Lawyers (Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman, Kim Wexler, Chuck McGill), Law Enforcement, Juarez Cartel, Los Pollos Hermanos, Omaha, Petty Criminals, Other Characters
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Core
Leadership
Gustavo Fring
Gustavo "Gus" Fring
See here. Peter Schuler
See here.
Security Team
Mike Ehrmantraut
Mike Ehrmantraut
See here. Victor
Tyrus Kitt
Nick
Diego
Diego
Portrayed By: David DeLao
One of Gus' security team.
- Badass Driver: Diego puts up a good car chase when Hank and Gomez catch him dropping off cartel money. They do eventually cut off his car, but he escapes on foot. Gus sending him to make the drops after finding out that the dead drops were being watched (and that Diego is shown to know about this) implies Gus has confidence in his ability to escape the police.
- Being Watched: Mike gets Jimmy to tail Diego as he stops by a Los Pollos Hermanos with a bag. Jimmy sticks out like a sore thumb and ends up driving Diego away without knowing what he's doing with said bag, implied to have been on Gus' warning (and Mike's intention).
- Courier: Diego is often entrusted with making Gus' money deliveries.
- Mauve Shirt: One of Gus' few henchmen with a name and has minor recurring appearances across the show.
- Perma-Stubble: Diego is unshaven, but lacks a beard.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Diego's number of scenes can probably be counted on both hands, but Mike first came into direct contact with Los Pollos Hermanos and Gus because of Diego. Specifically, as a result of Mike following Diego back to the restaurant after he caught Diego spying on him due to the conflict between Mike and Hector.
Periphery
Lab Construction Team
Werner Ziegler
Werner Ziegler
"Is there no other way, truly?"
Portrayed By: Rainer Bock
Appearances: Better Call Saul
"My Margarethe... she's enough for me. She's my heart. This is the longest I've ever been away from her."
A structural engineer Gus hires to build his meth lab.
- Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Drunkenly rambles about the top secret job Gus has him assigned to a couple of men at a bar. Fortunately for him, nothing came out of this but a warning. Too bad it doesn't stop him from getting homesick and escaping the living quarters.
- Boom, Headshot!: Through Mike, knowing what Gus and his crew would have in store for him and his wife.
- Brutal Honesty: Unlike the previous candidate for the construction job, Werner doesn't mince his words and clearly lays out how immensely challenging, time-consuming, and expensive the project will be. Gus rewards his honesty by hiring him immediately.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: A minor example. In contrast to the slick, well-dressed, tech-savvy engineer who interviewed (and was rejected) before him, Werner is dressed and groomed more sloppily, and spends most of the trip carsick. He also does all his calculations with a simple tape measure, pencils, and a notebook. He proves himself to be knowledgeable, methodical, and very detailed in both his calculations and estimates. Gus offers him the job on the spot.
- Commonality Connection: Much like Mike, Werner is a veteran in his profession and takes his work very seriously. The two quickly form a bond that grows into a genuine friendship. Which makes it even more tragic when Mike is forced to kill Werner on Gus' orders.
- Ditzy Genius: He's a really skillful and knowledgeable structural engineer who's all too aware of the difficulties of the job ahead yet stupid enough to think that the most punishment he would get for absconding would be a slap on the wrist.
- Face Death with Dignity: Once he has made sure that his wife's life is not being endangered by Gustavo's goons and his men will be allowed to safely return home, he calmly accepts death from Mike.
- A Father to His Men: Werner cares deeply about his construction crew, including the rude and egotistical Kai. Barely a minute away from his execution, he asks Mike if his men will be safe and is relieved to be told that they'll just be sent home.
- Irony: While scouting for employees, Gus rejected a snobby French engineer for being untrustworthy and likely incapable of keeping his assigned job a secret. His and Mike's strong faith in Werner being the opposite turns out to be a complete mistake, as Werner endangers everyone involved by attempting escape and unknowingly leaking the operation to Gustavo's enemies. This also leaves the job incomplete, as Werner himself has to be killed as part of Gus and Mike's Damage Control and Werner's less-culpable crew is abruptly sent back home.
- Nice Guy: In a series full of heavily flawed, deceitful or morally reprehensible characters, Werner stands out as an honest, humble and all-around likable person. Sadly, he doesn't last very long.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: Werner wears glasses and is a highly skilled engineer.
