Spoilers below for Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.
Whether or not you think Better Call Saul rivals Breaking Bad in the prestige TV canon, it’s undeniable that the shows are more closely entwined than ever. As the differences between Jimmy McGill and Saul Goodman fade away, executive producers Peter Gould and Vince Gilligan have seeded BCS with crossover cameos and consequential appearances from Breaking Bad favorites and bit-parters alike. Some, such as Gus Fring’s stoic henchman Tyrus, have been given more dimension in the spinoff series, helping to lay the groundwork for what would become a conquering criminal enterprise. Others, like Saul’s eventual muscle Huell, have thus far popped up in BCS in less detailed but perfectly pointed circumstances.
To help you keep track of the franchise’s continuity, we’ve put together this list of every character who has appeared in the flesh on both Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad. (Sorry, but Nacho’s whispered mention in Breaking Bad doesn’t count. Ditto for Stacey Ehrmantraut’s fleeting, uncredited glimpse in BB, which is too scant even for this list.) If we happened to miss something or someone, well, as Saul might advise, sue us!
Hank Schrader
Breaking Bad Debut: “Pilot†(Season 1, Episode 1)
Better Call Saul Debut: “The Guy for This†(Season 5, Episode 3)
Known For: Hunting down drug smugglers as a special agent for the DEA; jocularly jousting with his partner Steven “Gomie†Gomez; barely surviving a bloody siege by the Salmanca twins; and palling around with — before trying, and failing, to take down — his brother-in-law, incognito kingpin Walter White.
Signature Moment: The aforementioned duel with the Salamanca duo was devastating, but not nearly as much as Hank’s noble final minutes alive before a white supremacist’s bullet took his life.
Does He Survive? Yeah, no. Which makes his debut in the Saul/BB universe circa 2004 all the more bittersweet.
Steven Gomez
Breaking Bad Debut: “Pilot†(Season 1, Episode 1)
Better Call Saul Debut: “The Guy for This†(Season 5, Episode 3)
Known For: Hunting down drug smugglers as a special agent for the DEA, rolling his eyes at blustery-but-lovable partner Hank Schrader, and sporting the finest goatee this side of the New Mexico/Oklahoma border.
Signature Moment: Gomie was a loyal — if at times overly skeptical — sideman to Hank who lacked much substantial backstory. But he did get to sport a goatee-eating grin upon arresting the attorney funneling money to Gus’s jailed allies. Except then said lawyer and all the other men were violently murdered in prison at Walt’s behest. Small victories!
Does He Survive? Nope. Mercifully, his death is heard and not seen, though both we and Hank have to gaze at his prone corpse moments after Jack’s white-supremacist gang laid him out. A thankless end for a character often taken for granted.
Ed Galbraith, a.k.a. The Disappearer
Breaking Bad Debut: “Granite State†(Season 5, Episode 15)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Magic Man†(Season 5, Episode 1)
Known For: Discretely picking up well-connected criminals and — per his nickname — disappearing them into a kind of off-books Witness Protection Program under the auspices of his Best Quality Vacuum business. (Essentially, his version of Gus’s LavanderÃa Brillante.) As with most characters played by onetime Oscar nominee Robert Forster — who sadly passed last year, and was given an In Memoriam tribute at the conclusion of “Magic Man — Ed was unrelentingly droll and concise. But he also took a liking in different ways to Walter White and, as we saw in El Camino, Jesse Pinkman. An enigma till the end.
Signature Moment: Given that it was his final onscreen appearance in the Saul/BB universe, how could it not be his black-and-white back-and-forth with Gene Takovic, a.k.a. the con artist formerly known as Saul Goodman, in “Magic Man� Indeed, Ed, you have delivered to him before.
Does He Survive? Despite Forster’s untimely death, there is nothing to suggest Ed doesn’t carry on his days juggling service repairs and the clandestine escorting of known fugitives. It is, in its own way, the fondest farewell.
Peter Schuler
Breaking Bad Debut: “Madrigal†(Season 5, Episode 2)
Better Call Saul Debut: “JMM†(Season 5, Episode 7)
Known For: Running Madrigal’s fast-food division, taking “Gustavo†— as he patronizes him — under his wing and financing his meth endeavors, and rivaling fellow corporate malfeasant Lydia in the neuroses department.
Signature Moment: Story-wise, alluding to some kind of near-death experience he and Gus and shared in Chile some time ago. Though in that same BCS episode, the almost ghoulish sight and sound of him sampling various processed foods — particularly Los Pollos Hermanos’ kicked-up Spice Curls — leaves a visceral impression.
Does He Survive? His may be the only death by self-defibrillation in TV history. Which was actually less excruciating than what his Madrigal co-conspirators Gus and Lydia endured.
Nick
Breaking Bad Debut: “Problem Dog†(Season 4, Episode 7)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Breathe†(Season 4, Episode 2)
Known For: Being one of Gus’s many faceless foot soldiers, going where needed to provide security at tense desert showdowns, spy on Werner Ziegler’s engineer corps, and generally be of use in the uncomfortable dance between Fring’s New Mexico network and Don Eladio’s south-of-the-border cartel.
Signature Moment: Mostly minor moments spent standing or sitting around looking serious and not at all prescient about what’s to come …
Does He Survive? Sure doesn’t.
Victor
Breaking Bad Debut: “Mandala†(Season 2, Episode 11)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Witness†(Season 3, Episode 2)
Known For: Getting his throat sliced open by a box cutter and scaring the living bejesus out of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman.
