|
"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | Well? Get back to work. | „ |
| ~ Gus to Walter White, Jesse Pinkman and Mike Ehrmantraut shortly after coldly murdering his assistant Victor brutally in front of them. |
| “ | I don't think we're alike at all, Mr. White. You are not a cautious man at all. Your partner was late, and he was high. | „ |
| ~ Gus revealing his true nature to Walter White. |
| “ | If you try to interfere... this becomes a much simpler matter. I will kill your wife. I will kill your son. I will kill your infant daughter. | „ |
| ~ Gus threatening Walter. |
Gustavo "Gus" Fring, mockingly referred to as The Chicken Man, is the main antagonist of the crime drama series Breaking Bad and a major character in its prequel series Better Call Saul.
He is a Chilean national and respected Albuquerque restaurateur/philanthropist who owned a successful chain of chicken restaurants, Los Pollos Hermanos, and used it as a cover for an extremely successful methamphetamine distribution network in the southwestern United States. He serves as the former boss and arch-rival of Walter White, the employer of Mike Ehrmantraut, the arch-nemesis of Hector Salamanca and a false associate of the Cartel and its leader Don Eladio.
He was portrayed by Giancarlo Esposito.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Heinous?[]
In General/Background[]
- According to him, as a child, he captured a coati that was eating fruits from his tree and let it suffer instead of killing it right away, proving that he was extremely vengeful and sadistic from a very young age.
- Although his backstory is unknown, he apparently did something pretty evil in Chile that might have had something to do with Pinochet's regime to the point that Eladio was interested in employing his qualities to further the Cartel's ends, with Hector even implying he was a general.
- Adding to this, Giancarlo Esposito himself has expressed an opinion that he believes that Gustavo had some military past. And while all of this relies on Fridge Horror, it's neverless a notable fact to mention.
- He started a drug empire across the entire southwest to try to become its kingpin.
- He had connections with the Cartel even though they murdered his best friend (But to be fair, he planned to eventually get rid of all of them, making this understandable).
- Along with the other members of the Cartel, he shares a huge responsibility for multiple deaths in the franchise, both directly and indirectly (such as the 15 direct kills counts and the other deaths connected to the Cartel and his drug empire), especially since he was an extremely prolific distributor for his bosses.
- While he is frequently disgusted at the Cartel for harming innocents, this is pure hypocrisy as Gus himself is not above threatening to do the same. Also, while he might seem to have standards against the Cartel for their brutality, it's also hypocritical as Gus is shown to be just as brutal as them, evidenced by his brutal murder of Victor, willingness to hurt kids, and him not being above torturing people.
- While he did save Hector from dying from a heart attack, it was clearly out of pragmatic reasons as he wanted to make Hector suffer before killing him as punishment for killing his boyfriend, Max Arciniega. Besides, after he thought that Hector was apparently talking to the DEA about him, he finally decided to kill him (but he actually walked into Hector's trap so that the latter could launch a suicide attack that would kill both of them and Tyrus).
- Although he saves Hank from the Cousins by indirectly warning him about their assassination attempt via an anonymous phone call, it is pragmatic, as he was hoping that Hank would be able to kill the twins and draw the attention of the DEA to the Salamancas.
- While he was apparently friends with Lydia Rodarte-Quayle, it's not elaborated on enough to prove that he cares about her, not to mention he seemed annoyed having to talk with her.
- His iconically affable nature is a complete facade, and he uses it to control his victims and deceive his rivals. The only time it is genuine is when he talks to someone he cares about.
- Although he is incredibly comedic during the Los Pollos Hermanos Employee Training black comedy shorts, these are non-canon and he is taken seriously in all his canon appearances.
Better Call Saul[]
Season 3[]
- He had Mike Ehrmantraut make a hit on one of Hector Salamanca's trucks, causing the drivers of it to be arrested.
- He spent years building a Superlab in order to produce more meth by secretly selling it as product of his fast-food company.
- When Hector had a stroke, Gus tried to save his life and prevent him from dying, but he only did this so he could torture him himself.
Season 4[]
- He suffocated Arturo Colon to death with a plastic bag to intimidate Nacho Varga while forcing him to be his spy in the Cartel.
- He had his top henchmen Victor and Tyrus Kitt stage a shootout to make it look like Arturo died in an ambush while having Victor shoot Nacho twice to make it look like he was wounded from the staged ambush. While Nacho survived, he was close to dying.
