Although Walter White is often considered the main character of Breaking Bad, the franchise as a whole has actually switched main characters multiple times. For a show where the lines are blurred between heroes and villains, it's incredibly difficult to nail down exactly who is the protagonist of the Breaking Bad franchise. Because of the multiple perspectives deployed throughout Breaking Bad and its spinoff projects, there has been a longstanding debate regarding who the true protagonist of the Breaking Bad universe is - and it's a difficult question to answer.
The popularity of Breaking Bad has led to several spin-offs, one being a movie and one being a prequel series. Each of these projects has focused on the same group of characters rather than entirely different cliques in the same universe, making each one spin-off essential context to the Breaking Bad universe. There are plenty arguments on who the main character of Breaking Bad actually is, and here are some of the best ones.
Breaking Bad Has 3 Main Characters
Starting in 2008, Breaking Bad follows the story of Walter White, a middle-aged chemist who begins cooking crystal meth after being diagnosed with cancer. Later, a spin-off movie called El Camino focused on Jesse Pinkman, Walt's sidekick in the original series. The epilogue movie explains what happened after Breaking Bad from Jesse's perspective, giving an all-new angle to the franchise. On top of that, there's also a spin-off show that focuses on Saul Goodman, Walt's lawyer, titled Better Call Saul. An argument can be made for any of these three to be the main character of the franchise, as the Breaking Bad spin-offs function differently than most others.
Unlike the spin-offs of Breaking Bad, most other spin-offs aren't essentially to understanding the original project's story. For example, although Frasier is an enjoyable spin-off of Cheers, it doesn't really change how a viewer sees Cheers. The Breaking Bad spin-offs, however, answer questions and fill in gaps that are crucial to the original series. For example, after seeing the journey that Jimmy McGill goes through in Better Call Saul, it's impossible to see Saul Goodman in Breaking Bad the same way, with the prequel completely recontextualizing the original series. The same thing happens with El Camino, making Jesse the main character and changing how he is seen in Breaking Bad.
Walt Is Main Character Of The Breaking Bad Franchise, Right?
The first viewpoint is that Walter White is the main character of the Breaking Bad franchise. This is the most intuitive answer, as he is the main character of the original series, despite plenty of other key characters appearing and disappearing. The show starts when Walt gets diagnosed with cancer, and Breaking Bad ends when Walt dies, meaning that the series' central narrative arc fully revolves around his journey from a sad middle-aged man to his downfall as a crystal meth kingpin.
Even though Walt isn't around in the spin-offs (for the most part), they still continue to tell Walt's story. El Camino is about Walt's legacy and his influence on Jesse, showing the aftermath of the life that Walt's greed has ruined. Better Call Saul, although mostly a separate story, makes Walt's feats even more impressive by showing the struggles villains like Gus Fring went through to get their power, only for Walt to take it away in Breaking Bad. Being the protagonist, Walter White had cameos in Better Call Saul and El Camino in order to make it a true Breaking Bad spin-off. While many consider Walt the main character of the franchise, that is just the first interpretation.
El Camino Made Jesse Breaking Bad's Main Character
The second viewpoint is that Jesse Pinkman is actually the main character of the Breaking Bad franchise. Although the original series puts a lot of focus on Walt, Breaking Bad is actually about Jesse being manipulated by another bad father figure, being sucked into a cycle of violence and crime by his former teacher. After all, Jesse is the only Breaking Bad character to be redeemed, escaping this cycle while other characters like Walt, Gus, Mike, and the rest are destroyed by it.
Jesse was truly made the main character of the Breaking Bad franchise with El Camino, the movie that acts as the grand finale to the main story of Breaking Bad. El Camino explains how Jesse escaped, with Better Call Saul giving more updates on Jesse's whereabouts post-El Camino. Jesse even had a cameo in Better Call Saul, meaning that he appeared in all three Breaking Bad projects. Not only was Jesse a constant presence throughout Breaking Bad, he even starred in his own movie in El Camino, making him the clear main character of the Breaking Bad franchise.
The Breaking Bad Franchise Is Secretly All About Jimmy McGill
Another viewpoint that has become more popular since Better Call Saul ended is that Jimmy McGill (aka Saul Goodman) is the main character of the Breaking Bad franchise. Better Call Saul tells how Jimmy turned from a slimy lawyer into a most-wanted criminal, throwing everything away only for Better Call Saul's Saul Goodman to end up in prisonl. Upon watching Breaking Bad again after Better Call Saul, it's impossible to see Saul apart from his Better Call Saul story, as the series transformed a fairly comedic character into someone full of depth and tragedy, possibly making him the main character of the Breaking Bad universe.
Composed of six seasons, Better Call Saul is actually longer than Breaking Bad by a whole season. On top of that, Better Call Saul is both a prequel and a sequel, telling the story of Saul and other characters years before and years after the events of Breaking Bad. Considering Saul's presence in Breaking Bad and his own series, he most likely has the most screentime of any Breaking Bad character, making him the main character from pure numbers. All this combined makes Jimmy McGill's transformation into Saul Goodman the main focus of the Breaking Bad universe, meaning that he is the franchise's main character.
The True Genius Of The Breaking Bad Franchise
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Although there are a lot of different perspectives on this issue, the true genius of the Breaking Bad franchise is that Walt, Jesse, and Saul can all be the main characters. It's perhaps besides the point to objectively prove who is the main character of Breaking Bad, as each of these three characters has so much depth that all three viewpoints can (and should) be held simultaneously. A viewer could watch Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, and El Camino three different times and almost choose a main character for each viewing. Much like in real life, everyone is the main character of their own story, and the Breaking Bad franchise is the perfect example of this.