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This Villainous Benchmark was Headlined on September 2024. | ||
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"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | So you do have a plan? Yeah, Mr. White! Yeah, science! | „ |
| ~ Jesse to Walter White, one of his most famous lines. |
| “ | I am not turning down the money. I am turning down you! You get it?! I want nothing to do with you! Ever since I met you, everything I have ever cared about, is gone! Ruined, turned to shit, DEAD! Ever since I hooked up with the great Heisenberg! I have never been more alone! I have NOTHING! NO ONE! Alright, it's all gone! Get it?! No... no, no, why... why would you... get it?! Why would you even care, as long as you get what you want?! Right? You don't give a shit about me. You said I was no good. I'm nothing! Why would you want me, huh?! You said my meth is inferior! Right? Right? Hey! You said my cook was GARBAGE! Screw you, man! Screw you... | „ |
| ~ Jesse expressing his anger at Walter White. |
| “ | Walter: Do it. You want this. Jesse: Say the words! Say YOU want this! Nothing happens until I hear you say it. Walter: I want this. Jesse: Then do it yourself. |
„ |
| ~ Jesse's final conversation with Walter White. |
Jesse Pinkman is the deuteragonist of the crime drama series Breaking Bad, the main protagonist of its 2019 sequel film El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, and a minor character in its prequel/sequel series Better Call Saul.
He is a low level drug cook, dealer, and junkie who reluctantly accepts an offer by his former chemistry teacher, Walter White, to cook methamphetamine in an effort to support his family. Despite various points of disagreement, the two end up being good partners and develop sort of a father-son relationship.
However, as the series progresses, the increasing brutality of the drug world along with the growing malevolence of Walter White alienates Jesse, which causes him to end up leaving the drug business altogether and consider starting a new life. By the end of the series, a matured Jesse ends up fleeing to Alaska, and succeeds in his goal in starting a brand new life.
He was portrayed by Aaron Paul.
His Evil Ranking[]
His Villainous Deeds[]
In General[]
- Prior to the events of the show, he was already a criminal by becoming a small time drug dealer with Krazy-8 as his supplier.
- He causes great distress for his parents and in the past also smoked in their house, almost causing them to be arrested, until they set limits for him.
- While Walt often emotionally abuses him, he himself is far from innocent towards him, including physically assaulting him, threatening to turn him in, showing indifference to Gus seemingly killing him and spitting in his face when he was caught.
- Unlike Walt who started his business from a place of financial help for his family, Jesse only worked to finance himself, although Walt later does the same later in the series.
- Also, although less than Walt, he still shares a lot of responsibility for the deaths of people in the series, including the direct killing of 5 people, in addition to partial involvement in the elimination of the Cartel, in which Walt was not involved.
- All in all, he is partially responsible for creating the largest drug operation in American history, if not one of the biggest ones ever, as he was the primary assistant cook in the production of methamphetamine, and a major assistant in Walt's criminal activities, although Jesse did not truly intend for the empire to become as big as it became.
- Although he was originally a comic relief character with many comedic moments where he was played for laughs, most of them took place in the earlier seasons of the show, and near the end of the series, he is taken much more seriously and goes from comedic to incredibly tragic due to undergoing many traumatic events that left him with serious PTSD.
Breaking Bad[]
Season 1[]
- He is first seen escaping from Hank's ambush on Emilio Koyama by throwing himself out the window.
- He tells Krazy-8 that he once adopted a attack dog and trained him to attack police officers.
- Agreed to cook methamphetamine with Walter White and to sell his product and also teaches Walt how to distribute drugs effectively.
- He mockingly films Walt as the latter takes off his clothes to cook meth.
- Wasted most of Walter's life savings on a strip club instead of purchasing the RV as requested.
- He keeps an illegal supply of marijuana in his house and smokes it.
- Disposed of Emilio Koyama's corpse by melting it with hydrofluoric acid in his bathtub instead of doing it in a plastic container like Walt told him to, which would've gotten them both arrested hadn't they cleaned up the scene of the crime.
- Goaded a reluctant Walter White into killing Krazy-8. He is also responsible for the fact that the latter was tied with a cable to the bicycle at his home.
- Krazy-8 reveals to Walt that Jesse told him that he is his former chemistry high school teacher and that he has a disabled son, which causes Walter to fly into utter rage.
- Left his friend Badger in the desert after their attempt to cook pure meth.
- Assisted Walt in robbing a warehouse to retrieve Methylamine.
- After Walt abandoned the drugs, he tried to get them back and even in his own home. He also throws all his money on the yard and some falls into the pool.
- Brewed meth at his aunt's house that his parents gave him, which could have incriminated them.
Season 2[]
- He buys a gun to shoot Tuco, although it was in self-defense.
