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This Inconsistently Heinous was Headlined on July 2022. |
“ | Who are you talking to right now? Who is it, you think you see? Do you know how much I make a year? I mean, even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it. Do you know what would happen if I suddenly decided to stop going into work? A business big enough that it could be listed on the NASDAQ goes belly up. Disappears! It ceases to exist without me. No, you clearly don't know who you're talking to, so let me clue you in: I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger. A guy opens his door and gets shot, and you think that of me? No... I am the one who KNOCKS! | „ |
~ Walter White's famous speech to his wife, Skyler. |
“ | Walter White: Now... say my name. Declan: You're Heisenberg. Walter White: You're goddamn right. |
„ |
~ Walter White's famous quote as he declares himself "Heisenberg". |
“ | Jesse, you asked me... if I was in the meth business, or the money business. Neither. I'm in the empire business. | „ |
~ Walter White showing his megalomania to Jesse. |
“ | If that's true... if you don't know, who I am... then... maybe your best course... would be to tread lightly. | „ |
~ Walt intimidating his brother-in-law Hank after he discovers his double life as a drug lord. |
Walter "Walt" Hartwell White, Sr., also known by his alias Heisenberg, is the main protagonist of the crime drama series Breaking Bad and a minor character in both El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie and Better Call Saul.
He is a brilliant but underachieving chemist working as a high school science teacher who is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, which spurs him on to use his chemistry knowledge to cook and sell crystal meth to provide for his family after his imminent death.
As the series progresses and Walt gets more involved in the drug world, the formerly mild-mannered, unassuming teacher slowly transforms into a sinister and dangerous criminal mastermind. It becomes evident that he is more driven by ego and greed than his stated altruistic motives - this way becoming the central villain of the series.
He was portrayed by Bryan Cranston.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Heinous?[]
In General[]
- He had numerous occasions to retire from the criminal life, which he refused for various reasons, mostly because of his ego. He only decides to retire when his wife Skyler pressures him into doing it by showing how much money he made and even later he agreed for the Neo-Nazis that he would teach them to cook pure meth.
- Constantly lied to and put his family in danger, even if he cared about them. At the end of the series, he pretty much ruined his entire family. Although this mainly happened after his cooperation and knowledge of his location which he gave to Jack and the Neo-Nazis caused. Jack and the Neo-Nazis created (indirectly but still) the death of his brother-in-law Hank, which also led Walt's family that supported him to betray him, one can argue he still played a part in it by refusing to leave the drug business earlier on.
- Just like with his family, he was very manipulative towards Jesse Pinkman, and in his case even abusive, both psychologically and physically. Although the latter was much rarer as they only fought two times. Additionally, the relationship between the two is full of hypocrisy as Walt is angry with him for things he himself does to him (for example breaking into his house or trying to hurt his precious children).
- He was responsible for many deaths that occurred in the franchise. While he did not expect some of them, there are a few incidents he genuinely feels remorse for, he brushes off most of them.
- While he started out as an anti-hero, only getting into the drug business to support his family, he loses that quality in Season 5 when he continues his meth empire simply to satisfy his ego after he lets power go to his head.
- While he has provided a few comedic and humorous moments throughout the series (ex. him arguing with Jesse about the toilet), none of these moments ever detract him from his villainy and he is always taken seriously by the characters and the narrative.
Breaking Bad[]
Season 1[]
- He uses his knowledge of Jesse's criminal activities to blackmail him into a partnership.
- He starts off by selling methamphetamine in order to earn money through illicit means.
- To avoid getting caught, he takes a gun and almost shoots a passing police car (although it turns out it was an ambulance).
- He poisoned Emilio Koyama and Krazy-8 with phosphine gas, causing Emilio to die after things went wrong with them. Although to be fair, Walt did it in self-defense.
- He imprisons Krazy-8 in Jesse's basement before finally killing him, although Krazy-8 himself at the time tried to kill him.
- He smoked illegal marijuana from Jesse's stash. He then confessed this to Skyler and accidentally caused suspicion to fall on his son.
- Blew up the car of a guy named Ken. While Ken was a huge jerk, this was a bit unnecessary.
- Steals tools and materials from his school to make meth. To prevent being suspected of, he remained silent when the janitor was kicked out of the school.
- He teamed up with Tuco Salamanca in order to do business with him, and he blew up his safehouse as a way to intimidate him into working with him (although it had aspects of self-defense and revenge for Jesse who had been beaten).
- He and Jesse steal a methylamine barrel from a chemical plant and lock the guard in a toilet cubicle.
