10 ‘Breaking Bad’ Characters More Powerful Than Walter White, Ranked

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Over the course of Breaking Bad, Walter White went from an unassuming high school teacher to a badass whose face you used as an online avatar. He faced off against many scarier criminals and defeated them all, using explosions, more explosions, and finally, a giant robo-gun. But if you leave the series thinking he bested every single foe, you’ve forgotten several characters who got the better of him. We’re talking about such underrated characters as...

10 Albuquerque Police Officer 227

In Season 3’s episode “Caballo sin Nombre,” a policeman named Cavanaugh (J. Taylor) pulls Walt over, citing a shattered windshield. Walt explains that the damage is from the recent midair collision of two planes over the city, a disaster the cop is quite familiar with, as he was a first responder on the scene. Walt demands sympathy for being so closely affected by the incident. Judging from how he was singing to himself a few moments ago, he isn’t suffering from quite as much trauma as he claims, and anyway, that’s no excuse for violating New Mexico Statutes Section 66-3-846.

Instead of accepting the citation, thankful this stop doesn’t concern his more serious criminal activities, Walt protests. “This is America, okay?” he says, channeling his inner Randy Marsh, and when the cop threatens to pepper-spray him if he doesn’t stand down, Walt says, “Pepper-spray me. That is just perfect. Pepper-spray the man who's expressing his opinion under the First Amendment!” The next scene is Walt, eyes swollen with the pepper spray’s effects, being slammed into the back of the squad car.

9 Elliott and Gretchen

Elliott Schwartz (Adam Godley) and Walter White were partners, once upon a time. After Walt left the company, Elliott and his wife, Gretchen (Jessica Hecht), expanded it and became billionaires, leaving Walt far behind. At the end of his meth career, Walt has so much cash that he has trouble counting it all, but his $80 million is a fraction of the wealth he’d have had if he’d applied himself and stuck with the company.

In a different story, perhaps humble Walt would be kind and relatable, while becoming a billionaire turned his old friends inhuman. Instead, in the show’s finale, we see Elliot and Gretchen at home, and they have a great relationship and interesting conversations, something Walt and his own wife didn’t have, even at the start of the series. Also in the finale, Walt coerces the pair into laundering money for him and giving it to his family. The Whites will think the money is charity from Gretchen and Elliot, which Walt would have once considered the ultimate indignity.

Walt convinces the couple that assassins will follow them for the rest of their lives. This is his way of taking revenge on his old friends, who recently offered him a job with health insurance to save his life. Let’s not rule out the possibility that in a few months, one of these so-called assassins will knock on their door, revealing that he’s not an assassin at all but just some dude named Badger. He’s coming clean in hopes that they’ll give him money so he can buy weed.

At the end of Season 4, Walt desperately needs to get back in touch with his lawyer, Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk). He breaks the glass door of Saul’s office and now must deal with Francesca Liddy (Tina Parker), the receptionist. When he offers to pay over a thousand dollars to cover the damage to the door, she says it’ll cost more like $20,000. “Are you insane?” says Walt. “Who the hell is going to charge $20,000 for a plate glass door? There's no reputable vendor who—”

He trails off as he realizes he’s being shaken down. “Now I'm thinking 25,” says Francesca. And Walter, who is currently planning an elaborate murder of his most dangerous enemy, can think of no way to handle this receptionist other than to give in and leave to fetch the required sum.

7 Jesse

It would not be fair to rate Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) against Walt purely in terms of physical strength. When these two fight, the outcome depends entirely on what sort of drugs are currently in each one’s system (meth, gemcitabine), as well as how much glassware is nearby to get in the way of their wrestling. No, to truly compare their powers, we must turn to a different question: Who’s the better cook?

The answer comes in the series finale. At this point, the blue product on the market is produced entirely by Jesse, not Walt. Meth connoisseur Skinny Pete declares that the new stuff is “choice, yo. Better than ever!” Then come several awkward seconds in which everyone realizes Pete has identified Walt as the inferior chemist.

Later in the episode, Walt says he was good at making meth, and while doing it, he “was alive.” But in the end, Jesse was better at it (and in the end, Jesse was also more alive).

Collider Exclusive · Action Hero Quiz Which Action Hero Would Be
Your Perfect Partner? Rambo · James Bond · Indiana Jones · John McClane · Ethan Hunt

Five legends. Five completely different ways of getting out alive — with style, with muscle, with charm, with luck, or with a plan so intricate it probably shouldn't work. Ten questions will reveal which action hero was built to have your back.