- Attempted to poison Tuco Salamanca, although to be fair, this was due to his and Walter's kidnapped and near-death situation.
- Is the one who comes up with the idea of forming a drug organization.
- After Skinny Pete loosed his drag for Spooge and his wife, he breaks into their house by threatening to kill them, forcing them return the drugs and money and indirectly also causes Spooge's death.
- In addition, he cooperates with breaking into the safe that Spooge stole and after his death, he also takes all the money from there.
- He breaks into Clovis' compound twice and breaks down the gate when Clovis refuses him entry into the trailer.
- Arrives at Walt's house to ask for money, almost visible to Skyler and when Walt mocks him he lashes out at him and almost punches him in the face.
- Kidnapped Saul Goodman (Along with Walt) and threatened to kill him if Badger ended up in prison or if the latter confesses. then he uses Saul's services to escape justice.
- He agrees to have his name used to confess to killing a drug addict, which accidentally gets Combo murdered (Though Jesse clearly didn't mean for that to happen).
- Took part in the scheme to misdirect the DEA onto James Kilkelly.
- arrives at the classroom where Walt teaches to demand his money. When the latter demands that he show that he is clean, he throws the glass at Walt, almost killing him.
- Assisted Jane in blackmailing Walt so he could earn $400,000 when Walter refuses to give him his cut.
- He almost causes a confrontation between Jane and her worried father.
- He is indirectly responsible for Jane's death, supporting their dangerous plan, causing her to die choking on her puke due to an overdose on heroin, which leads to a plane crash with 167 people in said planes since her traumatized father got distracted while giving coordinates. Jesse himself admits that the amount they intended to smoke would have killed them both within a week.
Season 3[]
- Attacked Walt's Aztec with a rock and broke its window.
- He tries to distribute Walt's formula without his permission and accidentally drops Walt's property, which was placed on it, from his car.
- Blackmailed his family to sell Jesse his aunt's house via Saul Goodman, who threatened to sue them for possessing a meth lab in the basement (that was created by Walter and Jesse).
- He is complicit in trying to get rid of his incriminating trailer at the hands of Old Joe as well as manipulating Hank to do so. In fact it's his fault that Hank even gets to the destination of the trailer as he first tried to confront Walt about it.
- Threatened to sue Hank with the stated intent of driving him to suicide and said that he will give Walt up if he was ever caught after the former lays a brutal beating on him. also blackmails Walt put him in his new job in a large drug laboratory of Fring.
- He smokes illegally while hospitalized and is filled with joy to Id when he sees Hank dying from a gunshot.
- When Walt leaves him outside he turns off the lights, Calms Walt down with drugs in coffee and finally kills the fly he became obsessed with.
- He is indifferent to the fact that Walt fires the professional Gale and transfers his position to him.
- He fools the weighing of the meth in Gus's lab and takes the rest for himself, which could also put him and Walt in danger from Gus. then he attempted to sell it to those at the rehab, as they would be especially susceptible to drugs.
- It is also considered as ungratefulness after those responsible for the rehab revived it after Jane's death.
- It's even worse that he tried to coax Badger and Skinny Pete into the idea and gets mad at them when they reveal counter standards.
- After he learned that the Rival Dealers killed Combo, he plans to use Wendy to poison them with Ricin, something that would have endangered him, Walt, and Wendy.
- After he learned that the dealers killed Tomas, he planned to kill them himself before Walt shows up and kills them.
- He assassinated Gale Boetticher and then escaped.
- Because of Gale's death, he also responsible for Victor's death by Gus' hands, as Victor was forced to examine the body, which prompted Gus to cover up his organization's involvement in the murder.
Season 4[]
- Initially planned to kill Gustavo Fring on Walt's orders, planning to slip the Ricin in Gustavo's coffee, before he decided not to.
- Assisted Mike Ehrmantraut on various missions, such as robbing junkies or disposing Drug Money.
- Throws a GPS at Walt's face and makes his left eye bleed after he yelled at him for failing to kill Gus.
- Attempted to kill Walt during a fight by almost hitting him with a lamp and then pinning Walt to the ground only to brutally punch him in the face several times. Although it was somewhat in self-defense as Walt tried to kill him first (and even before that, he threatened to break Jesse all because the latter booked a meeting with Gus and the Cartel in Mexico), this is still heinous as Jesse is Walt's friend.
- Helped Gus and Mike to poison the Cartel leaders include Joaquin Salamanca (but for self-defense).
- He takes Walt's job at the drug lab and treats with indifference to the fact that Gus might kill him or his family, even gloating that Gus would kill Hank (after the latter punched him in the face).
- After Brock is poisoned, he breaks into Walt's house and almost shoots him, though accepts his false version that Gus is responsible.