Season 2[]
- He tried to rape his pregnant wife, Skyler, to relieve himself of stress after witnessing Tuco beating No-Doze to death. While he may have relented when she told him to stop, he didn't do so right away, and it took her having her head slammed against the refrigerator door to make him stop.
- He and Jesse tried to poison Tuco and were partially responsible for his death once Walt's brother-in-law Hank shot him. That said, Tuco killed himself by refusing to surrender to Hank, and the attempted poisoning was self-defense.
- His criminal activity with Jesse caused his parents to evict him from his house after they discovered meth in the basement. When Jesse calls him and begs for help, Walt coldly refuses, saying it's not his problem and tells Jesse not to call him again.
- After Spooge steals from Skinny Pete, Walt gives Jesse a gun and instructs him to "handle it." As a result, Jesse was held hostage by Spooge and his wife, and was then mistaken as the murderer of Spooge after he was killed by his wife with an ATM.
- He tried to embolden Jesse's reputation as a murderer solely so that he could gain power and prestige when dealing meth. This directly led to Combo's death, and while Walt didn't know this would happen, he expresses zero remorse. At one point he even asks "which one?", showing he had no care for Jesse's friends.
- Kidnapped Saul Goodman and threatened him with death if he wouldn't make sure that Badger wouldn't end up in jail. He is also responsible for diverting the investigation against him by James Kilkelly, as well as for interfering with the investigation of Hank Schrader.
- Coerced his son Walter Jr. into drinking so much tequila that he vomited in the pool out of nothing but the need to be in control. He even gets into an argument with Hank when the latter tried to return the bottle. However, he later apologized to Hank and his son.
- Threatens two shoppers, likely drug dealers, in the supermarket to stay out of his territory.
- He teamed up with Gus Fring so he could work with him on his drug empire.
- He let Jane Margolis, Jesse's girlfriend, die choking on her own vomit after she overdosed on heroin, even though he could have saved her, but to be fair even the creator of both the show and the characters of Walter & Jesse, says that he was looking out for Jesse. Not to mention that she deserved it do to almost killing Jesse after getting him hooked back on heroin and her blackmailing Walt as well too.
Season 3[]
- Tried to break into Ted Beneke's office and assault him when realizing his wife Skyler cheated on him with Ted.
- Tried to initiate an affair with Carmen Molina as petty payback over Skyler's affair with Ted, an act that led him to get placed on indefinite leave from being a chemistry teacher.
- Attacks Saul once he makes a joke about his wife cheating on him.
- He accepted Gus' offer to work at the drug lab for a large amount of money, possibly to cut Jesse out of the business when he got angry after Jesse began using his formula.
- He hired Old Joe to demolish the RV in which he and Jesse cooked to get rid of evidence against them.
- With Saul's help, he tricked his brother-in-law Hank into thinking his wife Marie was in the hospital after a car crash, which directly led to Jesse almost getting beaten to death by Hank.
- He lied to Gale about messing up the drug degrees being 85, just so he can get Jesse, because he was an easier target for him to control, and also because his ego couldn't stand the idea of someone as his equal being his partner.
- He even went as far as to lie to Gus about the delay on the cooking schedules, claiming Gale screwed it up big time.
- Helps his wife, Skyler, meet Saul Goodman and attend their criminal meetings. Her downfall is directly caused by his behavior.
- When he was about to be killed by Gus, Mike and Victor, he ordered Jesse to kill Gale Boetticher, one of the friendliest and least malevolent characters in the series, in order to save his skin. This may have looked like self-defense, but this would not have happened if Walt hadn't worked with Gus out of greed. Furthermore, he could’ve avoided killing Gale (and many of the deaths later in the series) by taking Jesse’s advice of giving up the drug game, and going to the DEA. Walt chose not to, solely because he didn’t want to stop cooking meth or face repercussions.
Season 4[]
- When choosing a place to launder money, he chose his former boss' car wash simply because Skyler told him he insulted him.
- He bribes three laundromat employees to help him clean the lab in order to stick it to Gus, which leads to them being deported and possibly even murdered. While he did feel remorse for it, it wouldn't have happened had he been more careful on who he let into the lab.
- When his wife forces him to return a car he bought for his son, he causes it to explode.
- He puts a surveillance bug/tracker under Jesse's car, which leads to Jesse losing trust in him and thus pushes him closer to Gus.
- He attacked Jesse at his own house upon realizing he would go with Gus to a reunion with the Cartel in Mexico. While Jesse hit him harder near the end of the fight, Walt scolded him before and told him to "wind up in a barrel somewhere".