- He made it look like Arturo's death and Nacho's wounds were caused by the Espinosa Gang, which caused the Cousins to slaughter the entire gang, allowing Gus to take over their territory.
- He stopped Hector's recovery from his stroke/heart-attack midway through so he would still be alive and aware of his surroundings, but unable to walk or talk, just to torture him further.
- Conceived the establishment of a drug factory while secretly bringing in special German workers like Werner Ziegler.
- He ordered Mike to kill Werner, a close friend of his, for revealing information to Lalo Salamanca.
- Before ordering Mike to kill Werner for said matter, Gus also planned to capture his wife Margarethe as well and torture her to find out what Werner told her.
- He continued to follow and stalk Mike after the latter decided to stop working for him.
Season 5[]
- He had one of his top henchmen, Victor, threaten to kill Nacho's innocent father Manuel, just to force Nacho to make Lalo trust him, so that Gus could know what he is up to.
- Even when Mike asked him not to threaten Nacho because he is loyal to Gus, the latter only reinforced his betrayals of his previous bosses: Tuco and Hector.
- He, along with Nacho, blew up one of his own restaurants to fool Lalo.
- He put a hit on Lalo that ended up in four innocent people being shot dead, added to the death of his men and Nacho's incrimination without getting backup from Gus.
Season 6[]
- He betrayed Nacho despite everything he did for him, by trying to have him killed by manipulating things so that Nacho’s location would be revealed to the Cartel, and almost succeeded, all so that he could frame Nacho as solely responsible for Lalo’s ‘death’ and divert suspicion off of himself.
- When Nacho escaped, he tried to threaten his father, so that he could submit to his plan. When Mike objected to the idea, he allowed Tyrus to point a gun at him to intimidate him into submission.
- He had Nacho brutally beaten up by Mike and forced him to blame Lalo's "death" on a Peruvian cartel, with heavy implications he would kill, or at the very least, endanger Manuel otherwise.
- Has Victor and Tyrus bring a bruised up Nacho to Hector, Bolsa and the Cousins to receive punishment, although ultimately Nacho would take his own life. One way or another, Gus was to blame for his death.
- He held his "double" employee so that Lalo would try to kill him.
- When Kim came to kill him on Lalo's orders, he allowed his men to restrain and harm her in a room with a guard.
- It's heavily implied that burying Lalo and Howard Hamlin's corpses in his soon-to-be-Superlab was his idea. If this is true, then he is responsible for the legacy of Howard remaining tarnished for years, as the public never found out he was murdered until Kim testified years later.
Breaking Bad[]
Season 2[]
- He was responsible for Combo's death, as his men, the rival dealers, had Tomas Cantillo shoot and kill him for selling meth on their territory.
- He formed an alliance with Walter White with the hopes of producing more drugs to expand his drug empire even further. This would ultimately bring Walt back to the life of crime even after he gave it up, even giving him the payment for Jesse's work.
Season 3[]
- He managed relations with the chiefs of police so that they would avoid suspecting him.
- Although he did stop the Cousins from killing Walt, it was clearly out of pragmatic reasons as he needed him alive for his expertise in making drugs.
- He instigated a shootout between Walt's brother-in-law Hank Schrader and the Cousins. First, he gave the Cousins his permission to murder Hank as revenge for killing their cousin, Tuco Salamanca (even though the Cousins were told by Juan Bolsa that the DEA was off limits), only to later warn Hank about the Cousins just one minute before the attack. Consequently, Hank killed Marco and heavily injured Leonel in the shootout - although Hank would end up crippled for a period of time.
- Although his warning indirectly saved Hank's life, it was only because Gus wanted to have the Cousins killed as part of his vendetta against Hector. Had Hank died, it still would've been a satisfactory result for Gus as this would invite massive retribution against the Cartel.
- Furthermore, the death of the Cousins forces Mexican federales to watch Bolsa, under orders from the US government. When Bolsa calls Gus to question his loyalty to the Cartel, the federales break in and shoot Bolsa and his bodyguards. This event too, may also have been orchestrated by Gus, given his sadistic smile when he hears Bolsa die.
- He mentally tortured Hector by telling him about how Bolsa and his two nephews died (although it could be considered karmic considering that Hector had forced Gus to look at his dead boyfriend).
- Even though the rival dealers were responsible for killing Combo (possibly on his order), he left them unpunished and even prevented Jesse from taking revenge against them.
