Breaking Bad: Who Are the Smartest Characters?

There are some really dim-witted characters in the Breaking Bad universe. Badger and Skinny Pete spend their days smoking meth and debating which Resident Evil game is best. Sticky and Ron went on a multi-day crime spree just because they had an offer for 50% off Saul Goodman’s legal services. But there are also some certifiable geniuses in this ensemble. It’s one of the things that made these shows so compelling: there are smart people on both sides of the law, constantly trying to outsmart each other.

Walter White’s genius intellect is what makes him so dangerous. He would’ve been killed a couple of weeks into his drug-dealing venture if he didn’t have the intelligence to stay one step ahead of his rivals.

10

Howard Hamlin

Howard Hamlin had massive blind spots as a husband and friend. He was so wrapped up in his own career and his own self-interests that he destroyed his marriage and drove Chuck into an early grave. He had a nice smile and disposition that allowed him to masquerade as a people person, but Howard was really bad at reading a room.

Still, despite his lack of emotional intelligence and street smarts (he was much too polite in that confrontation with Lalo), Howard had book smarts. He was hugely successful, both as a lawyer and as a businessman, and although he inherited the business from his dad, he kept the firm in good stead on his own.

9

Hank Schrader

Since a lot of his scenes are with Walt, and Walt is a certifiable genius, Hank often came off as a bonehead. Once Walt starts talking about something scientific or theoretical, Hank is completely lost. Plus, Hank is often mocked in fan circles for not noticing that his own brother-in-law was the notorious drug lord he’d been chasing for a year.

But Hank was actually one of the smartest characters in the show. He was the only person at the DEA who connected Gale to Los Pollos, and he was laughed out of the office for suggesting that Gus Fring might be a drug lord.

8

Mike Ehrmantraut

While everyone else is scrambling to figure out their next move, Mike Ehrmantraut is calmly playing 4D chess. Every time Mike enters a dangerous situation, he has a plan A, B, and C to get himself out of there. We sometimes see his drinking and his grief cloud his judgment and affect his decision-making, but when he’s in his right mind, Mike is unstoppable. Mike’s scheme to kill his son’s killers was both expertly plotted and perfectly executed.

Throughout both shows, we saw Mike try to put away some money for his granddaughter, and the feds try to find it. Mike always stayed one step ahead of them, and always had a backup plan.

7

Jimmy McGill

As his brother Chuck likes to point out, Jimmy McGill is not an intelligent man in the traditional sense. He spent his childhood mired in delinquency, so he didn’t have the grades to get into a good college, and the only legitimate job he could get in the real world after years of criminal schemes was in the mail room at his brother’s law firm.

But Jimmy put himself through a not-so-reputable law school and passed the bar exam. Chuck still didn’t take him seriously, and neither did the world at large, so he abandoned his newfound ethics and became a *criminal* lawyer. But under that guise, Jimmy found his calling and became a magician with legal loopholes.

6

Lalo Salamanca

The only person in the Breaking Bad universe besides Walt who might’ve stood a chance of defeating Gus is Lalo Salamanca. The rivalry between Gus and Lalo was so neck-and-neck that it basically came down to a coin toss. Whoever won that showdown depended on whether Gus would make that fateful shot in the dark.

Lalo is a master tactician. Like a great detective, he’ll sit someone down, look them in the eye, and ask them a question he already knows the answer to. He’s also physically intimidating, unlike Walt or Gus, and that’s a lethal combination.

5

Kim Wexler

Although she wasn’t appreciated by Howard or Chuck, Kim Wexler is one of the greatest legal minds in the Breaking Bad universe. Kim is a lawyer for all the right reasons; she wants to help people, and make the world a better, more just place. She’s like a modern-day Atticus Finch.

Jimmy is very good at scheming, but Kim is an artist. When Kim “breaks bad” around the fifth season of Better Call Saul, and she and Jimmy team up to ruin Howard’s reputation, it’s morally wrong, but it’s also a work of absolute genius. Kim is Atticus Finch in court, but she’s Jim Halpert in the prank battlefield.

4

Gale Boetticher

Gale Boetticher is almost as great a chemist as Walt. He can cook meth that’s purer than anything else on the market, except Heisenberg’s patented “Sky Blue” stuff. Gus liked Gale, because he was a more subservient version of Walt: every bit the scientific mind Walt is, but more inclined to follow orders and not ruffle any feathers.

The biggest difference is that Gale didn’t have Walt’s ego, so he didn’t mind bending the knee to his boss. And maybe that’s why Gale wasn’t quite as smart or talented as Walt; he didn’t have the cockiness you need to go the extra mile and achieve true greatness.

3

Chuck McGill

The most frustrating thing about Chuck lording his intelligence over Jimmy is that he’s right. Chuck might be a terrible person — arrogant, self-centered, ungrateful, petty — but he is undeniably a genius. Even with his condition fogging up his mind, Chuck is so averse to making mistakes that Jimmy had to Xerox in a fake mistake just to sabotage him.

He was a terrible husband and a terrible brother, but Chuck is undeniably one of the smartest people in this ensemble. He has random facts, like the year the Magna Carta was signed, on the tip of his tongue.

2

Gus Fring

Walt’s big advantage in the criminal underworld was his genius intellect. Someone like Tuco or Krazy-8 could outmuscle Walt, but he could outsmart them. He couldn’t scare Tuco’s army of henchmen with his fists, but he could blow up their headquarters with a chemical reaction. Walt finally met his match and lost that advantage when he met Gus Fring.

Gus is just as ruthless and well-protected as Tuco, but he also shares Walt’s genius-level intellect. He was able to build a legitimately successful business as a front for his meth empire, and he was able to convince the local law enforcement community that he was an upstanding citizen.

1

Walter White

When it comes to naming the smartest character in the Breaking Bad universe, it’s Walter White, and it’s not even close. Whatever situation you put Walt in, he’ll figure it out. If he’s trapped in an impounded RV with Hank banging on the door, he’ll figure out a way to get out of trouble. He’d be the ultimate partner for an escape room.

No one else in the Breaking Bad world is quite as smart as Walt. Gale could cook very, very pure meth, but it was never quite as pure as Walt’s. Gus managed to outsmart Walt at almost every turn, but in the end, Walt found Gus’ weakness, exploited it, and, in his own words, “won.”