- Constantly tried to kill Gus throughout the season because he thought Gus would kill him. Walter was aware of the fact that Gus needed both him and Jesse alive to keep cooking his signature blue meth. However, to be fair, Gus would most likely have killed them at a certain point once he found a more reliable chemist, making this more understandable. He also needed to protect his brother-in-law and himself and his family, due to Hank's constant investigations against Gus.
- Caused a car crash with Hank inside the car to stop him from finding out Gus' true nature as a drug lord.
- Poisoned Brock Cantillo (a 6-year-old boy), the son of Jesse's girlfriend, to make him believe that it was Gus who did such an action and thus put Jesse on his side. Although he gave a non-lethal dose, he still spiked it up so that the initial symptoms seemed deadly and life-threatening.
- Risked the life of an elderly neighbor to check whether Gus' men were hiding inside his home or not.
- He devised a plan to kill Gus by using Hector Salamanca as a suicide bomb, which was successful. Although the bombing killed only Gus, Hector, and Tyrus Kitt, Walt risked the lives of caregivers as well as other elderly people who could have been caught in the blast radius. While the bombing had the goal of protecting his family, Walt felt proud of it, and became more ruthless after outmaneuvering Gus.
- Walt may have beaten Gus by using Hector, but it was Saul Goodman who provided him with Jesse's information. Later on, Walt believes he alone has triumphed over Gus Fring, which is false.
- He killed the two men that were holding Jesse hostage in the meth lab. However, this is more justifiable, as they were a threat to both him and Jesse.
- He and Jesse blew up the meth lab that belonged to Gus just to tie up loose ends.
Season 5[]
- After Gus' death, Walt forms a gigantic drug empire, making more money than he really needed just to feed his own ego, even confessing to Jesse his final goal was to be "in the empire business".
- He becomes increasingly manipulative with both Jesse and his family, especially Skyler.
- Using a magnet attached to a truck, he destroyed a laptop that belonged to Gus and was kept on an evidence room, out of fear it could have had evidence against them.
- Alongside Mike and Jesse, he continues to produce drugs with the help of the pest control workers.
- Intimidated Saul into continuing working with him when he wanted out.
- He manipulates Jesse into ending his relationship with Andrea, partly to avoid suspicion of poisoning Brock, but also mainly to cut another one of Jesse’s ties so that he’d remain only loyal to him.
- After Skyler tells him that the children moved to live with Hank, Walt mocks her plan and threatens her to get hospitalized if she continues.
- When Marie tries to find out why Skyler is angry, Walt tries to cover his tracks while revealing the connection between her and Ted, causing her to get angry with her sister and hug him.
- He agreed to kidnap Lydia and force her to help their deals.
- Manipulated Hank twice so he could plant a surveillance camera in his command room and then take it down, for his people to be ready.
- Robbed a train that had methylamine in it, which risked the life of his men and was obsessed with doing it even when Mike ordered it to stop when the train started moving.
- He is indirectly responsible for the death of a child called Drew Sharp, as Todd Alquist (one of his men) shot him. Even if he didn't mean for it to happen, he still holds Todd with impunity, despite Jesse's request, and then, alongside Mike and Todd, disposed of Drew's body by using acid.
- He taught Todd how to cook meth.
- When Jesse tries to leave the business because of his guilt over what happened to Drew, Walt tries to manipulate him into staying and threatens to not give Jesse the money he's earned unless he remains in the game. He even goes as far as to tell him he has nothing going on in his life and nobody, even though Walt was arguably responsible for that happening since he let Jane die and manipulated him into ending his relationship with Andrea.
- In a moment of immediate anger, which he would later regret, he shot and killed Mike after he blamed him and damaged his overinflated ego. he also dissolves his body in acid and puts the evidence in his car in the hands of Old Joe.
- By Lydia's advice, he expanded his drug empire into the Czech Republic.
- He allied himself with Todd's uncle Jack Welker and his group of Neo-Nazis and ordered them to kill ten inmates who were going to testify against Walt about his drug trade in three different prisons within two minutes.
- When Jesse planned to transfer $2.5 million in cash to Mike's granddaughter, Kaylee, Walter intervened and prevented the transfer from happening, thus preventing Mike from posthumously passing a large sum of money to his granddaughter.
- He created a fake confession video against Hank, after he found out the truth about him, by fake confession in a video, stating that Hank was the true leader of the Heisenberg Empire and used Walter as his chemist.
- Although he promised to leave the meth business, he told Jack he would show Todd how to cook one more time, even worse: as a condition for killing Jesse.
