History Characters / BreakingBadJuarezCartel

* AssholeVictim: He is poisoned by Gus along with all of his capos with tequila with his death being much slow and painful compared to the capos as he drowns in his own pool while trying to lunge at Gus. This was long overdue for Eladio's past crimes especially having killed Gus' partner Max and sadistically tortured Gus over it decades ago on top of being an overall unpleasant BadBoss throughout his screentime in both ''Breaking Bad'' and ''Better Call Saul''.

** He understands the dynamics between Gustavo and the Salamancas and how to use them to his advantage. Also, despite brushing off the Salamanca's testimony, when Hector told Eladio to look into Gustavo's eyes and see him for who he really is, Eladio sees the immeasurable hate Gus has for him under his polite demeanor. [[SubvertedTrope That said]], it's clear that he arrogantly believes that Gustavo's hate is second only to his fear of him and thinks he is all business, which in ''Breaking Bad'' would prove to be [[StealthPun dead]] wrong for Eladio.

** {{Pride}} and [[{{Narcissist}} Egotism]]. This is probably his biggest one as a lot of the problems that will later on happen in ''Breaking Bad'' and ''Better Call Saul'' all started because Eladio only saw Gus and Max's actions as "subverting his authority" rather then as the business proposition that it was, which would have expanded his criminal empire to great heights. While Eladio undoubtedly needed to show his authority, he did so in a way that actually robbed him of a prime business opportunity and set a ''VERY'' driven man in Gus on the path of revenge to destroy Eladio and the cartel later on, and frankly everyone probably knew it. But in Eladio's pride, he both thought he didn't need the help nor did he have to worry about Gus' revenge due to Eladio overestimating his own power, arrogantly thinking that he is untouchable.

** These two factors together mainly {{Pride}} would ultimately later on to be his downfall as a combination of Eladio's underestimation of the hatred Gustavo holds against him proves to be ''far'' greater then his fear of him and being easily suckered by his immense amount of money he brings in results in Eladio paying the ultimate price of being poisoned and dying alongside the destruction of his cartel as a result of his hubris and short-sightedness.

* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: He seems bubbly, quirky, and fun, but he's really just a mean-spirited thuggish BadBoss who likes to bully people for his own sadistic gratification and knowing he can get away with it.

* KarmicDeath: Eladio meets his end by being poisoned by the man whose lover he killed, drowning in his own pool in the process. Furthermore, said pool is where he murdered Max and forced Fring to look into his dead eyes to further traumatize him.
* KickTheDog
** He heckles Bolsa for being short on his tributes and being upstaged by Lalo Salamanca, not knowing Lalo screwed Bolsa and Gus over with his plan to rat out Gus' low level dealers to the DEA.

* {{Narcissist}}: He has a really BIG ego as shown in "Saborosito" on Better Call Saul when he criticizes the bobblehead of the ice cream mascot inspired by him from Hector. In "Salud", he refers to Gus as 'tu' instead of 'usted', showing that he sees no equals and see only himself as the top boss.

** This is heavily demonstrated during the events of "Salud" in ''Breaking Bad''. Before he even opens Gustavo's "gift", he looks at Gaff to make sure the case is safe to open. He then makes Gustavo take the first shot of the rare tequila, in case if it was poisoned. [[SelfPoisoningGambit It was. Gustavo drank it anyway]]. (Earlier, he's seen taking some pills that likely slowed or dulled the poisons working, and when he uses Eladio's bathroom later, he induces himself to vomit, thus preventing the poison from running its course.) And finally, when Gustavo is going to leave his sight, he has his bodyguard go with Gus to keep an eye on him. Eladio ''really'' didn't trust Gustavo and was trying to be careful not to give Gus any opening to use against him not knowing that he already did before it was too late. He was right to be paranoid, he just wasn't quite paranoid enough.

* UngratefulBastard: Accused of this by Hector. He easily discarded the Salamancas, who helped build his criminal empire and gave him their best enforcers, for a Chilean in Gus who brings more money and does chicken, but one who has a serious grudge against Eladio and Hector for the murder of his lover. Turns out Hector is right and it would later on prove to be one of Eladio's greatest mistakes.

* 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.

* {{Jerkass}}: He's aggressive, violent, and extremely confrontational. There are times when there's absolutely nothing you can say to save yourself.

