildhoodFriends: With Nacho, or at least their parents were/are friends.
* DeathByIrony: With the context of ''Better Call Saul'', his fate in ''Breaking Bad'' is especially ironic. If Krazy-8 were still the naive, nervous newcomer he was there when he was bike locked to a pole, he very realistically could have convinced Walt into sparing him, but the pragmatic stone-cold killer that he became ended up getting choked to death.
* DickDastardlyStopsToCheat: A more justified example than most, since you can't really blame the guy for seizing a chance to arm himself when his captor was still in two minds about murdering him, but he's still undone by a lapse into this. His one act of deception, undermining his and Walt's entire conversation and understanding, is what spurs Walt to kill him; he'd have walked out alive had he not pocketed that piece of broken plate.
* TheDragon: He's technically Nacho's NumberTwo after Nacho's promotion in light of Hector's stroke.
* DramaticIrony: When [=Krazy-8=] was first introduced on-screen in ''Series/BreakingBad'', he was a ruthless, deadly opponent capable of keeping his cool under dire circumstances. Domingo, as seen in ''Better Call Saul'', is a nervous and easily-cowed young man who's far from the killer that Walter White will eventually deal with.
* EmbarrassingNickname: His nickname "[=Krazy-8=]" seemed pretty apt and badass in ''Series/BreakingBad'', since he was introduced training his dog to rip people apart. As it turns out, it comes from Lalo teasing him for folding to a poorly played hand of Texas Hold 'Em.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Is disgusted by Walt keeping him locked in a basement, saying he wouldn't do something so degrading to his worst enemy. Though it's more likely that it's just a guilt trip ruse.
* HiddenBadass: He deserves some credit: he survives Walt's initial attack that killed Emilio, frees himself even in a dazed state, and remains calm when [[FaceDeathWithDignity faced with death]]. Even while trapped and being choked to death, he manages to stab Walt with a shard of the broken plate.
* HiddenDepths: He attempts to invoke this to get Walt to release him, but it was merely a ruse so he could stab Walt as soon as he got out. The fact that he's able to manipulate Walter so successfully rather than rage and bluster or plead and beg like a common crook would do is in itself a straight example.
* TheInformant: Played with. Krazy-8 originally became an informant for the DEA under Lalo's orders, so that he could feed information about Gustavo Fring's drug empire to him and Hector. With that said, he still remains an informant long after Lalo dies, if only so he can benefit himself at this point.
* ManipulativeBastard: Domingo is surprisingly clever for a StarterVillain. He nearly convinces Walt to spare him; he would have succeeded had Walt not noticed the broken plate in the garbage. Additionally, the audience learns after his death that he was a snitch for the DEA, and his business model revolved around selling out his competition (including his own cousin) and absorbing their customer base.
* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: Sold Walt the crib they used for Walt Jr. years before the show. Becomes a BrickJoke when Walt sets the crib up again for Holly.
* TheMole: Subverted. He weasels his way into becoming a protected DEA informant, but it's all part of a plan to install him as Lalo's informant in the DEA so he can send them after Gustavo Fring's operation.
* NoBodyLeftBehind: His body is dissolved in hydrofluoric acid by Walt.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: He gets this from a highly reluctant [[BenevolentBoss Nacho]] through [[BadBoss Hector]] for being short on his payments.
* NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine: Played with; Walter makes sandwiches for him while he's imprisoned in Jesse's basement.
* NotQuiteDead: After the explosion in the pilot.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: On the receiving end. Walt's murder of him is a big step but is arguably justified due to Krazy-8's ruthless cunning and plan to kill Walt.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: When telling Walt what he knows about his life, Krazy-8 notes that he has a handicapped son, referring to him as retarded.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Krazy-8 was supposed to die in the pilot of ''Breaking Bad''. The actors and crew enjoyed working with Max Arciniega, so the character was kept alive for two more episodes.
* RenegadeSplinterFaction: He worked for the Salamancas during the prequel, but that seems to no longer be the case during ''Breaking Bad'' given that the DEA considers Krazy-8 and Tuco to be rivals.
* SacrificialLamb: Walt being forced to murder him is a major part of the second and third episodes of ''Breaking Bad''.
* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil: His first appearances in ''Better Call Saul'' happen when he's still new to the drug trade, and ''very'' naive about how vicious and brutal it is. As he continues selling drugs (and after getting a beating from Nacho for coming up short on cash) he gets a much better understanding of the cruel realities of organized crime and starts becoming hardened.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: His role as a DEA informant in ''Breaking Bad'' is flipped on its head when it's revealed the truth isn't what it seemed.
* StarterVillain: Of ''Breaking Bad''. He is the first enemy Walt makes, but is a mere small time criminal. While he spends most of his screentime as Walt and Jesse's prisoner, Walt choosing whether or not to kill him is the first big test of Walt's (lack) of morals.
* TheStoolPigeon: Becomes a snitch to the DEA for Lalo to rat out Gustavo's dealers.
* TookALevelInJerkass: Domingo's naivety and nervousness gradually disappear as he becomes more accustomed to life as a Cartel dealer and informant. Compare his meek behavior when in front of Lalo Salamanca while playing cards with his manipulative, vengeful behavior when locked up in Walter White's basement.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Emilio]]
!!Emilio Koyama
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6c9033b5_008c_4791_857b_1bb7a27b4a38.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"I say we cap 'em both."'']]
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' John Koyama
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/BreakingBad'' | ''Series/BetterCallSaul''