- Too Dumb to Live: Despite being repeatedly reminded by Mike of how little tolerance Gus has for liabilities, the job nearing completion, and being pardoned for his massive screw-up at the bar, Werner snaps from homesickness and attempts an escape to see his wife. This and spilling information on the entire operation and names to Lalo on the phone prompts Gus to sanction his death.
- A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Downplayed, since he hadn't seen his wife in almost a year, but had he resisted the urge to see Margarethe until the lab was finished, he'd still be with us.
Kai
Kai
Portrayed By: Ben Bela Bohm
One of the workers building Gus' lab under Werner's direction.
- Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Part of his causing trouble at the strip club was partly due to being intoxicated. Mike has to tell him he's had enough fun for the night.
- Casanova Wannabe: He lacks pulling etiquette with women, trying to take one of the lap dancers for a private dance and forcing the bouncer to get involved.
- Dirty Coward: After Werner is killed, Kai is so afraid for his life that he tries to suck up to Mike (whom he had previously stupidly antagonized at every opportunity) by claiming that Werner deserved to die because he was "soft." Mike responds by giving him a well-deserved punch in the face.
- Jerkass: He's needlessly rude and disrespectful to Mike as soon as they meet.
- Number Two: Kai may be an asshole, but Werner considers him one of his best men and often entrusts him with important and difficult tasks.
- Pet the Dog: Despite their earlier animosity, he serves Mike up a drink after a successful demolition job.
- Put on a Bus: He and the rest of the construction crew are sent on planes back to Germany after Werner is killed since Gus trusts them enough not to pull He Knows Too Much on them all.
- Red Herring: He starts causing trouble as soon as he shows up, but most of the problems he causes are pretty minor in the grand scheme of things—at worst, he nearly gets the cops called after being thrown out of a strip club, which Mike handles easily by bribing the doorman. Ultimately, it's Werner being the one who causes more serious problems.
Casper
Casper
"He was worth fifty of you."
Portrayed By: Stefan Kapičić
Another one of Werner's crew.
- An Arm and a Leg: His left foot is hacked off by Lalo during a confrontation.
- Badass Bystander: His first reaction to encountering Lalo near his cabin? Running to the tool shed and hiding in the shadows, followed by using his ax handle to strike him in the rib cage.
- Broken Pedestal: After all the respect he had previously shown for Mike, he's so disgusted by the situation with Werner that he stops by Mike to succinctly tell him off.
- Gentle Giant: Despite his large stature and somewhat intimidating look, he is a friendly, non-confrontational guy.
- Hope Spot: Against anyone else, his ax strike would have been enough to incapacitate the average person, but it only slightly deters Lalo. Casper gets tricked into thinking the Salamanca's down for good, then gets his face slashed and his foot cut off.
- The Klutz: His carelessness while reversing a forklift truck results in an accident that sets the job back by weeks, if not months.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Casper encased Werner's slide rule and sent it to Margarethe, his widow, as a remembrance. Lalo, who's looking for information on their work for Gus, uses this to track him down and chop his foot off, with potentially further torture to gather answers.
- Put on a Bus: He gets sent back to Germany along with the rest of the construction crew after Werner's escape and subsequent execution. He is eventually found back in Germany by Lalo.
- The Quiet One: Unlike Werner and Kai, he doesn't have many lines, despite being one of the more prominent members of the construction crew.
- Tranquil Fury: When he tells Mike that Werner "was worth fifty of you", his voice remains calm, but his contempt could not be more obvious.
- Uncertain Doom: Last seen being interrogated by Lalo for information after getting his leg chopped off. While given a tourniquet, the chances are slim to none that Lalo would let him live, even assuming he could survive long enough to get proper treatment.
Structural Engineer
Structural Engineer
Portrayed By: Carlos Leal
A French engineer whom Gus considers hiring to build his superlab.
- Cannot Keep a Secret: During the interview, the engineer boasts about a tunnel he previously built which went under the border between America and Mexico. This just shows Mike and Gus that the engineer can't be trusted to keep his mouth shut after the job is done; if he's willing to tell them about the tunnel, he might tell other people about Gus' lab.
- Flat "What": He only lets out an "I'm sorry?" after Mike bluntly tells him he's been rejected.
- French Jerk: He is smug and arrogant when talking about the lab, insisting he can easily build it.
- No Name Given: Only called "Structural Engineer" in the credits.
- Smug Snake: The first candidate for building Gus' superlab, he remains overly confident in his abilities and keeps asserting the job will be done handily and rather quickly. This contrasts with the more humble and cautious Werner Ziegler.