* 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.

* ArchEnemy: To Gustavo Fring, given that he ordered the murder of his beloved partner, Max Arciniega. He shares this position with Hector Salamanca who killed Max [[{{Sadist}} with visible relish]] on Eladio's orders.

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: It really just doesn't seem to dawn on him that his ordered murder of Max is more or less Gustavo Fring's [[{{Revenge}} sole motivating factor]] in their partnership together. It's implied by the final season of ''Better Call Saul'', where Eladio outright tells Gus he can see the hatred in his eyes, that it's not an uncommon backstory for his underlings, but to him killing Max may be "business is business" to him but it wasn't business for Gus: it was personal.

** He understands the dynamics between Gustavo and the Salamancas and how to use them to his advantage. Also, despite brushing off the Salamanca's testimony, when Hector told Eladio to look into Gustavo's eyes and see him for who he really is, Eladio sees the immeasurable hate Gus has for him under his polite demeanor. [[SubvertedTrope That said]], it's clear that he arrogantly believes that Gustavo's hate is second only to his fear of him, which in ''Breaking Bad'' would prove to be [[StealthPun dead]] wrong for Eladio.

* StupidEvil: Had Eladio not murdered Max to sadistically torture Gustavo into being a very dangerous person, it's quite likely that he wouldn't have met his consequently karmic death at his hands out of revenge years later. In spite of his ExcellentJudgeOfCharacter, Eladio kept doing a lot of unwise actions that eventually led to his death.

** In "Better Call Saul", Tuco gives up a clear foot in height to the Lindholm brothers and Jimmy McGill in the desert, but is able to terrorize them thoroughly with violence and threats of violence. It helps that the latter three are NOT fighters and Tuco is a brutal cartel capo with a penchant for beating people within an inch of their lives or even to death.

* AbusiveParents: His actual children are unseen, but he was a parental figure to the Cousins – and presumably, Tuco and Lalo as well. In "[[Recap/BreakingBadS3E7OneMinute One Minute]]", he beats the "family is all" mantra into his nephews, Marco and Leonel by drowning the former and forcing the latter to save him. It's also worth noting that the (normally) sane Lalo attributes his rage and sadism as a result of Hector's upbringing after [[spoiler:Bolsa chides him for killing Fred Whalen and burning down the [=TravelWire=].]]

[[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]], '''Juarez Cartel''', [[Characters/BreakingBadSalamancaFamily 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]]-]]]]]

!!!Leadership

!!!Lieutenants

[[folder:Gaff]]
!!Gaff
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gaff_2951.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"You're staying. You belong to the cartel now."'']]
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/MauriceCompte

The chief buttonman and deliverer of important messages in the Juárez Cartel's New Mexico territory. By the time of his appearance, he was recently promoted by the Dons of the cartel, replacing Tuco Salamanca's role of informing the cartel about the activity across the border after the latter's death.

* AssholeVictim: Given how often he kills Gus' employees and [[{{BullyingADragon}} strong arms Gus and his men,]] chances are you'll cheer when Mike chokes the life out of him.
* BrutalHonesty: Tells Gus bluntly, "This is not a negotiation".
* BeardOfEvil: Has a beard and is evil.
* ColdSniper: He's a skilled but ruthless sniper, willing to suffocate a whole crew of men in Gus' refrigeration trucks to make a point.
* TheDragon: He serves as this to Don Eladio, being his chief assassin.
* EliteMook: After Tuco's death, Gaff was promoted to his position.
* EvilCounterpart: He's the Cartel's answer to Mike Ehrmantraut; both are intelligent, loyal, dangerous and can be relied upon for their ruthless efficiency. At the end of the day, though, Gaff just can't measure up to Mike.
* {{Jerkass}}: He doesn't show Gus much respect during cartel meetings, and obviously resents not being able to just outright kill him. He's also arrogant enough to be surprised by the many guns due to Mike's planning.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Praises Jesse's skills (unlike the petulant Fuentes) only to remind him that the Cartel owns him.
* MouthOfSauron: Speaks on behalf of Eladio during his conflict with Gus in Season 4.
* ProfessionalKiller: Part of his job working for the Cartel.
* RazorFloss: Mike strangles him to death with a wire while he's distracted by the Cartel bosses dying from Gus' poison.
* RuthlessForeignGangsters: Romanian-American in ethnicity and uses more ruthless tactics than German-American Mike Ehrmantraut such as the use of the exhaust fumes to wipe out one of Gus' truck crews or picking apart Gus' goons to get Gus' response.
* TheStoic: He largely comes across as bored, not showing much in the way of reaction even when dying.
* YouAreInCommandNow: Gaff replaces Tuco as the cartel's eyes and ears across the border.