->''"I don't do no paperwork."''

Jesse's partner as well as Krazy-8's cousin. He's arrested by the DEA after being sold out by Krazy-8, and later becomes Walt's first victim when he and Krazy-8 confront Walt. Jesse later dissolves his body in his bathtub, and it falls through the ceiling in a hilariously bloody fashion.
----
* AssholeVictim: The first of many in ''Breaking Bad''. Jesse seems more annoyed at having to dispose of his body than saddened by his death.
* BeardOfEvil: A thin goatee.
* TheBusCameBack: Holds the out-of-universe record for longest gap between on-screen appearances, with fourteen years between ''Breaking Bad''`s first episode and ''Better Call Saul''`s second-to-last episode.
* CallForward: He shows up as one of Saul's clients in ''Better Call Saul'', several years before his death in ''Breaking Bad''.
* DumbMuscle: He's quite an imposing figure, but he's clearly not too bright.
* EvilFormerFriend: According to Jesse, they met in elementary school.
* EvilIsPetty:
** Blows smoke in Walt's face when Walt tells him to put his cigarette out.
** He kicks an already unconscious Jesse in the gut after tying him up.
* FallGuy: Sold out by his own cousin so that Krazy-8 could get Jesse and Emilio's customers.
* FalseFriend: He's pretty quick to suggest capping his childhood friend Jesse, believing him to be a snitch.
* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking: Not only on the evil side of the scale but also on the [[StupidEvil stupid side]], smoking a cigarette in a meth lab filled with volatile chemicals. Walt calls him out on this, prompting Emilio to carelessly dispose of his cigarette outside the window, causing a brush fire.
* HandCannon: Carries a large .357 revolver.
* {{Jerkass}}: Unlike [[FauxAffablyEvil Krazy-8]], he comes off as unlikable and petty from the start.
* TheKlutz: His laughable attempt at escaping the DEA after being caught makes Jesse look competent and athletic in comparison.
* LudicrousGibs: Thankfully he wasn't alive by that point, but Jessie ignoring Walt's instructions on which chemicals to use to dissolve his body in a ceramic bathtub results in the acid eating through the tub's bottom, the floor and the ceiling below it and depositing his gory remains everywhere.
* MinorMajorCharacter: His sole appearance in ''Breaking Bad'' was to act as the catalyst for Jesse and Walt's partnership, and from there the gradual escalation of events as their criminal activities sparked greater and greater conflict within the Albuquerque criminal underworld. In ''Better Call Saul'', it's revealed that his tendency to get caught by the law brought him into contact with Saul for legal aid, which in turn showed Jesse who to turn to when he and Walt were in need of somebody with an intricate understanding of the legal system to get Badger out of trouble, and through Saul, getting the duo deeply involved with Gus' Los Pollos Hermanos drug operations, eventually resulting in Heisenberg creating his own meth empire.
* NeverFilledOutOfficialPaperwork: Loudly announces to Francesca that he "doesn't do paperwork." Saul doesn't care.
* NoBodyLeftBehind: After getting his deceased body dissolved in hydrofluoric acid.
* SacrificialLamb: He's Jesse's first partner and the first person Walt kills.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: His acts of petty crime lead to him seeking out Saul's aid, which leads to his partner Jesse having an informed viewpoint about whom to look for when he and Walt later need the expertise of a ''Criminal'' Lawyer, and through Saul, wind up deeper involved in Gus' operations.
* UnwittingPawn: To Krazy-8, who gets him arrested by the DEA and then manipulates him into thinking Jesse was the snitch.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: He shows up in the first episode and is noteworthy mostly as being the reason for Walt and Jessie's initial partnership and then the escalation of tensions by the episode's end when his release leads to Krazy-8 using him as an excuse to muscle in on Jesse's new meth operation, and becoming Walt's first kill, albeit in an indirect manner. He technically shows up more as a corpse (including having to deal with his liquified remains splattered around Jesse's hallway) than he does alive.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:No-Doze & Gonzo]]
!!No-Doze & Gonzo
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gonzo.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:350:That's No-Doze on the left and Gonzo on the right.]]
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Cesar Garcia (No-Doze) & Jesus Payan, Jr. (Gonzo)
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/BreakingBad'' | ''Series/BetterCallSaul''