- It is heavily implied that he ordered the rival dealers to kill Tomás Cantillo, an eleven year-old boy.
- After Walt and Jesse went against his instructions and killed the rival dealers, he actively sought them out and almost had Walt killed by Mike and also searched for Jesse so he could kill him too, simply because they were insubordinate and killed part of his criminal organization.
- He ordered Gale Boetticher to learn the recipe for Walt's meth just so Gus could kill Walt and replace him with Gale. It was Walt's realization of this plan that resulted in Gale's death when he ordered his protégé Jesse Pinkman to kill him just so Gus would be forced to keep Walt and Jesse as his chemists.
Season 4[]
- He brutally killed Victor, one of his top workers, by slitting his throat with a box cutter after finding out that he was seen at the place where Gale had died (to avoid suspicions that he was responsible the murder) and then forced Mike, Walt, and Jesse to dispose of his body. It was also meant to send a warning to Jesse and Walt about how easily he could dispose of one of his associates.
- He tried to manipulate Jesse into turning against Walt just so that the latter could be killed and be replaced by Jesse as his head meth cook.
- He tormented Hector about how he now is both the last Salamanca and Cartel member alive, as Jesse had killed his grandson Joaquin earlier on. Gus took sadistic delight in telling Hector about the deaths of both Joaquin, Eladio and all the other Cartel members.
- Although these torments aren't played for any sympathy, as Hector deserves it, Gus is no better than his boyfriend's killer or any of the Cartel and the Salamancas (e.g. Don Eladio, Lalo, the Cousins, Bolsa). Not to mention that Gus didn't have to stoop so low, as it makes him just as cruel and sadistic as Hector, maybe more so).
- Even though his years-long goal of eliminating the Cartel and avenging Max was by all means complete, he chose to stay in the crime business anyway.
- After firing Walt, Gus told him that he planned to kill Hank for investigating him. He then threatened to murder Walt's wife, son and infant daughter, should the latter try to interfere in anyway.
- He posted 2 assassins at Walt's house to kill any member of Walt's family who returned home, nearly killing Walt's old neighbor, out of spiteful vengeance for Walt stopping his murder attempt on Hank.
- After the scare at the car park, Gus dropped any care towards Jesse, had his men kidnap him, and forced him to cook meth for him, with Jesse only getting saved due to Walt arriving.
- He sought to kill Hector for apparently talking to the DEA about him. When attempting to do this, Gus taunts Hector by stating how he will not die as a dangerous drug lord, but rather as a "crippled little rata".
Season 5[]
- As Lydia said, before he died, he was in the process of trying to expand his drug empire into the Czech Republic, which Walt chose to instead.
What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]
- He had a genuine tragedy where he grew up in severe poverty and endured intense starvation as a result throughout his childhood. When he was an adult, Don Eladio and Hector Salamanca killed his lover Max Arciniega in front of him as punishment for accidentally selling methamphetamine without Eladio’s consent and he was then forced by Juan Bolsa to look at Max's dead eyes as his corpse bled out. Even though he was already a criminal in his youth, his tragedy still holds up as his crimes are motivated by Max's death and he sought to wipe out the Salamanca family and destroy the Cartel because of his trauma that stems from watching his lover die and being forced to stare at his dead body. Plus, his desperation to avenge Max led to his death at the hands of Hector nearly 30 years later, showing he never moved on his boyfriend's death for years after it happened in 1989. Furthermore, the traumatic and all-encompassing murder of Max can explain away at least some of the ruthlessness, heartlessness, and apathy he displays towards associates later into his career, as he was shown to be friendlier beforehand. Another sympathetic scene exists where Gus is shown to be emotionally empty after talking to David, the sommelier at a bar. While he was initially excited talking to him due to his romantic interest, his typical stoic expression returns after he leaves, as he has sacrificed his capacity for a fulfilling life and to pursue genuine relationships due to his obsession and double life.[1]
- He had some sense of honor, as he would always pay his debts or honor his word to someone. He also:
- Seemed to genuinely respect Mike, as he was always shown to value his input and competence. After his depressive, spiral following Werner's death, Gus shows him his memorial to Max and has somewhat of an honest conversation with him about the nature of his business and understanding Mike's desire for revenge.
- However, he is not above threatening to Mike with a gun when the latter starts to be discrepant with some of his decisions.