[[folder:Fuentes]]
!!Benicio Fuentes
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fuentes_benicio_3948.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"This is ridiculous! I'm not letting some infant who can't even synthesize phenylacetic acid teach me my business!"'']]
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/CarloRota

The lead meth chemist for the cartel.

* AllThereInTheScript: His full name isn't stated in the episode.
* AssholeVictim: He dies alongside his cartel colleagues as a result of Gus' poison. Considering what an arrogant asshole he was (on top of his profession as a meth manufacturer), nobody stops to mourn him.
* BaldOfEvil: Fuentes is bald and an immense asshole, on top of being a cook for the cartel.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Despite having more screentime than any of the Dons, his death happens offscreen, and his body is only shown in a wide shot of the pool once Gus re-enters the scene.
* BeardOfEvil: He has a little goatee.
* EvilBrit: He speaks with a posh English accent and is an amoral, arrogant chemist.
* EvilCounterpart: He's the cartel's answer to Walter; both are [[BaldOfEvil bald]], [[BeardOfEvil bearded]], [[{{Jerkass}} abrasive]] and [[{{Pride}} arrogant]] chemists who look down on Jesse for being BookDumb. The main difference between the two is that Walter has extreme standards on how to run his lab, and is much smarter and observant to boot (on top of being actually able to create pure meth), while Fuentes is a KnowNothingKnowItAll whom even Jesse makes a fool of.
* EvilGenius: He ought to be this since he's the cartel's lead meth chemist, but as a chemist, he doesn't match up to Jesse.
-->'''Fuentes:''' ...he's no chemist, I'll tell you that.
-->'''Don Eladio:''' I don't care if he's a pig farmer. He cooks better meth than ''you'' do, with all your fancy college degrees.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Fuentes is quick to complain about Jesse's unpreparedness for cooking meth because he didn't synthesize and bring his own phenylacetic acid. He has the gall to say this when his ''entire lab'' looks absolutely filthy and disorganized, which Jesse rightfully calls him out for.
* InsufferableGenius: Emphasis on the insufferable over the 'genius'. He's grievously offended when Jesse arrives on the scene, [[JerkassHasAPoint even though Jesse's scathing criticisms about his lab's lack of sanitation is entirely correct]].
-->'''Jesse:''' Don't you have standards? I mean, this place is disgusting. All right, we're gonna scour every vat, every tank, every cook surface. We clean up every possible source of contamination. And then we cook.
-->'''Fuentes:''' Who do you think you are?
-->'''Jesse:''' [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech I'm the guy your boss brought here to show you how it's done. And if this is how you run your lab, no wonder. You're lucky he hasn't fired your ass. Now, if you don't want that to happen I suggest you stop whining like a little bitch, and do what I say]].
* {{Jerkass}}: Fuentes is abrasive and arrogant from the get-go.
* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Fuentes is clearly Spanish, but when speaking English, he talks in Rota's native English (as in, born in England) accent. Note that this ''can'' be a case of TruthInTelevision, since some people do learn to speak English without their native accent. Other times, people may assume the accent of the person who is teaching them a non-native language.
* OhCrap: When the Capo he's talking to suddenly collapses as a result of Gustavo's poison, he has a look of concern on his face.
* ShutUpHannibal: He gets two of these. One from Jesse when Fuentes insults both his poor understanding of Spanish (and he subtly insults Gustavo when asking if Jesse as a chemist was a joke) and his lack of basic chemistry knowledge. He gets a second one from his own boss later on, who says that even with Fuentes's college degrees, Jesse still cooks better meth.
--> '''Jesse:''' Tell this asshole if he wants to make my product, he's got to do it my way. The ''right'' way.\\
'''Fuentes:''' I speak English.\\
'''Jesse:''' So you understand what ''asshole'' means. Now go get me my phenylacetic acid, ''asshole''.
* SmallNameBigEgo: He's so arrogant that you get the feeling he still would've behaved the same way if Walt or Gale were there instead of Jesse (though Walt or Gale would at least have been able to make phenylacetic acid).
* SmugSnake: He thinks he's a lot better of a chemist than he actually is.