- Yes-Man: Eager to start construction and only spouts promises instead of any actual details about how he'll pull it off. This is the exact opposite of what Mike and Gus want, so he's unceremoniously sent home.
Physicians
Barry Goodman
Maureen Bruckner
Dr. Maureen Bruckner
"I want to let you know that your uncle has been getting excellent care here at Lovelace."
Portrayed By: Poorna Jagannathan
A physician hired by Gus to treat Hector after his stroke.
- Hospital Paradiso: Gus sets one up for her so he can push her to go back to it instead of continuing to treat Hector.
- Locked Out of the Loop: It's not known just how much she's aware of in regards to the backgrounds of the people she's working with, as she treats everyone with unflinching kindness. At the very least, she has no idea Gus intends to keep Hector in a poorer state than he should be.
- Nice Girl: She reassures the doctor treating Hector that she isn't there to take his job or anything of the sort. The doctor couldn't care less as long as he doesn't have to be in the same room as the Cousins anymore.
- Unfazed Everyman: She deals with the Cousins as though they were any other patient's family, even after another doctor had felt uncomfortable with their presence.
- Unwitting Pawn: Dr. Bruckner remains blissfully unaware that the sole reason she's helping Hector recover is to make sure Gus can put the man through more suffering.
Other Associates
Nacho Varga
Ignacio "Nacho" Varga
See here. Gale Boetticher
Lyle
Lyle
"Mr. Fring, y-you sure you want to be left with these guys?"
Portrayed By: Harrison Thomas
The assistant manager of the Los Pollos Hermanos where Gus spends his time at. He runs the place whenever Gus is out.
- Burger Fool: He's the assistant manager for one such establishment.
- Butt-Monkey: Things don't go well for him whenever Gus' criminal underworld shows up at the restaurant. He's intimidated by Hector and his goons, he gets a little anxious about handling the situation when Lalo and Nacho ask for Gus, and Gus himself makes Lyle constantly scrub the fryers without telling him what he's doing wrong when a particularly stressful and sacrificial situation lands on Gus' operations.
- Déjà Vu: When Lalo comes to visit Gus a Los Pollos Hermanos and brings Nacho along with him, Lyle is able to recognize him from Hector's own visit, but can only vaguely feel like something's wrong.
- Happiness in Minimum Wage: Lyle opens the Los Pollos Hermanos at the crack of dawn while humming to himself. To be fair as restaurant managers go, Gus is far from the worst (if you put aside his whole meth kingpin shtick).
- Locked Out of the Loop: He has no idea what Gus' real business is or what Los Pollos Hermanos is really for. This gets him into trouble with Hector.
- Nervous Wreck: He comes across as understandably jittery regarding Hector's presence.
- Nice Guy: He's polite and accommodating to employees and customers. He also worries about Gus being left alone with unsavory characters.
- Number Two: He's the Assistant Manager at Los Pollos Hermanos when Gus is unavailable.
- Undying Loyalty: Although all Los Pollos Hermanos employees seem to respect Gus, Lyle was willing to stick with him when the Cartel showed up.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: His absence in Breaking Bad is never explained.
Barry Hedberg
Barry Hedberg
Portrayed By: Jordan Lage
A worker at Madrigal.
- Butt-Monkey: His screen time involves his badge being stolen by Mike, and then getting in trouble with Mike about it later.
Mr. and Mrs. Ryman
Mr. and Mrs. Ryman
Portrayed By: Kirk Bovill (Mr. Ryman) and Joni Bovill (Mrs. Ryman)
Two seemingly-normal homeowners that secretly serve as cover for Gus' surveillance operation.
- Casual Danger Dialogue: They share dialogue over current neighborhood happenings and reaching out to the Homeowner's Association, all while providing a facade with armed thugs meant to protect Gus from Lalo.
- They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: Their job is to look like everyday people for the decoy house and to hide Gus or Mike when they need to secretly relocate.
- Unfazed Everyman: The house they stay in has a secret tunnel and stashes Gus' more armed enforcers, with no strong reaction to what's happening around them. They also act nonchalant when transporting Mike in the trunk of an SUV.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: They show no reaction to the heavily armed goons that have largely taken over their house. Justified, since the goons are also working for Gus.
- Villains Out Shopping: While not outwardly evil or cruel, they're Gus' henchmen who are specifically meant to seem normal to the public to give Gus a decoy house for refuge. They're introduced going for a morning cycling and are later seen playing card games in their basement when Gus passes by.