Two of Tuco's closest henchmen.
----
* AnArmAndALeg: Gonzo's arm gets torn off while moving No-Doze's body which, as Hank gleefully point outs, led to him bleeding out and dying.
* AssholeVictim: Somewhat with No-Doze, who's more aggressive, short-tempered, and obnoxious when compared to Gonzo. That said, [[AlasPoorVillain no one at the scene of his death except Tuco felt he deserved his fate.]]
* BaldOfEvil: Both of them have shaved heads and they are loyal henchmen of the psychotic Tuco.
* BeardOfEvil: They're both bearded thugs that follow Tuco.
* BigGuyLittleGuy: Gonzo is the big guy to No-Doze's little guy.
* BloodFromTheMouth: No-Doze, after his beating at the hands of Tuco.
* CoDragons: Serve as Tuco's closest enforcers.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: No-Doze's beatdown wasn't pretty, and getting your arm ripped off by a falling car and bleeding out definitely qualifies as this for Gonzo.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Tuco beats No-Doze to death when No-Doze merely tells Walt and Jesse to remember who they work for.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Gonzo is clearly upset when Tuco accidentally kills No-Doze and tries to recover the body so he can give him a decent burial.
* FallGuy: Gonzo becomes this for Tuco when he thinks that since Gonzo hadn't been answering his calls for the last few days (on account of being dead and all), Tuco assumes that he's a police informant.
* FatBastard: A downplayed case with Gonzo. While he is a thug in league with Tuco Salamanca, he is depicted as empathetic and is basically the only half-decent one in Tuco's inner circle.
* HandCannon: No-Doze carries one.
* LaserGuidedKarma: No-Doze smirks at the sight of Tuco brutally beating the shit out of Jesse. He meets his death the same way not long afterward.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Gonzo attempts to remove No-Doze's body from the scrapyard to give him a proper, respectful burial. But he disturbs a precarious stack of cars in the process, and they fall on and crush him to death. Then the DEA find their corpses and laugh at his pathetic demise.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: No-Doze, after laughing at Jesse receiving one, gets one at the hands of Tuco that leaves him dead.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: Even if Tuco's beating of No-Doze is over the top, it's undeniable that No-Doze was still a petty thug.
* ReligiousBruiser: Gonzo wears a large cross medallion and didn't want to leave No-Doze's body without a proper burial on the basis that it wasn't, "very Christian".
* SacrificialLamb: No-Doze's death underlines just how brutal and dangerous Tuco is.
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: No-Doze succumbs to his brutal beatdown in the Season 2 premiere and Gonzo follows shortly afterward.
* TattooedCrook: They're both pretty heavily tattooed.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Gonzo is much more empathic than Tuco and No-Doze: he prevents Walt from getting in the way of Tuco's beating of No-Doze seemingly in part to stop Walt from becoming another victim, and of course, he's disturbed by leaving No-Doze's body unburied and tries to remedy that later, although that proves to be a mistake on his part.
* TooDumbToLive:
** Gonzo, who by his own fault, is killed when a car crushes his arm while he tries to move No-Doze's body. Hank immediately wants to call Leno when he finds out the real cause.
** No-Doze isn't too smart either, considering he was warned by Tuco about speaking for him -- and we later find out in ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' that this was far from the first time Tuco had done so -- but still kept running his mouth.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ignacio]]
See [[Characters/BetterCallSaulNachoVarga his page]].
[[/folder]]
----