[[folder:Tortuga]]
!!Tortuga
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tortuga_8732.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250:''"Tortuga means turtle, and that's me. I take my time but I always win."'']]
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/DannyTrejo

The [=DEA's=] informant on the Mexican Cartel. He is beheaded, his head is put on a tortoise, and the head is rigged with bombs, blowing up all of the [=DEA=] members who are sent to meet him except for Hank.

* AssholeVictim: What Bolsa does to him is pretty horrific, but considering what an arrogant jerk he was, it's hard not to say his deeds didn't catch up with him.
* CigarChomper: He enjoys puffing on a cigar in his appearances.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: After boldly boasting to Hank that his name Tortuga means "turtle", he is then beheaded with his head placed on the back of a tortoise for the delight of the DEA. Hank's reaction to this is what saves his life, or at least his limbs.
* DecapitationPresentation: After the Cousins hack off his head, they stuff it with explosives and place it on a tortoise, and then send it to the DEA's meeting place with a message: ''HOLA DEA''.
* DeathByCameo: Trejo's not exactly Creator/HarrisonFord or anything, but he's a beloved and recognizable cult actor. He was also a bigger name than most of the lead actors at the time and was listed as a special guest star. His run on the show lasts all of two scenes and one EarlyBirdCameo in the "Negro y Azul" video, not including time spent as a severed head.
* DeathByIrony:
** Deliberately invoked by Juan Bolsa and the Cousins. They place his severed head on a tortoise (which was given as a "gift" to [[MeaningfulName Tortuga]] in the first place); and to add (additional) insult-to-injury, Juan writes "Hola DEA" on the tortoise, and uses it as a weapon against the same organization that Tortuga had tattled to.
** On a meta-note, it's probably not coincidental that a character played by Creator/DannyTrejo was killed with a {{Film/machete}}.
* DiedOnTheirBirthday: Tortuga is [[OffWithHisHead decapitated]] by Marco and Leonel Salamanca after he is distracted by an apparent birthday gift.
* TheInformant: He's a high-ranking member of the Juarez Cartel (high enough to report directly to Bolsa at least) and has turned informant for the DEA.
* {{Jerkass}}: He lounges around in his motel room, ordering crass personal items listed on [=SkyMall=] via DEA agents who have to toady to him. He's not even NiceToTheWaiter, treating his bartender disdainfully.
* MeaningfulName: Tortuga likes to remind people of his name's meaning and what he takes from it. His name means "tortoise" in Spanish, which he claims is reflective of his way of getting things done -- slow, but successful. Appropriately, he also takes far too long to realize he's about to be killed by the Cousins on Bolsa's orders, and after it happens, his head is delivered to the [=DEA=] on the back of a tortoise.
* OffWithHisHead: On Bolsa's orders, the Cousins cut his head off with a machete.
* OhCrap: The second he sees what Bolsa has written on the tortoise, his expression drops and he goes for his gun. By that point, he's way too late to save himself.
* TheRat: Within the Cartel, informing the DEA.
* SmugSnake: Tortuga is suicidally confident of his own abilities. He thinks he can outwit the Cartel while keeping the DEA virtually begging him for scraps of information, all while living the high life and bragging about himself. His arrogance gets him violently beheaded.
* TooDumbToLive: After blabbing to the DEA as a paid informant, Tortuga decides to go drink at a shady BadGuyBar in the middle of Mexico, and treats Bolsa dropping in unannounced (while saying "I knew I'd find you here") as a pleasant surprise; even when Juan repeatedly complements him for how "quick" he is with words, the guy never puts it together. He's naturally a little wary when Bolsa says he's got a belated birthday gift for him in the back of the bar, but is easily lured into a false sense of security again when he receives a pet turtle. By the time he finally learns that his boss wants to execute him for his treachery and he tries to pull his gun, it's too late, and Tuco's twin Cousins are hacking off his head.
* VisualPun: PlayedForHorror as his gruesome fate shows that he couldn't get a''head'' of the situation.