🎖️Rambo

🍸James Bond

🏺Indiana Jones

🔧John McClane

🎭Ethan Hunt

FIND YOUR PARTNER →

You're dropped into a dangerous situation with no warning. What do you need most from a partner? The first few seconds tell you everything about who belongs beside you.

ASomeone who already has three contingency plans running and is calmly working through all of them. BSomeone who reads the terrain instinctively and knows exactly how to use it against the enemy. CSomeone who keeps their nerve and their sense of humour when everything is falling apart. DSomeone who knows the history of wherever we are and what we're walking into. ESomeone with the right contact, the right cover identity, and the right exit already arranged.

NEXT QUESTION →

You have to get somewhere dangerous, fast. How do you travel? How you get there is half the mission.

AOn foot through terrain no one else would attempt — I move where vehicles can't follow. BOn a motorcycle, a cargo plane, or anything else that gets me there before I think too hard about it. CIn something that belongs to someone else — borrowed, stolen, or improvised under fire. DFirst class, with a cover identity and a gadget that does something I won't explain until it's needed. EBy whatever means are available — I've driven, flown, and once arrived by camel. The destination matters, not the method.

NEXT QUESTION →

You're pinned down and outnumbered. What does your ideal partner do? This is when you find out what someone is really made of.

ADisappears into the environment, flanks them silently, and ends it before I've reloaded. BCracks a one-liner, grabs a fire extinguisher or a chair, and improvises something that somehow works. CProduces a gadget specifically designed for this exact scenario and uses it with infuriating precision. DPulls out a whip, a pistol, and an archaeological insight that somehow gets us out alive. ENeutralises the threat with maximum efficiency and minimum words — they were already three moves ahead.

NEXT QUESTION →

The mission is paused. You have one evening to decompress. What does your partner suggest? Who someone is when the pressure drops is who they actually are.

AA bar with terrible lighting, cold beer, and absolutely no questions about feelings. BThe finest restaurant in the city, a bottle of something expensive, and a conversation that is equal parts brilliant and exhausting. CA local dig site, a museum after hours, or a long story about why that particular artefact matters to human civilisation. DPizza. Bad TV. Falling asleep halfway through a movie neither of you were watching anyway. EA debrief that turns into three hours of contingency planning that somehow becomes the most fun you've had all week.

NEXT QUESTION →

How do you prefer your partner to communicate mid-mission? Good communication is the difference between partners and a liability.

APrecise and minimal — tell me what I need to know and nothing else. Every word has a cost. BDeadpan and dry — keeping it light keeps me sharp, even when everything is on fire. CEnthusiastic and slightly chaotic — but always with useful information buried somewhere in the noise. DCalm and controlled through an earpiece, with a plan that covers every variable I haven't thought of yet. EBarely at all — silence is a language and they speak it fluently.

NEXT QUESTION →

Your enemy is powerful, well-resourced, and has the upper hand. How should your partner approach them? The approach to the enemy defines the partnership.

AInfiltrate their inner circle, learn everything, and dismantle them from inside out before they know we're there. BStudy the historical pattern — every villain of this type has a weakness written somewhere in the past. CGet them talking. The more they monologue, the more time I have to figure out how to beat them. DGo through them. Directly. With as much force as the terrain allows. EFind the one thing they haven't accounted for — there's always one thing — and make sure we're holding it.

NEXT QUESTION →

Things go badly wrong and you're captured. What do you trust your partner to do? Who someone is when you need them most is the only thing that matters.

ACome in alone, quietly, and get me out before anyone knows they were there. BHave already been working on the extraction since the moment I disappeared — the plan is already running. CCome in loud, come in fast, and worry about the collateral damage later — I'd do the same for them. DUse every resource, every contact, and bend every rule until I'm out — they don't leave people behind. ECharm their way in somehow, bluff through the hard part, and still manage to look good doing it.

NEXT QUESTION →

What does your ideal partner bring to the table that you couldn't replace? A great partner fills the gap you didn't know you had.

ATechnology that shouldn't exist yet and the training to use it under any conditions. BSurvival instinct so refined it borders on supernatural — and the scars to prove it's been tested. CKnowledge of history, language, and culture that makes them invaluable in places where force is useless. DThe ability to walk into any room in the world and immediately become the most trusted person in it. EStubbornness that refuses to accept a situation is hopeless — and the improvisational skill to back it up.

