History Characters / BreakingBadJessePinkman

->'''Played By''': Aaron Paul

##Falls into a state of total despair after Jane dies, and is convinced by Walt that it's his fault that she's dead.

* BookDumb: Jesse talks and dresses like a rapper-wannabe, but he's highly intelligent and deeply flawed and troubled. His FreudianExcuse suggests that much of his behavior started as teenage rebellion against his parents for pushing him too hard.

* [[spoiler:TheAtoner]]: Seems to have become this as of "Blood Money".

* [[spoiler:CantKillYouStillNeedYou]]: In "Ozymandias", [[spoiler:Todd talks the Nazis out of killing Jesse, so he can teach him how to cook Walt's formula]].

* [[spoiler:ColdBloodedTorture: By Todd]] in "Ozymandias."

* [[spoiler: DidntThinkThisThrough]]: [[spoiler: Jesse's attempted escape from Jack's gang falls under this. Despite knowing that Andrea and Brock are at risk if he doesn't cooperate, he still attempts to escape his prison. However, it's implied that Jesse's mental state has degraded to the point that he's trying to escape with the knowledge that he'll either get out in order to warn Andrea and Brock, or be put out of his misery by the Nazis (hence his daring them to shoot him). The biggest miscalculation that Jesse makes is his assumption that he's disposable to Todd.]]

* [[spoiler:EarnYourHappyEnding: After all the crap he goes through, the series ends with him finally free from the meth business.]]
* [[spoiler:EnemyMine]]: With [[spoiler:Hank]] as of "Rabid Dog".

* [[spoiler:FateWorseThanDeath: As of "Ozymandias," he was sold into slavery by his former partner, with the knowledge that said partner let Jesse's girlfriend die, tortured and made to cook meth, with his current girlfriend and her son's lives hanging in the balance, depending on his cooperation, and his life may already be forfeit, even if he cooperates.]]

* [[spoiler: ForcedToWatch]]: [[spoiler: While tied up in a car by Jack's men, he watches Todd murder Andrea on her doorstep.]]

* [[spoiler:IShallTauntYou: To Walt in "To'hajiilee" in order to uncover the location of his money.]]

* [[spoiler:MadeASlave]]: Jesse is taken by [[spoiler: Jack's crew to cook meth for their operation because of Todd]] in "Ozymandias."

* [[spoiler: MirthlessLaughter]]: [[spoiler: Starts laughing hysterically and joyously out of relief, while also crying tears of joy, as he drives away at top speed out of the Neo-Nazi compound towards the end of "Felina".]]

* [[spoiler: RedemptionEarnsLife:]] [[spoiler: He has his HeelRealization earlier than Walter, and has since wanted to get out of the meth business. He's the only one of the duo who makes it out alive at the end of the series.]]

* [[spoiler: RoaringRampageOfRevenge]]: [[spoiler: After he realizes that Walt actually did poison Brock, he completely loses it.]]

* [[spoiler:ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: He decides to leave the meth business despite Walter persistently trying to persuade him otherwise and refusing to give him his share of the money nearing 5 million dollars. Later, after Walter gave Jesse his money, Jesse decides he doesn't want his "blood money". He first tries to have it sent to Mike's granddaughter and Drew Sharp's parents, but Saul and Walt refuse to arrange this, so Jesse starts driving down a poor neighbourhood and tossing his money away.]]

* [[spoiler:TheStoolPigeon]]: [[spoiler:The Whistleblower Wilson variation listed on the page.]]

** [[spoiler:TearsOfJoy]]: [[spoiler:Sheds them once he finally escapes Jack's white supremacist gang's compound, and by extension, the meth business itself.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Shows signs of this.
** HiddenHeartOfGold: In early seasons.

** There's also the fact that he seems to have become a lot smarter since the start of the show. During the earlier seasons, his impulsiveness made him a liability to Walt. By season 5 however, he's become a vital part of Walt's operation, and [[spoiler: even comes up with plans on how to cover their tracks and to steal methylamine.]]