- Said he had respect for Nacho in a private conversation with Mike, and tried to get Nacho to have a quick and painless death after assuring him his father would survive. Writer Gordon Smith also confirmed that Gus's final, tactical speech to Lalo calling out the Cartel and Salamancas was inspired by Nacho doing the same before his death.[2]
- Made sure his employees at Los Pollos are up to his standards.
- Reimburses Mike for the damage caused to his cars in "Shotgun."
- Was upset when Hector began disturbing civilians at Los Pollos Hermanos.
- Overall, he was a slightly reasonable (or at least predictable) boss as long as those around him didn't make any mistakes whatsoever.
- However, some of his "honorable" moments can be explained through pragmatism, and Hector's sequence of calling him dishonorable for talking to the DEA was disingenuous, since prior to this he literally set out security structures onto the Cartel and he likely only said it to spite Hector.
- Seemed to genuinely respect Mike, as he was always shown to value his input and competence. After his depressive, spiral following Werner's death, Gus shows him his memorial to Max and has somewhat of an honest conversation with him about the nature of his business and understanding Mike's desire for revenge.
- The moment before his final confrontation with his long time archenemy and Max's direct killer, Hector Salamanca, is rather emotional and played for sympathy. It has Gus sitting in his car waiting for Tyrus’ call to give him the clear to enter the nursing home, as he thinks about the steps he took to reach this moment (gradually taking out the Salamanca family and the Cartel), ready to finish the last remaining member and finally avenge Max's death. The use of the ambient song “Goodbye” by Apparat and slow paced cinematography as Gus walks towards what he is unaware will be his death creates a rather eerie and somber effect.
- He has several "Pet the Dog" moments:
- After his employees at Los Pollos Hermanos were held hostage by Hector and his men, he offered all of them therapy - despite having no gain from this. This shows he did value and care for his employees.
- He funded an entire village dedicated to Max for no other reason than the fact he simply wanted to, even going as far as to make it clear that he didn't want his criminal business to reach that village. He also said that he prefers that those present there don't know that he funded it.
- He prevented an attack by the cartel on his men by risking himself to request a ceasefire in front of the snipers.
- He has a slight smile of respect for Jesse when he tells off the cartel lab technicians for their improper setup.
- At the end of Season 2, he lends some money to Walt for the donation Hank had upon learning the man was diagnosed with lung cancer. However, this is minor considering how his relationship with Walter deteriorates in Season 3 and 4.
- Is seen having a blue ribbon attached to his shirt at the beginning of Season 3 made in memory of the victims of the Wayfarer plane collision in Season 2's finale, which implies that he held sympathy for those who died in the disaster. This doesn't seem to be to help his reputation as a kind businessman as he keeps wearing it even when meeting and talking with Bolsa.
- He is shown to care for/love many people:
- Max Arciniega, his friend and lover. Gus was devastated by his death and his entire motivation was avenging him by wiping out the Cartel. It's shown that he never moved on or got over his death, and was unwilling to open up to people because of this.
- Barry Goodman, his doctor, as Gus showed sincere gratitude for saving his life and even went as far as to hug him. Additionally, the two were on a first-name basis.
- Peter Schuler, his business partner, as they were shown to have been friends since way back in Chile, with Schuler having earned his everlasting respect. When he had a nervous breakdown, Gus broke his normally stoic façade and comforted him with emotional reassurance.
- Gale Boetticher, his old meth cook, as Gus was always shown to treat him well and nicely, once rejected the idea of Gale’s business opportunity, saying Gale is meant for “better things” and was enraged at his death.
- Lyle, the Assistant manager and his employees at Los Pollos Hermanos, although originally being condescending to Lyle, Gus proved on multiple occasions he did actually care about the assistant manager and his employees, like offering them therapy and telling them to go home when he realized the restaurant may be under attack.
- David, a sommelier at a bar whom he had a genuine friendship with, mentioning he purchased a vintage David recommended to him, and the two are even shown flirting with each other. His one scene was one of the few moments Gus let his guard down, and the second he left he went back to his usual stoic self, not to mention the implications Gus had a romantic interest in him.
References[]
Trivia[]
- Gustavo Fring was originally considered Near Pure Evil and was even headlined on the Near Pure Evil Wiki, but was removed after it was decided that his preventions were too severe.
External Links[]
- Gus Fring on the Breaking Bad Wiki
- Gus Fring on the Villains Wiki
- Gus Fring on the Magnificent Baddie Wiki
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