Breaking Bad‘s main characters deserve a lot of the credit for making the show such a masterpiece. Whether it’s Walt juggling Erlenmeyer flasks and scheming or Hank putting the pieces together, there is always something interesting that a member of the core group is up to. But that doesn’t mean the side characters are dull.
A good number of the supporting characters not only had the potential to have bigger storylines if such a direction was ever taken but also influenced the outcome of the show in many ways. These characters also had better arcs and richer dialogue compared to many other supporting characters.
The Cousins
The Cousins serve as enforcers for the Cartel. They carry out a number of executions over the course of the series before Hank puts their reign of terror to an end.
Ordinarily, in a show full of violence, the title of Chief Executioner tends to go to one of the main characters. But here, it’s The Cousins that sit top among Breaking Bad characters with the highest kill count. Impressively, they rarely utter a word, mostly preferring actions over talk. The assassins also deserve acclaim for triggering some of the show’s best action sequences, including the parking lot shootout with Hank.
Jane Margolis
The tattoo artist falls in love with Jesse when he moves into the house next to hers and she later starts feuding with Walt over money owed to Jesse. This makes Walt refrain from helping her in a crucial moment, leading to one of the saddest Breaking Bad deaths.
Most people Walt interacts with appear to be intimidated by him but not Jane. She unapologetically confronts and blackmails him, forcing him to give up the money. Jane is also directly tied to some key proceedings in the series. She causes a major breakdown in Walt and Jesse’s friendship. She and Jesse also make Walt miss the birth of his daughter, something that helps strengthen the brewing romance between Skyler and Ted. Additionally, her death is the reason the Wayfarer 515 plane crash happens.
Skinny Pete
As one of Jesse’s longtime friends, Skinny Pete is often involved in Jesse’s schemes. He remains loyal, right until the end when Jesse goes on the run.
Pete is the major reason Walt and Jesse get to enter the big leagues of drug trafficking. Having served time with Tuco in prison, he manages to organize a meeting. Through the introduction, the duo learns the importance of selling their product in bulk. From then on, they never look back. Pete is a symbol of good-heartedness too. Unlike his peers, he’s never shown to be violent.
Hector Salamanca
This once high-ranking cartel memeber gets to meet Jesse and Walt after Tuco brings them to his hideout. Later in the series, he helps Walt kill Gus.
Normally, it’s the heroes and their sidekicks that tend to cause the demise of antagonists but Hector plays a pivotal role in the deaths of two of Breaking Bad‘s biggest villains. It’s by warning Tuco about the plan by Walt and Jesse to kill him that Tuco finds himself in a shootout with Hank. This leaves him dead. Hector also conspires with Walt to blow up Gus Fring, leading to an iconic moment.
Ted Beneke
The Beneke Fabricators’ boss employs Skyler before beginning an affair with her. She then helps him get out of his financial mess when the IRS comes for him.
Walt’s competition mostly comes in the form of fellow criminals but in Ted, he meets a man he has to compete with for Skyler’s heart. And Ted almost wins. Painted as somewhat of a soap opera antagonist, Ted shows up just when Walt has begun to neglect Skyler. He then influences Skyler to take some of Walt’s money in order to help him pay the IRS, only to squander the money again.
Lydia Rodarte-Quayle
The head of Logistics at Madrigal Electromotive starts out as a secret partner in Gus Fring’s drug operation. She then goes on to work with Walt and then Todd in their operations.
As the quintessential corporate villain, Lydia knows how to pull the right strings from behind a desk. However, she isn’t afraid to step out of the shadows from time to time. She personally inspects drug labs and meets with some of her criminal associates. Thanks to her intel, Walt and his crew are able to conduct one of the greatest train heists of all time.
Badger
Another of Jesse’s longtime friends, Badger helps him out during his early days as a cook. He later helps him set up a distribution network.
Thanks to Badger, audiences get introduced to one of the best characters in the series, the eccentric lawyer Saul Goodman. Badger also deserves credit for helping to lay the foundation for Walt and Jesse’s drug empire. It’s through the street distribution network that the business takes root. There’s his great dialogue too, with Badger’s best quotes producing some of the show’s funniest lines.
Steve Gomez
Steve Gomez is not only Hank’s work partner but a ride-or-die friend too. He helps Hank conduct most of his investigations before the two die during the shootout with Jack Welker’s gang.
He often matches Hank’s energy, with the only difference being that he is a man of few words compared to the star DEA agent. In another world, the two could steer a perfect buddy cop spinoff. At times, Steve Gomez comes off as the more likable one of the duo since he is more humble.
Gale Boetticher
The talented chemist is hired by his mentor Gustavo Fring to help manufacture meth and set up the superlab. Sadly, his fortunes dwindle after Walt and Jesse’s arrival.
As a chemist, Gale rivals Walt in terms of skill and dedication. There is little doubt that Gus Fring’s drug operation would have run more smoothly with him as Walt’s partner instead of the chaotic Jesse. Gale has some very unique mannerisms too, including the fact that he hums classical tunes while performing chemical experiments.
Gretchen Schwartz
Gretchen starts out as Walt’s business partner. The two were also once in a romantic relationship before Walt leaves her. That particular choice comes to haunt Walt because Gray Matter grows to be a billion-dollar company.
Gretchen is a key part of how Walt’s story starts and how it ends. She constantly reminds viewers of Walt’s biggest mistake. Life would definitely have been different for Walt if he had stayed with her. Moreover, it’s through her and Elliot that Walter Jr. is able to get the money Walt left.