NEXT QUESTION →

Every partnership has a cost. Which of these can you live with? No one comes without baggage. The question is whether you can carry it together.

AA partner who never fully switches off — always watching exits, always calculating threats, even at dinner. BA partner who gets the job done brilliantly but has the emotional availability of a locked filing cabinet. CA partner who makes everything ten times more complicated than it needs to be — but who always comes through. DA partner who gets personally attached to every relic, ruin, and artefact we encounter, which slows everything down. EA partner who was not built for this and knows it — but shows up anyway, every time, without being asked.

NEXT QUESTION →

It's the final moment. Everything is on the line. What do you need from your partner right now? The last question is the most honest one.

AOne line. Absolutely dry. Delivered like the world isn't ending. Then we move. BNothing said at all — just a look that means we both already know what has to happen. CA plan I don't fully understand that somehow accounts for everything, delivered in thirty seconds flat. DA piece of historical context that reframes the entire situation and tells us exactly what to do next. ESomeone who steps forward instead of back — because that's who they've always been.

REVEAL MY PARTNER →

Your Partner Has Been Assigned Your Perfect Partner Is…

Your answers have pointed to one action hero above all others. This is the person built to have your back — for better or considerably, spectacularly worse.

Rambo

Your partner doesn't talk much, doesn't need to, and will have assessed every threat in your immediate environment before you've finished your first sentence. John Rambo is not a man of plans or politics — he is a force of nature shaped by survival, loyalty, and a capacity for endurance that goes beyond anything training can produce. He will not leave you behind. He has never left anyone behind who deserved to come home. What you get with Rambo is the most capable, most quietly ferocious partner imaginable — one who has been through things that would have broken anyone else, and who chose to keep going anyway. You'll never need to ask if he has your back. You'll just know.

James Bond

Your partner will arrive perfectly dressed, perfectly briefed, and with a cover story so convincing it'll take you a moment to remember what's actually true. James Bond is the most professionally dangerous person in any room he enters — and the most disarmingly charming, which is the point. He operates in a world of layers, where nothing is what it appears and every advantage is used without apology. You'll never be bored. You'll occasionally be furious. But when it matters — when the mission is genuinely on the line and the margin for error has collapsed to nothing — Bond is exactly the partner you want. He has survived things that have no business being survivable. He does it with style. That is not nothing.

Indiana Jones

Your partner will know the history, the language, the cultural context, and exactly why the thing everyone else is ignoring is actually the most important thing in the room. Indiana Jones is brilliant, reckless, and occasionally impossible — but he is also one of the most resourceful, most genuinely knowledgeable partners you could find yourself beside. He approaches every situation with a scholar's eye and a brawler's instinct, which is an unusual combination and a remarkably effective one. He hates snakes and gets personally attached to objects of historical significance, both of which will slow you down at least once. It doesn't matter. What Indy brings is irreplaceable — and the adventures you'll have together will be the kind people write books about. Assuming you survive them.

John McClane

Your partner was not supposed to be here. He does not have the right equipment, the right information, or anything approaching the right odds. He has a sarcastic remark and an absolute refusal to accept that the situation is as bad as it looks. John McClane is the greatest accidental hero in the history of action cinema — a man whose superpower is stubbornness, whose contingency plan is improvisation, and whose capacity to absorb punishment and keep moving would be alarming if it weren't so useful. He will complain the entire time. He will make it significantly more chaotic than it needed to be. And he will absolutely, unconditionally, without question come through when it counts. Yippee-ki-yay.

Ethan Hunt

Your partner has already run seventeen scenarios by the time you've finished reading the briefing, and the plan he's settled on involves at least two things that should be physically impossible. Ethan Hunt operates at the absolute edge of human capability — technically, physically, and intellectually — and he brings the same relentless precision to protecting his partners that he brings to dismantling organisations that shouldn't exist. He is not easy to know and he will never fully tell you everything. But he will carry the weight of the mission so completely, so absolutely, that your job is simply to trust him — and the remarkable thing is that trusting him always turns out to be the right call. The mission will be impossible. He will complete it anyway.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

6 Jane

“I watched Jane die,” says Walt, in one of his and Jesse’s last conversations. It’s a confession and also a brag. Walt was there when Jane Margolis (Krysten Ritter) choked to death in Jesse’s apartment, and he could have saved her, but he didn’t. However, though Walt may be morally culpable for her death, he didn’t actually kill her, so this death didn’t prove him to be more powerful. She would still have died had he not been in the room. She didn’t even die thanks to his personal product, but rather thanks to a different drug, heroin.