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: It really just doesn't seem to dawn on him that his ordered murder of Max is more or less Gustavo Fring's [[{{Revenge}} sole motivating factor]] in their partnership together. It's implied by the final season of ''Better Call Saul'', where Eladio outright tells Gus he can see the hatred in his eyes, that it's not an uncommon backstory for his underlings, but thinks its no big deal.

** He understands the dynamics between Gustavo and the Salamancas and how to use them to his advantage. Also, despite brushing off the Salamanca's testimony, when Hector told Eladio to look into Gustavo's eyes and see him for who he really is, Eladio sees the immeasurable hate Gus has for him under his polite demeanor. [[SubvertedTrope That said]], it's clear that he arrogantly believes that Gustavo's hate is second only to his fear of him, which in ''Breaking Bad'' would prove to be [[StealthPun dead]] wrong.

** Later while speaking with Gus, he coldly "advises" him in a rather humiliating fashion to let go of any personal grudges he has (including the cartel's murder of his beloved partner/lover Max) and submit to his authority for the sake of "good business." Too bad for Eladio that killing Max may be "business is business" to him but it wasn't business for Gus: it was personal.

* StupidEvil: Had Eladio not murdered Max to sadistically torture Gustavo into being a very dangerous person, it's quite likely that he wouldn't have met his consequently karmic death at his hands out of revenge years later.

** {{Pride}} and [[{{Narcissist}} Egotism]]. This is probably his biggest one as a lot of the problems that will later on happen in ''Breaking Bad'' and ''Better Call Saul'' all started because Eladio only saw Gus and Max's actions as "subverting his authority" rather then as the business proposition that it was, which would have expanded his criminal empire to great heights. While Eladio undoubtedly needed to show his authority, he did so in a way that actually robbed him of a prime business opportunity and set a ''VERY'' driven man in Gus on the path of revenge to destroy Eladio and the cartel later on, and frankly everyone probably knew it. But in Eladio's pride, he both thought he didn't need the help nor did he have to worry about Gus' revenge due to Eladio overestimating his own power.
** {{Greed}}. This is more minor but he also should've known better then to accept a deal from the man (Gus) he wronged years ago, but the immense organization and amount of money was all too good for Eladio to easily accept and take without ever seeing how he is playing into Gus's plan of revenge in the long term. Case in point in "Better Call Saul", even when Eladio knows that Gus hates him, he still keeps him around because he doesn't want to lose his big source of income.
** These two factors together mainly {{Pride}} would ultimately later on to be his downfall as Eladio's underestimation of the hatred Gustavo holds against him proves to be ''far'' greater then his fear of him and also being easily suckered by his immense amount of money he brings in results in Eladio paying the ultimate price of being poisoned and dying along with the destruction of his cartel as a result of his hubris and short-sightedness.

** His call to toss Hector aside is an UngratefulBastard move as the Salamancas are the cartel's strongest enforcers, but Gustavo Fring does bring in more money, and Hector has proven himself to be a liability due to his insistence of trying to assert dominance over Fring. However, this would later on turn out to be a fatally wrong choice as Eladio ended up getting poison in revenge and finally realizing too late that Hector was right about Gustavo.

* UngratefulBastard: Accused of this by Hector. He easily discarded the Salamancas, who helped build his criminal empire and gave him their best enforcers, for a Chilean in Gus who brings more money and does chicken, but one who has a serious grudge against Eladio and Hector for the murder of his lover. This would later on prove to be one of Eladio’s greatest mistakes.

* KickTheDog:
** He gives Benicio Fuentes, the wannabe chemist, a ''thorough'' put down in ''Breaking Bad'', pointing out that Jesse Pinkman could cook way better meth than him despite his lack of college degrees.
** In ''Better Call Saul'', Eladio taunts and heckles Hector Salamanca by calling his money stash cute in contrast to Gustavo's significantly larger stash. In fairness, this ''is'' [[{{Jerkass}} Hector]] we're talking about here.
** He similarly heckles Bolsa for being short on his tributes and being upstaged by Lalo Salamanca.

** His call to toss Hector aside is an UngratefulBastard move as the Salamancas are the cartel's strongest enforcers but Gustavo Fring does bring in more money however, this would later on turn out to be a fatal wrong choice as Eladio ended up getting poison in revenge and finally realizing too late that Hector was right about Gus.