* VillainProtagonist: Though not nearly as big of one as Walt is.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Jesse has always had a general-purpose chip on his shoulder since the beginning of the show. So, it's no surprise that when he feels like it, he can pull this number, even if he doesn't have the grandest of worlds to destroy. It'd be TheDogBitesBack, but... you really need to put him in the woobiest spot imaginable before he ''does'' attack. But, dear Lord... when he snaps, he snaps hard (and, a lot of it is inwards)! And, it rarely bodes well for him or those around him, let alone the target of his rage. Anger him enough, and you can see his common sense vacate the building as he goes berserker.

* PoisonousFriend: Skyler initially confuses him as being a ToxicFriendInfluence for Walter, with quite some cause. And, ordinarily, you'd agree that an impulsive drug dealer would count in most people's books. [[SubvertedTrope Nope, sorry,]] [[PlayingWithATrope not that simple]]: predominantly, it's the other way around. However, played rather straighter (if unintentionally) with others, like Jane: he did influence her rather... negatively during one of his downward spirals and got her off the wagon. Badger and Skinny Pete also found bumps put in their paths thanks to the same basic issue. Jesse doesn't go out to be a negative influence. It just kind of happens thanks to his problems biting him and those around him in every way imaginable.

* SpottingTheThread: Jesse might often want to blot the world out, but that doesn't mean he can't spot what is in plain sight often enough. As he deliberately points out to Mike at one point.

* SpottingTheThread

* TheIgor

* PoisonousFriend: Skyler initially confuses him as being this for Walter, with some cause. And, ordinarily, you'd agree that an impulsive drug dealer would count in most people's books. [[SubvertedTrope Nope]]: predominantly, it's the other way around. However, played rather straighter (if unintentionally) with others, like Jane: he did influence her rather... negatively during one of his downward spirals and got her off the wagon. Badger and Skinny Pete also found bumps put in their paths thanks to the same basic issue. Jesse doesn't go out to be a negative influence. It just kind of happens thanks to his problems biting him and those around him in every way imaginable.

* PoisonousFriend: Skyler initially confuses him as being this for Walter. [[SubvertedTrope Nope: other way around.]] However, played rather straighter (if unintentionally) with others, like Jane: he did influence her rather... negatively during one of his downward spirals and got her off the wagon. Badger and Skinny Pete also found bumps put in their paths thanks to the same basic issue.

** In a series littered with people willing to pull NeverMyFault, Jesse's that default is "Always/ Likely My Fault" is a notable inversion. However, if he can find instances where it wasn't his fault and can clearly see where else the fault lies... cue RoaringRampageOfRevenge as he turns that churning, well-oiled guilt complex into explosive anger instead.

* BeneathTheMask: He projects the image of a fully-intentioned, devil-may-care, hedonistic rebel without a cause using drugs and a slacker lifestyle as a fuck you to polite society in general. And, it's not entirely an act. Underneath all that, however, is a very conflicted, frustrated and self-loathing, escapist, highly sensitive and intelligent guy with major trust and rejection issues who really doesn't know if anything he wants he should let himself deserve having. SadClown doesn't really do him justice, but it's an aspect.

* YouKeepTellingYourselfThat: To Walt later on.

* UndyingLoyalty: Deconstructed and [[spoiler:Subverted by the end]]. Walt vouches for Jesse that he has this early in the show. Mike even lampshades this when he describes this as Jesse's best quality. As the series continues, Jesse's relationship with Walt evolves from a strained having been forced to work with Walter to trusting relationship believing they have survived by having each other's safety in mind while forming a cooperative business. In the 5th season, Jesse gives Walter a watch for his birthday and he shares personal feelings with him at that time. [[spoiler:By the end of the first half of Season 5, it's finally subverted when Jesse becomes terrified of him learning he killed 10 witnesses in prison and most certainly, Mike. And when he figures out that Walt poisoned Brock, [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge well... it's not pleasant to say the least.]] Jesse is taken in by Hank to help arrest Walt, and Jesse cooperates fully. After Walt saves Jesse from Jack and hands him a gun, Jesse isn't willing to do what he desires anymore and leaves.]]

* GuiltComplex: Granted, a good amount of things are his fault, but Jesse has a self-destructive tendency to blame himself for practically everything, even if he isn't the one deserves the majority of the blame. This tendency manifests itself in a big way on three separate occasions: He believes that Jane's death, along with the Wayfarer Crash is entirely his fault, and doesn't quite get over his guilt until meeting Brock. Later on, [[spoiler: He breaks down in tears and berates himself over the fact that he nearly killed Walt after correctly suspecting him of poisoning Brock.]] And finally [[spoiler: His reaction to the deaths of Drew Sharpe and Mike are so extreme that he makes a naive attempt at giving away his money in order to gain a sense of absolution.]]