- After he was convinced that Gus is too dangerous, Jesse assisted Walt in killing him by informing him the one place where Gus is out in the open and the latter's rivalry with Hector Salamanca, leading both of their (along with Tyrus') deaths.
- Destroyed Gus' methlab along with Walter White to tie up loose ends.
Season 5[]
- Along with Walter and Mike, he used a magnet to destroy the evidence presented on Gus's laptop.
- Planned to create a new drug empire with Walter White and Mike Ehrmantraut.
- He tried to use Lydia to transport barrels of meth, although Lydia ruins the plan.
- When he learned that their Methylamine stash was running out, they decided to rob a train. Jesse assisted the group in robbing it, stealing the Methylamine from the train, as well as filling in water so nobody suspected theft.
- He punches Todd in the face when he talked about the boy he killed, even though Todd deserved it.
- Although it was not his intention, he warns Walt about Mike's prisoners, prompting Walt to kill 10 prisoners with the help of the neo-Nazis.
- When Walt comes to visit Jesse before bringing him his money he was ready to shoot him, although he relented when he saw the money Walt brought.
- He intends to escape from justice with the help of Ed and create a new identity, until he suspects Brooke's poisoning.
- When Jesse learned about Walt poisoning Brock, he flies into a fit of rage, assaulted Saul and coerced him into admitting his role in Brock's poisoning by killing him with his gun after the assault, while also threatening Huell Babineaux and then went to the White residence and planned to burn it down to get his revenge on Walt.
- While Walt would have deserved the punishment, Jesse could have endangered his family, who were innocent.
- Spits in Walt's face after he is arrested, and also lies to him that he will burn all his money.
- Killed Todd Alquist by strangling him to death with his chains in an act of violent rage, though he deserved it given how he tortured Jesse for nearly 6 months and murdered Andrea Cantillo, which led to Brock becoming an orphan.
- Although he didn't do this, he pulled a gun on Walt and debated whether to shoot him.
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie[]
- He asks Old Joe to get rid of his car so the police can't get to him, however the car was already wanted so he just swapped cars with Pete Skinny.
- Along with Neil and Casey, he breaks into Todd's house (after his death) and takes the rest of his money.
- He threatens Neil and Casey even when he suspected they were cops.
- Broke into his parents house and stole two of their rifles to collect the money from Neil and Casey.
- Killed Neil and Casey, although in self-defense, and threatened to kill 3 men by stealing their drivers license if they tell anything about him to the police.
- Burnt down Kandy's Welding Company to cover his tracks and to get further revenge on Neil by not only cremating him in the worst way possible, but also permanently destroy his legacy after killing him. Although this is firmly justified considering how Neil helped ruin Jesse's life.
- He uses Ed Galbraith’s services to escape from the police and justice, although his intention is to leave the life of crime.
Why He Doesn't Stand Out?[]
- Jesse fails Breaking Bad's high heinous standards to his partner Walter White, even at times with similar resources, as well as to mere minions with even less resources, most notably Todd Alquist.
- To say he is a tragic character is an understatement, as he is far too sympathetic for NPE because the drug trade destroyed his entire life and caused the murders of nearly all of his friends and the loves of his life, being the reason he is severely injured numerous times throughout the show, subjected to constant emotional manipulation by Walter White, and worst of all, getting betrayed and kidnapped by Jack Welker, Todd Alquist and their gang of Neo-Nazis before being forced into slavery while being psychologically and physically tortured for 6 months by them, giving him lifelong PTSD as a result. Even though he became a drug dealer before these tragedies happened, his actions and crimes (both before and during the series) aren't nearly as heinous as what Walter has committed and did acknowledge his mistakes. Plus, the worst things that have happened to him is still portrayed with a large amount of sympathy and he doesn't truly deserve the terrible things that have happened to him.
- He cares for a good deal of people, which include:
- Walter White: Despite the difficulties in their relationship since the beginning, Jesse always had some true care to Walter White. Despite the darker attitude and increasingly tense relationship later in the series, Jesse still showed he truly cared for Walt, such as buying him a special watch for his 51st birthday, apologizing to Walt for believing Walt poisoned Brock (he did not know he was right about that at this point), and informing Gus that he would leave him if he learned Walter White was murdered. Even after he learned Walt poisoned Brock, and when Walt betrayed Jesse to Neo-Nazi's, Jesse still gave Walt a slight nod of respect before leaving, and displayed slight grief in El Camino when hearing about his passing.
- Badger, Combo, and Skinny Pete: Jesse genuinely cares for them, always willing to goof around with the three, and has displayed that he genuinely cares for them, these include him ruling out assassination when Badger was arrested, being distraught when he learned Combo got killed and blaming Walt for expanding outside territory, and refusing the possibility of them partnering up with Heisenberg's empire with reluctance. This leads to the three looking up to Jesse, with Skinny Pete even declaring Jesse to be his "hero".