* DontYouDarePityMe: {{Deconstructed|trope}} and PlayedForHorror. Tuco ''really'' hates the idea that he isn't capable or needs support from others (besides his family and certain close ones), and that can involve his own ''allies'' if they were to act "too" supportive. At his best, Tuco would give a calm but stern warning to cut it out, as seen with No-Doze in ''Better Call Saul'', and at his worst, he'll ''beat them to near-death'' like with No-Doze in the first SeasonFinale of ''Breaking Bad''.

** His [[GettingHighOnTheirOwnSupply drug addiction]] serves as another flaw. It makes his bad temper and mood swings ''worse'' and guarantees a fatal consequence on his own allies if they were to upset him lightly. In ''Better Call Saul'', Nacho mentioned that Tuco shot and killed his supplier Dog under the pretense of treachery while hopping up on a peanut butter crank, and in ''Breaking Bad'' he brutally beats No-Doze to the point that the latter died soon after, after taking a whiff of Walt's Blue Sky meth. On the flip side, Walt and Jesse can take advantage of Tuco's drug addiction by lacing the Blue Sky meth with ricin and giving a half-ass sales pitch to Tuco that it gets the user insanely high than ever. If wasn't for outside interference, such as Jesse overselling it by mentioning "Chili Powder" as the secret ingredient (which Tuco hates) and Hector pushing the ricin-laced burrito off the table, Tuco's addiction would have done him in rather than getting killed by Hank.

* HisOwnWorstEnemy: Tuco's insanity, hot temper, ultraviolence, and drug addiction are pretty much his worst enemies in the line of Cartel work as much as it's considered an advantage. Any potential allies he has will quickly see him as a workplace hazard and would plan his downfall and he cannot think and plan for any consequences that would arise from his actions. If left to his own devices, Tuco would find himself either in jail swiftly with an extended sentence by picking fights, losing his base of operations and his gang to the DEA, or potentially getting poisoned by Walt and Jesse before finally kicking the bucket at the hands of Hank.

* StupidEvil: While not an outright idiot, Tuco is so incredibly hot-tempered and short-sighted that he effectively shoots himself in the foot, not caring if he beats one of his subordinates to death and buries his body in almost plain sight, thus making him high priority for DEA to snoop around. He also extends his own prison sentence in ''Better Call Saul'', simply because he ''had'' to pick a fight with a prison guard.

* PutOnAPrisonBus: Sent to prison for at least five years during the events of ''Better Call Saul''. His uncle arranged to make it six months but [[StupidEvil his behavior]] makes it harder. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in RealLife, Raymond Cruz does not want to play the role too often, as he finds it exhausting to be that AxCrazy even for pretend.

* ReligiousBruiser: Gonzo didn't want to leave No-Doze's body without a proper burial on the basis that it wasn't, "very Christian".

* BigBrotherBully; Downplayed: Marco used to bully Leonel as a kid, but this clearly stopped by the time they became adults (probably due to Hector's unorthodox parenting methods).