Therefore, in studying the battle between Walt and Jane, we must ignore her death and see what the conflict was like immediately before that. At that point, Jane had forced Walt to give Jesse his rightful share of their money. She had successfully broken Walt’s hold over him. She was set to leave town with him, and there was nothing Walt could do to stop them. Walt had lost.

Also, we’ve seen footage of Krysten Ritter’s character fighting enemies using superhuman strength, more than Walt ever displays. We can’t guarantee it’s canon to Breaking Bad, but we also cannot rule that out.

5 The Fly

Walt spots a fly in his clean lab one day. Rather than letting the lab’s own high-tech systems deal with the contaminant, he shuts everything down and challenges the fly to one-on-one combat. The fight sends Walt falling one story off a railing onto a pile of shattered glass, almost breaking his neck. The fly, victorious, perches on his glasses.

The fly’s success in this fight is impressive, as it is less than half as tall as Walt and multiple weight classes below him. It does die in the end, but not thanks to Walt. Jesse lands the killing blow.

4 Skyler

During the darkest stretch of the show, Walt dominates his wife, Skyler (Anna Gunn), and she has no way out. The two have dramatic conversations about how she wants to escape but has no means to do so, so her only recourse is to wait for him to die. Clearly, he has power over her. And yet, there are only two scenes where the two tussle physically, and neither quite ends in a victory for Walt.

In one, Skyler responds to the news of her brother-in-law Hank’s death by demanding Walt leave the house. This time, unlike previous attempts to confront him, she wields a knife, and when he approaches, she slashes him, drawing blood. They fight, and it ends with Walt fleeing the home (and kidnapping their daughter).

On a lighter note, Skyler also beats Walt when it comes to body count. No, we’re not talking about the people each of them murdered, but about sexual partners, because after leaving Walt at the end of Season 2, Skyler hooks up with her old boss Ted and throws the victory in Walt’s face. Walt’s attempt to follow up on this does not go so well.

3 Carmen

Carmen-Serano-Carmen-Molina-Breaking-Bad

After hearing about Skyler and Ted, Walt decides it’s time to follow his wife’s example and seek an outside partner of his own. He tries to kiss Carmen (Carmen Serano), the assistant principal at his school, during a meeting that was already about his erratic behavior. The next we see of Walt, he’s walking to the parking lot with his things in a box. He never teaches again.

Bryan Cranston told Entertainment Weekly that he’d hoped Walt would have some sort of affair during the show. “A lurid affair with a tart” was how he’d jokingly put it. Every other morally questionable TV lead gets to cheat on his wife with a selection of desirable women, so why couldn’t he do the same? It turns out that Walt was a different kind of character. When he was with women, they just didn’t have any chemistry.

2 Walter Junior

While talking just now about Walt and Skyler fighting over a knife, we left one important fact out — the fight only ends when Walter Junior (RJ Mitte) separates them by getting his father in a headlock. This kid walks on crutches, but he’s able to overpower his father. He then overpowers Walt in a second way: He phones the police. (We like to imagine the cop dispatched to the home is Albuquerque Police Officer 227.)

Walter Junior never backs down after this. Even Skyler allows Walt to come visit for a final sentimental goodbye, if only because the baby is asleep, but not Junior. When Walt calls him, trying to send him $100,000, the kid refuses to cooperate. His final words to his father are: “Why are you still alive? Why don't you just die already? Just die.”

1 Cancer

Cancer first shows up in the pilot, and many viewers thought this formidable character would be the main antagonist — the Big Bad of Breaking Bad. It was a surprise then to discover Walt has no particular interest in fighting cancer. Instead, he essentially allies with it as part of his quest to die and leave money to a family who’ll mourn him. It takes a series of blunders for him to have to even tell his family about the cancer, and it then takes major pressure from the family to get him to fight it, against his will.

In time, however, Walt realizes his perfect moment for dying has passed. His special cancer treatment sends him into remission, and later still, the cancer comes back. In the final episodes, Walt is fighting cancer again, and not because his family is forcing him to this time, as he no longer has a family.

The cancer kills Walt in the end, along with a bullet wound, two years after his diagnosis. This was the exact timeframe given to him by a doctor back in the first episode.