- Jane Margolis: Jesse genuinely loved Jane, and she was one of the most important influences in his character arc. Jesse showed many moments of positive affection towards her, and desired to leave with her as soon as he was able to. When she died, Jesse was heartbroken and had to go to rehab so he could recover.
- Andrea and Brock Cantillo: Jesse quickly developed feelings for her, and became an important benefactor. He got angry at her for taking meth when he knew she was a mother, knowing her priority is to take care of her son. Jesse became best friends of the Cantillo family, helping them get out of their ghetto into a good suburban neighborhood, and became a family friend of the two, only cutting off connection due to Walt's manipulation. The knowledge that Walt and Saul poisoned Brock was the factor that led to Jesse not just as trying to disassociate with Walt, but actively trying to destroy him, even willing to team up with those he detests like Hank Schrader, with this being the very reason Jesse attacked Saul and almost burned down Walt's house. The Nazi gang used his care for the family to prevent Jesse from escaping or attacking his captors, as they would kill Andrea and Brock if Jesse tried to disobey them (Andrea was killed by the Nazi Jack's gang and Todd after an escape attempt, to Jesse's horror). After Jesse fled to Alaska, he wrote a letter to Brock, presumably to comfort him.
- His family: Despite the clearly rough relationship, Jesse still showed moments of genuine care towards the three. Jesse ended up getting along with his brother Jake in the brief period they knew each other, and took the fall for Jake's use of Marijuana which resulted in him being kicked out of the house. Offscreen, Jesse also was the one who took care of his dying aunt Ginny, while his parents neglected her. Even to his parents, despite the clear bad blood between the three, deep down, Jesse wanted to end their relationship on a good note, apologizing for his behavior and tried to reassure them that his fate was not their fault, it was his.
- Mike Ehrmantraut: While suspicious at first, Jesse ended up being a student of sorts to Mike after Jesse was shown to be a competent and quick witted person in his own right, with Jesse respecting Mike due to his more honest personality. This resulted in Jesse saving Mike's life when he begged the doctors to save Mike and not focus their attention solely on Gus. When Mike was killed, Jesse mourned his death, and was furious at Walt for killing him. This was a major factor in him souring his perception of Walt and forcing him to leave the drug business for good.
- In general, he has very firm and solid standards, specifically toward children. It's made clear that he would never, under any circumstances, ever harm one, and his relationship with a person is dramatically altered when he learns how they deal with children. Some of his most notable moments include rescuing the malnourished son of Spooge and his wife and helping him enter protective custody, snapping at Gus despite the risks when he learned he was employing children, then later planning to kill them when he knew they killed Tomas Cantillo (despite the fact he killed his friend Combo), mourning the death of Drew Sharp at the hands of Todd, which was the event which lead to Jesse leaving the drug world altogether.
- He has numerous Pet the Dog moments in the show, with many of the most notable being listed above, other good acts in the series include trying to get rid of his drug money by distributing it to Drew Sharp's family and Kaylee Ehrmantraut. When he learns that would be impossible, he decides to distribute millions of dollars in poor neighborhoods, including $10,000 to a homeless man.
- His killing of Gale was done with heavy reluctance, as he was ordered to do it by Walter and upon entering Gale's house, he pulled a gun on him and caused him to say his pitiful last words while pointing the gun at his face and tearing up at the same time. Even Gale pointed out that Jesse could take his money and didn't have to kill him in order to do so, and Jesse only killed Gale to save himself and Walter. After killing him, he underwent a personality change in Season 4 where he tried to shake the guilt away from himself by having multiple mental breakdowns throughout the season and excessive partying habits to emphasise how remorseful he is for killing Gale.
- His other murders were in self-defence (he killed Casey and Joaquin because they both tried to kill him) or had understandable reasons (he killed Todd to avenge the deaths of Drew, Andrea and Sonia (and to an extent Hank and Steven) and he killed Neil for playing a part in ruining his life).
- In El Camino, he fully redeemed himself as he eventually grew to despise the drug trade due to the amount of suffering involved, and he regretted his life and desired for a chance to start anew.
External Links[]
- Jesse Pinkman on the Villains Wiki
- Jesse Pinkman on the Heroes Wiki
- Jesse Pinkman on the Inconsistently Admirable Wiki
- Jesse Pinkman on the Breaking Bad Wiki
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 /  Villainous Benchmarks
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Canon The Cartel Los Pollos Hermanos Neo-Nazis Jimmy McGill's Contacts Other Fanon | ||
 Villainous Benchmarks
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Animated Features Live-Action Features Live-Action Television Fanon See Also | ||
| The Headlined Villainous Benchmarks | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2023
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