* AssholeVictim: He is poisoned by Gus along with all of his capos with tequila with his death being much slow and painful compared to the capos. This was long overdue for him because of his past crimes especially having killed Gus' partner Max and sadistically tortured Gus over it decades ago on top of being an overall unpleasant BadBoss throughout his screentime in both ''Breaking Bad'' and ''Better Call Saul''.

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: It really just doesn't seem to dawn on him that his ordered murder of Max is more or less Gustavo Fring's [[{{Revenge}} sole motivating factor]] in their partnership together. It's implied by the final season of ''Better Call Saul'', where Eladio outright tells Gus he can see the hatred in his eyes, that it's not an uncommon backstory for his underlings, but thinks its no big deal and because of him overestimating his own authority.

** {{Greed}}. This is more minor but he also should've known better then to accept a deal from the man (Gus) he wronged years ago, but the immense organization and amount of money was all too good for Eladio to easily accept and take without ever seeing how he is in fact actually playing into Gus's plan of revenge in the long term. Case in point in "Better Call Saul", even when Eladio knows that Gus hates him, he still keeps him around because he doesn't want to lose his big source of income and he can cower him with force.
** These two factors together mainly {{Pride}} would ultimately later on to be his downfall as Eladio's underestimation of the hatred Gustavo holds against him proves to be ''far'' greater then his fear of him and him being easily suckered by his immense amount of money he brings in results in Eladio paying the price of being poisoned and dying along with the destruction of his cartel as a result of his hubris and short-sightedness.

---> ''"Gustavo, cheer up, man. Gustavo, I'm not angry. I had to spank you. But what choice did I have? Look, once every twenty years you forget your place. There's no place for emotion in this. You of all people should understand. Business is business."

* TooCleverByHalf: Despite being an ExcellentJudgeOfCharacter, Eladio's greed and overconfidence in his own authority gives him a big blind spot when it comes to Gus in ''Better Call Saul''. He knows that Gus hates him for murdering Max, and it is heavily implied that he's aware that [[spoiler: Gus had killed Lalo]], but he chooses not to act on it because he doesn't want to lose Gus as an earner and believes he can be intimidated in to falling back in line. This attitude repeats in ''Breaking Bad'', [[spoiler: and it ends with his death and the total dismantling of the Juarez Cartel]].
* UngratefulBastard: Accused of this by Hector. He discarded the Salamancas, who helped build his criminal empire and gave him their best enforcers, for a Chilean who brings more money and does chicken, but one who has a serious grudge against Eladio and Hector for the murder of his lover. This would later on prove to be one of Eladio’s greatest mistakes.

** {{Pride}} and [[{{Narcissist}} Egotism]]. This is probably his biggest one as a lot of the problems that will later on happen in ''Breaking Bad'' and ''Better Call Saul'' all started because Eladio only saw Gus and Max's actions as "subverting his authority" rather then as the business proposition that it was, which would have expanded his criminal empire to great heights. While Eladio undoubtedly needed to show his authority, he did so in a very careless way that actually robbed him of a prime business opportunity and set a ''VERY'' driven man in Gus on the path of revenge to destroy Eladio and the cartel later on, and frankly everyone probably knew it. But in Eladio's pride, he both thought he didn't need the help nor did he have to worry about Gus' revenge due to Eladio overestimating his own power.

** Similarly, during the party, he [[KickTheDog offhandedly threatens a servant pouring him a shot of rare tequila with amputation if he spills "even one drop"]] (with a festive smile on his face, no less).
** Later while speaking with Gus, he coldly "advises" him in a rather humiliating fashion to let go of any personal grudges he has (including the cartel's murder of his beloved partner/lover Max) and submit to his authority for the sake of "good business."

** {{Pride}} and [[{{Narcissist}} Egotism]]. This is probably his biggest one as a lot of the problems that will later on happen in ''Breaking Bad'' and ''Better Call Saul'' all started because Eladio only see Gus and Max's actions as "subverting his authority" and instead of as the business proposition that it was, which would have expanded his criminal empire to great heights. So while Eladio undoubtedly needed to show his authority, he did so in a very careless way that robbed him of a prime business opportunity and set a ''VERY'' driven man in Gus on the path of revenge to destroy him and the cartel, and frankly everyone probably knew it. But in Eladio's pride, he both thought he didn't need the help nor did he have to worry about Gus' revenge due to him overestimating his own power.