- He let Jesse be kidnapped and tortured by Jack and his Neo-Nazi group while revealing to him that he watched Jane die and that he could have saved her but didn't, confessing it in a rather cold yet sadistic tone. Even the series' creator Vince Gilligan admitted he viewed this as Walt at his most evil, as it's by far the only actual thing Walt did out of nothing but pure sadism, as he would've gotten nothing out of it.
- He kidnapped Holly, his infant daughter, after Skyler and Walt Jr. turned against him, though he did give her back after realizing she wanted to be with Skyler.
- He refused to peacefully part ways with Saul and attempted to force him to help him in his revenge against Jack and his gang.
- Although this was a harmless scam, he still threatened his once-friends Gretchen and Elliot into giving his son his drug money by claiming that otherwise, two assassins would've tracked them down and killed them.
- Even in his dying moments, he only felt remorse for the way he treated his family and letting Jesse be tortured, but not for the consequences of his crimes, despite all the lives he had ruined.
Better Call Saul and El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie[]
- Him allowing Jane to die and later having the Neo-Nazis to take Jesse led to him being tortured as their prisoner and slave for quite some time, with Jesse suffering from PTSD from both instances and having hallucinations of Jane at the end of the movie.
- In a flashback scene taking place somewhat during Breaking Bad season 5, he has a conversation with Saul. However, Walter acts like a complete jerk towards the man, when Saul simply asks about what would he do if he had a time machine. Walter condescendingly explains why the concept of a time machine is utter nonsense, and then begins to rant about Grey Matter. When Saul sympathetically told Walt that he would've gladly helped, Walt insults him, though it is possible he knew his former associate was only doing it out of greed rather than actual compassion.
- As seen in the Gene scenes, which take place after Breaking Bad, Gene (who is actually Saul Goodman) seems to be depressed and he misses his old life as a lawyer. His career was partially ruined by Walter. This also earned Saul quite a reputation as Heisenberg's lawyer in prison, with all the inmates almost worshipping Saul as a legend.
What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]
- He is genuinely tragic. He had a really rough childhood, with his father dying when he was six years old and it being the only real memory he ever had of him, had a very turbulent relationship with his mother, and was mistreated and looked down upon by several people in his life, which made him feel very insecure about being an underachiever, and he is also an overqualified chemistry teacher who could have been a billionaire had he not sold his stocks at Grey Matter, something he regrets very much, and eventually, he was diagnosed with lung cancer so he felt he had no choice but to manufacture methamphetamine so his family would have money left after his death. He also had an understandable reason for rejecting an offer to become an employee of Gray Matter since he was one of the founders of the company. He also suffers from a lack of success in life outside of crime, as his former students mock him, his first boss forced him to work until he passed out, his wife interferes in his affairs and is quite unsatisfied, his own brother in law mocked him for not having any excitement in his life and even remarked himself on how he was a underachiever, and more.
- There is no denying that Walt probably would not have been the man he became if he didn't have lung cancer, which ended up ruining countless lives in the process, including his own.
- He also shows very sympathetic insecurities, as he is shown to be afraid of being unable to afford for his family and be a proper man, and was shown to be scared about not being displayed as a good dad. He wanted for his son to have good memories with him since he had none with his own father. He is shown to be emasculated by Hank’s DEA job, and he feels unable to be a proper father or husband. While one could argue he subverts his tragedies, he is played for sympathy too much for it to be the case as he is devastated by Hank's death, is in heavy tears when telling Skyler over the phone that he is dead, is shown to be living in absolute loneliness and misery when he is in New Hampshire, is deeply saddened when his son tells him that he wants him to die for what he did, and while he does remain in the crime business because of his ego, he does eventually get money for his family in the end which shows that his nature as a tragic and insecure character still holds up as it clearly defines his personality and everything he does, especially since he feels heavy remorse ruining his family. However, it is a slightly minor prevention as they don't fully excuse his actions and his ego is what causes his downfall.
- He cares extensively about both his family and Jesse.
- With his family, his initial goal was to get as much money as possible in order to make sure they had enough money to live off for when he is dead, and even though he started to get more and more self-centered as the series progressed, he never stopped caring about them.
- He loved Hank, his brother-in-law. Despite Gus threatening and telling him he and his family would be spared if Walt doesn't interfere in Hank's assassination, Walt didn't hesitate to warn the DEA about the hit. When Hank found out that he is Heisenberg, Walt tried to dissuade him from investigating him and rejected Saul's suggestion to get him killed. When Jack is about to kill Hank, his brother-in-law who tried to put him behind bars, Walt does everything possible to try to reason with Jack not to kill Hank, even trying to give all his money to Jack to save Hank even when Walt was planning to kill Jesse for (supposedly) burning that very money, and he collapsed in despair once he was killed. He also returned Holly to Skyler once Walt began to let go of his pride, eventually ending up confessing to Skyler, admitting that he did what he did for himself and not for them. He also tries to make sure the DEA and police won't be after Skyler by making her look like an innocent victim who was forced into it. He cares about them so much that he put out a hit on Jesse because he thought he would threaten them.
