LogFAQs > #966004660

#2 Jesse Pinkman
Jesses character evolution is a mirror effect of Walter Whites. As Walt becomes more and more greedy and entrenched in the riches and the power that the empire business affords him, Jesse slowly grows more and more uncomfortable with it. Hes clearly not okay with the body count that he and Walt have left in their path.

If Walter White is the backbone of Breaking Bad, then Jesse is its heart. As the world grows darker and Walter White falls further and further into evil and corruption, Jesse is the one who seeks light at the end of the tunnel. The relationship between Walt and Jesse falls apart because they both end up wanting different things. Walt seeks self-gratification. Jesse seeks redemption. As Walt breaks bad, Jesse tries to break good. And how would Jesse even begin to redeem all the terrible things hes done? All the lives hes ruined? Its no wonder hes manically tossing his blood money around in the dark. Theres no way to even begin to make things right again. Jesse wants to be the good guy, but the damage has already been too severe.

And for someone who started out as a comic relief character, Jesse just suffers so much throughout the series. Unless you dont have a soul you just have to feel for him. Hes talked into dissolving the corpse of his longtime friend, hes beaten up by Tuco, beaten up by Hank, is disowned by his parents, wakes up beside the corpse of the woman he deeply loves and cares about, is nearly assassinated by Mike, is forced into murdering a man who didnt have it coming, is constantly manipulated and taken advantage of the one guy who doesnt hate him or want him dead, is tortured and enslaved by neo-nazis, watches another girlfriend die. This poor fucking guy goes through so fucking much.

#1 Walter White
Okay Ive shit talked Walter enough throughout this list. Hes the best character.

The thing about Walt everyone talks about is his character evolution. Ill say that my favorite thing about Walter White is how fluid he can be. They can write him as an anti-hero, or they can make him the main antagonist. Walt can be a terrifying menace. He can be a badass scientist. He can be a teacher. He can be sad and pathetic. He can be remorseful and heartfelt. Bryan Cranston has excellent comedic chops and so Walt can be downright hilarious as well. He has fantastic chemistry with every other actor on the show (except for Lydia).

I dont make it any secret here that I think Walt is a prideful, self-centered, egotistical, manipulative piece of shit. This show wouldnt have happened if he wasnt these things, because he wouldve just taken the money from Gray Matter to pay for his cancer. Hes a terrible human being, but hey so is everyone else in this top ten except for Donald. I dont need to rank him lower because of all the countless lives hes ruined, for killing Mike and Gus, for getting Hank killed and ruining Skylers life and yada yada yadahes an incredibly engaging and interesting protagonist turned antagonist with iconic character evolution and who is the backbone of this great show.

You know what this shows only flaw was? When Walt finally became the main antagonist in 5B, there was no protagonist there to face him and take him down. It couldve been Hank, but Hank was too swallowed by his pride and anger to be a proper hero. There was Jesse, but Jesse was too remorseful and damaged by that point to actually believably be the one who would take down Heisenberg. This lead to Walt reverting to anti-hero and Jack being introduced as yet another antagonist for him to face. What we got was still great, but I feel like a properly built protagonist character taking down Heisenberg couldve been even better.