* AssholeVictim: He is poisoned by Gus along with all of his capos with tequila with his death being much slow and painful compared to the capos. This was long overdue for him after having killed Gus' partner Max and sadistically tortured Gus over it decades ago on top of being an overall unpleasant BadBoss throughout his screentime in both ''Breaking Bad'' and ''Better Call Saul''.

** {{Pride}} and [[{{Narcissist}} Egotism]]. This is probably his biggest one as a lot of the problems that will later on happen in ''Breaking Bad'' and ''Better Call Saul'' all started because Eladio had decided to see Gus and Max's actions as "subverting his authority" and instead of as the business proposition that it was, which would have expanded his criminal empire to great heights. And while undoubtedly Eladio needed to show his authority, but he did so in a very unwise way that robbed him of a prime business opportunity and set a ''VERY'' driven man in Gus on the path of revenge to destroy him and the cartel, and frankly everyone probably knew it. But in Eladio's pride, he both thought he didn't need their help nor did he have to worry about Gus' revenge.

** {{Pride}} and [[{{Narcissist}} Egotism]]. This is probably his biggest one as a lot of the problems that will later on happen in BB and BCS all started because Eladio arrogantly overestimates his [[TheDreaded feared reputation]] as a head and thinks this makes him untouchable to retaliation by others that he can freely bully anyone into submitting to him all while knowing the hatred against him is a guarantee, creating a blind spot where he basically thinks that no one will take him out.

** These two factors together mainly {{Pride}} would later on shown to be his downfall as Eladio's underestimation of the hatred Gustavo holds against him proves to be ''far'' greater then his fear of him and him being easily suckered by his immense amount of money he brings in results in Eladio paying the price of being poisoned and dying along with the destruction of his cartel as a result of his hubris and short-sightedness.

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: It really just doesn't seem to dawn on him that his ordered murder of Max is more or less Gustavo Fring's [[{{Revenge}} sole motivating factor]] in their partnership together. It's implied by the final season of ''Better Call Saul'', where Eladio outright tells Gus he can see the hatred in his eyes, that it's not an uncommon backstory for his underlings, but thinks its no big deal due to his authority.

** {{Pride}} and [[{{Narcissist}} Egotism]]. This is probably his biggest one as a lot of the problems that will later on happen in BB and BCS all started because Eladio arrogantly overestimates his [[TheDreaded feared reputation]] as a head and thinks this makes him untouchable to retaliation by others that he can freely bully anyone into submitting to him all while knowing the hatred against him is a guarantee, creating a blind spot that he fails to account for. Any slight to his pride will cause him to do unnecessary methods which is what created Gus into being a very vengeful and dangerous man who used Eladio's own arrogance to slowly destroy his cartel.

** Later while speaking with Gus, he coldly "advises" him to let go of any personal grudges he has (including the cartel's murder of his beloved partner/lover Max) and submit to his authority for the sake of "good business." Is there any wonder why Gus is so hell-bent on destroying the cartel?
--> ''"Gustavo, cheer up, man. Gustavo, I'm not angry. I had to spank you. But what choice did I have? Look, once every twenty years you forget your place. There's no place for emotion in this. You of all people should understand. Business is business."

* SmugSnake: Despite being one of the most powerful villains in the series '''by far''', his overestimation of his own feared authority along with underestimation of Gustavo Fring [[FatalFlaw proves to be his undoing]].

** {{Pride}} and [[{{Narcissist}} Egotism]]. This is probably his biggest one as a lot of the problems that will later on happen in BB and BCS all started because Eladio arrogantly overestimates his [[TheDreaded feared reputation]] as a head and thinks this makes him untouchable to retaliation by others that he can freely bully anyone into submitting to him all while knowing the hatred against him is a guarantee, creating a blind spot that he fails to account for. His need to be immensely respected by others is what created Gus into being a very vengeful and dangerous man who used Eladio's own arrogance to slowly destroy his cartel.