* BookDumb: Jesse talks and dresses like an idiot, but he's highly intelligent and deeply flawed and troubled. His FreudianExcuse suggests that much of his behavior started as teenage rebellion against his parents for pushing him too hard.

* TheAggressiveDrugDealer: A SubvertedTrope. First, he finds the whole ordeal of forcing a couple that stole meth from one of his dealers to be very difficult and is horrified when the situation leads to one of them getting his head crushed with an ATM machine. Second, Jesse will not sell meth to a mother who has a responsibility to look after a child. Third, Jesse does not want see children involved in this business, so the discovery . Last, Jesse does NOT want people to die.

Character subpage for ''Series/BreakingBad'''s deuteragonist, Jesse Pinkman. For the main page, see [[Characters/BreakingBad here]].

* TheAggressiveDrugDealer: A SubvertedTrope. First, he finds the whole ordeal of forcing a couple that stole meth from one of his dealers to be very difficult and is horrified when the situation leads to one of their deaths. Second, Jesse will not sell meth to a mother who has a responsibility to look after a child. Third, Jesse does not want see children involved in this business. Last, Jesse does NOT want people to die.
* AnimalMotifs: Associated with dogs due to his loyalty and desire for approval and affection. In Problem Dog, he tells the recovery group about how he put down a dog and while he's referring to Gale it's clear the bad dog in question is him, and in Rabid Dog [[spoiler:Saul outright compares him to Old Yeller - the most kind and loyal dog in the world who nonetheless had to be put down when he went mad.]]

* BookDumb: Talks and dresses like an idiot, but highly intelligent and deeply flawed and troubled. His FreudianExcuse suggests that much of his behavior started as a way to piss off his parents for pushing him too hard.

* BreakTheCutie: Granted, Jesse was already dealing meth at the start of the show and was never the most innocent person, but he wasn't anything more than a low level street dealer who's rap sheet likely only extended to a few arrests. Ever since partnering up with Walt however, his life has undeniably taken a turn for the worst.
* BreakoutCharacter: Initially, Jesse was slated to be a SacrificialLion for Season 1. However, Gilligan was so impressed with the character and Aaron Paul's performance that he eventually promoted Jesse to the {{Deuteragonist}} of the series.
* BrilliantButLazy: He's a skilled carpenter, but he'd rather cook crystal meth than put those skills to use as a tradesman. He also has a knack for chemistry, since he becames able to recreate Walt's formula perfectly, (something nobody else could do), but he failed at chemistry at high school, because he didn't apply himself.

* [[spoiler: DidntThinkThisThrough]]: [[spoiler: Jesse's attempted escape from Jack's gang falls under this. Despite knowing that Andrea and Brock are at risk if he doesn't cooperate, he still attempts to escape his prison. However, it's implied that Jesse's mental state has degraded to the point that he's trying to escape with the knowledge that he'll either get out in order to warn Andrea and Brock, or be put out of his misery by the Nazis (hence his daring them to shoot him). The biggest miscalculation that Pinkman makes is his assumption that he's disposable to Todd.]]
** Jesse does this many times, including pouring out the RV's water supply while stranded in the desert, in order to put out a fire, along with the time where he impulsively goes after the RV, and inadvertently leads Hank to it.

##He's later left at the mercy of two drug addicts after he attempted to reclaim the money that was stolen from his friend and distributor. During this time, he witnesses Spooge's wife crush her husband's head with an ATM.

##Falls into a state of total despair after Jane dies, and is convinced that it's his fault that she's dead.

## Hank brutally beats him into unconsciousness as revenge for distracting him while Walt and Jesse got rid of the RV

** The first time Jesse calls Walt on his first name is in "Breakage", when he's telling Walt that Walt needs him more than he needs Walt, is a clear message that the balance of power has shifted in their relationship.

* ThisIsForEmphasisBitch: Jesse lives by this trope. He adds "bitch" to the end of every insult.