- With Jesse, when he was a petty criminal at the beginning of the series, Walt gave him the opportunity to work with him in the meth business. And despite the two arguing very often, and Walt being emotionally abusive towards him, he saved Jesse from being killed by other villains such as Tuco and the rival dealers, and even at the end of the series, Walt takes out Jack and his group just to set Jesse free. While it's true he eventually put a hit out on Jesse, it was only after Skyler and Saul kept pressuring him into it, and originally he wanted to talk down Jesse and changed his mind only when he thought he was threatening his family. Even then, he wanted him to die painlessly and, as mentioned before, he saved Jesse's life regardless and both of them gave one final look at each other in respect.
- He's On & Off, since there are times where he acts heroic in the series, such as wiping out the torturers to avenge the deaths of Hank and Steven, saving Jesse from being killed by the Rival Dealers, defeating Gus (and by extension, Hector and Tyrus) to ensure the safety of his family, and sacrificing himself (even if it was accidental) to free Jesse from slavery and enable him to get his freedom back.
- Some of his most heinous actions had understandable intentions. For example, he let Jane die of an overdose partially to save Jesse from the same fate, and as for poisoning Brock, it was done to convince Jesse that Gus had to be killed for their safety.
- However, it is a minor prevention, because they also implicitly had ulterior motives as well, such as Walt wanting to regain control over Jesse in the former and wanting to get rid of Gus to replace his empire in the latter.
- He sometimes shows remorse about some of the things he had done, including killing Krazy-8, shooting Mike, his actions leading to Hank’s death, three janitors working for Gus losing their jobs, and the school janitor losing his job because the police caught him with drugs. When Saul asks him what his biggest regret is, he briefly looks at Jesse's watch, implying he felt remorseful about how he ruined their friendship.
- He displays some standards and an occasional sense of honor; he would never murder a family member, is horrified when Tuco brutally beats No-Doze to death, is horrified and expresses disgust when Gus brutally murders Victor by slashing his throat, doesn’t torture people, and when Saul, in response to Walt opening up, lies and claims his greatest regret was hurting his legs during a scam in his 20s, he is visibly put off and scathingly asks if Saul was "always like this".
- At the end of the series, he obtains partial redemption by securing his family's financial future, admitting to Skyler that he built his empire to serve himself, killing Jesse’s torturers, and sacrificing himself to save Jesse from the gunfire. While he did not completely redeem himself, as he never completely regretted all the things he did just to caress his ego, he still showed some remorse for how he treated his family and letting Jesse be tortured by the Nazis.
- His death is played sympathetically. After being proud he was able to keep his family safe and save Jesse, he accepts his death quietly in the very place he felt alive in; a meth lab. Even after everything they went through, Jesse was upset over hearing about Walt's death, demonstrating he forgave him to some degree.
Trivia[]
- A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin opined back in 2013 that Walter White is a "bigger monster" than any of the villains of Game of Thrones. What Martin's comment exactly means is unclear, it could be possible that it's because of how incoherent Walter is with his morality being both noble and atrocious simultaneously making him an abominable mix of Pure Evil and Pure Good.
- However, Martins' novels have featured far more evil, and despicable and crueler characters who are much worse than White, like Joffrey Baratheon, Gregor Clegane, Ramsay Bolton, Euron Greyjoy, and Rorge, all five Pure Evils, for example. The reason for his opinion might be because he was a more engaging, intimate and personal character with the cast in comparison to the GOT Pure Evils.
- Years after the show's conclusion, in 2020, Vince Gilligan stated upon re-watches that he despite liking Walt himself, still couldn't understand how Walt was ever seen as overly sympathetic, citing that he brought most things upon himself. This may have been said in hindsight of a much less heinous and much more sympathetic protagonist in the form of Jimmy McGill.
External Links[]
- Walter White on the Villains Wiki
- Walter White on the Inconsistently Admirable Wiki
- Walter White on the Moral Ranking Wiki
- Walter White on the Breaking Bad Wiki
- Walter White on the Wikipedia
- Walter White on the Shonen Villains Wiki
[]
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Canon Los Pollos Hermanos Other |
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Animated Features Anime (Aniplex) Live-Action Features Animated Television Live-Action Television Fanon See Also |
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