** These two factors together mainly {{Pride}} would later on shown to be his downfall as Eladio's underestimation of the hatred Gustavo holds against him proves to be ''far'' greater then his fear of him and him being easily suckered by his immense amount of money results in Eladio paying the price of being poisoned and dying along with the destruction of his cartel as a result of his hubris and short-sightedness.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Had Eladio not murdered Max to sadistically torture Gustavo into being a very dangerous person, it's quite likely that he wouldn't have met his consequently karmic death at his hands out of revenge years later.

* AxCrazy: A very subtle example. Despite the fact that he's calm and collected, Bolsa has the Cousins decapitate a DEA informant, strews his body parts around the desert as a warning, and [[spoiler:mounts his decapitated head on a turtle. Then he sends the turtle at Mexican Federal Police with a bomb strapped to it.]] Averted in ''Better Call Saul'' however, where Bolsa's ironically one of the calmer members of the Cartel.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: He seems to believe that Gustavo Fring is genuinely all about business even when Lalo reminds him of several incidents saying otherwise. Setting his sights only on the massive amounts of cash, he knows about the death of Gustavo's partner Max and doesn't suspect that he'd ever be working against their interests. He isn't ''completely'' without doubts, but nevertheless hopes that he is in the right about Fring. It's not until the Mexican federales are at his door in ''Breaking Bad'' that Bolsa ''finally'' realizes what Fring was really up to all this time.

* AssholeVictim: He is poisoned by Gus along with all of his capos with tequila with his death being much slow and painful compared to the capos. This was long due karma for him after having killed Gus' partner Max and sadistically tortured Gus over it decades ago on top of being an overall unpleasant BadBoss throughout his screentime.

* CreateYourOwnVillain: Earned the mortal and forever hatred of Gus Fring by having Max murdered in front of Gus' eyes and then forcing Gus to look into Max's eyes. His making Gus a part of his organization despite this, allowed Gus to plot his revenge and eventually kill him.
* DidntSeeThatComing: While in ''Better Call Saul'', establishes that Eladio knew of Gustavo Fring's hatred of him, he clearly never suspected that hatred would really be strong and motivate the man to devise a plan to kill him and destroy the rest of the Juarez Cartel in revenge in ''Breaking Bad''.

** {{Pride}} and [[{{Narcissist}} Egotism]]. This is probably his biggest one as a lot of the problems that will later happen in BB and BCS all started because Eladio arrogantly overestimates his [[TheDreaded feared reputation]] as a head and thinks this makes him untouchable to retaliation by others that he can freely bully anyone into submitting to him all while knowing the hatred against him is a guarantee, creating a blind spot that he fails to account for.

** These two factors together mainly {{Pride}} would later on shown to be his downfall as Eladio's underestimation of the hatred Gustavo holds against him proves to be ''far'' greater then his fear of him and him being easily suckered by his immense amount of money results in Eladio and his cartel paying the price of being poisoned and dying as a result of his hubris and short-sightedness.

* HateSink: He might as well be the worst person the cartel has to offer, and when even ''Hector'' is somehow less bad in comparison, that says something. Eladio is simply a smug, cocky, entitled, and abusive bully underneath his bluster as a cartel don, and all of his appearances are an emphasis to show that he is a feared figure just as much as he is a detestable one. So no one except Hector will feel sad that he gets killed by the man he wronged.

** His call to toss Hector aside is an UngratefulBastard move as the Salamancas are the cartel's strongest enforcers but Gustavo Fring does bring in more money however, this would later on turn out to be a fatal wrong choice as Eladio ended getting poison and finally realizing too late that Hector was right about Gus.

* LackOfEmpathy:
** In "Salud", Gus Fring's murder of three of his most loyal subordinates hardly seems to faze him (Unaware that he is next), given that he immediately throws a party for Gus after being sufficiently convinced of his unconditional submission.

** Later while speaking with Gus, he coldly "advises" him to let go of any personal grudges he has (including the cartel's murder of his beloved partner Max) and submit to his authority for the sake of "good business." Is there any wonder why Eladio gets killed by Gus?

* DidntSeeThatComing: While in ''Better Call Saul'', establishes that Eladio knew of Gustavo Fring's hatred of him, he clearly never suspected that hatred would really be strong and motivate the man to devise a plan to kill him and destroy the rest of the Juarez Cartel in revenge in ''Braking Bad''.