Signature Moment: That death scene is hard to beat, but who can forget a flummoxed Victor racing off to stop Jesse from killing poor Gale? (Too late.)
Does He Survive? Nope.
Tyrus Kitt
Breaking Bad Debut: “Thirty-Eight Snub†(Season 4, Episode 2)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Sunk Costs†(Season 3, Episode 3)
Known For: Being a man of even fewer words than his ill-fated colleague, Victor. And leather jackets.
Signature Moment: Dying beside Gus Fring in a massive nursing-home explosion qualifies, though his cool, precise emptying of a sidearm clip to help stage Arturo’s death as outsider sabotage in BCS was pretty badass.
Does He Survive? Dude gets blown to smithereens, but at least makes it farther than Victor.
Krazy-8, a.k.a. Domingo Gallardo Molina
Breaking Bad Debut: “Pilot†(Season 1, Episode 1)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Gloves Off†(Season 2, Episode 4)
Known For: Giving Walt and Jesse an early test of their meth-kingpin mettle.
Signature Moment: Engaging in a prolonged duel of mental and physical fortitude with Walter White while shackled to a basement pole by his neck.
Does He Survive? Shockingly, Krazy-8 was Walt’s second kill (Krazy’s cousin Emilio choked to death on one of Walt’s minor chemical explosions), but the first by his bare hands.
Huell Babineaux
Breaking Bad Debut: “Box Cutter†(Season 4, Episode 1)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Chicanery†(Season 3, Episode 5)
Known For: His imposing size, if not his wits (pickpocketing savvy notwithstanding), in protecting and abetting Jimmy/Saul.
Signature Moment: Planting a cell phone on electricity-allergic Chuck en route to Jimmy’s bar hearing was crucial, but the sight of him peering up from his magazine, bemused as a panicked Ted Beneke literally stumbled to his accidental paralysis lives on.
Does He Survive? Sure does. Last we see the big man, he’s giving up the goods on Walt to the DEA.
Ken Wins
Breaking Bad Debut: “Cancer Man†(Season 1, Episode 4)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Switch†(Season 2, Episode 1)
Known For: Having the best name on either show? Also, being a stand-in for every cartoonish yuppie that stoked both Jimmy and Walter White’s ire.
Signature Moment: Being relatively nonplussed by his car exploding.
Does He Survive? As goes the cruel irony of Jimmy and Walt’s wending paths, yes. And he probably thrives.
Stephanie Doswell
Breaking Bad Debut: “Open House†(Season 4, Episode 3)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Inflatable†(Season 2, Episode 7)
Known For: Having the second best name next to Ken Wins. But mostly, doing her job well — so well that she caught Marie lifting a piece of silverware from one open house and a picture frame from another.
Signature Moment: Calling out Marie on her thievery. Near fisticuffs ensued!
Does She Survive? Like Ken, she is presumed to still be living well.
Francesca Liddy
Breaking Bad Debut: “Better Call Saul†(Season 2, Episode 8)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Witness†(Season 3, Episode 2)
Known For: In Saul, she’s kind and loyal and earnest, down to helping Kim pick out new releases from Blockbuster while she recovers from her car wreck. Come Breaking Bad, she’s closer to someone out of a satirical workplace cartoon, droll and resigned. Either version is a fan favorite.
Signature Moment: Shaking down and absolutely shutting down an apoplectic Walter White.
Does She Survive? Far as we know, though not without having Jesse repeatedly point a gun at her face while beating the crap out of Saul.
Fran the Waitress
Breaking Bad Debut: “Madrigal†(Season 5, Episode 2)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Rebecca†(Season 2, Episode 5)
Known For: Providing possibly the only stabilizing element in Mike’s life besides his beloved granddaughter Kaylee, by way of delivering bacon, eggs, and an uncomplicated acquaintanceship at his local diner.
Signature Moment: Generally having unwittingly served hot coffee and friendly smiles to some of America’s most sought-after criminal entrepreneurs.
Does She Survive? Assuming her diet skews healthier than her customers’, yes.
Kaylee Ehrmentraut
Breaking Bad Debut: “Caballo Sin Nombre†(Season 3, Episode 2)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Five-O†(Season 1, Episode 6)
Known For: Playing with Mike’s jury-rigged outdoor toys, clamoring for his attention while swimming and swinging, apparently not having friends besides her Pop-Pop.
Signature Moment: Frolicking poolside, unaware of the fact that terrifying cartel cousins Marco and Leonel Salamanca were stalking she and Mike from a nearby rooftop.
Does She Survive? Yes, though we’re spared her reaction to the news that Pop-Pop was put down with a bullet from Walt’s gun.
Dr. Barry Goodman
Breaking Bad Debut: “Crawl Space†(Season 4, Episode 11)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Sunk Costs†(Season 3, Episode 3)
Known For: Using his medical degree (perhaps, à la Gale, he was one of Gus’s scholarship beneficiaries?) to patch up Mr. Fring and his crew.
Signature Moment: It’s a tie between nearly letting Mike bleed out in Breaking Bad so he could first tend to Gus, and in Saul, offering his unsolicited opinion to Gus that Hector deserves to lie comatose indefinitely — and somehow living to tell.
Does He Survive? All evidence points to yes. Maybe more of Gus’s men should have mouthed off to him after all.
Marco and Leonel Salamanca
Breaking Bad Debuts: “No Más†(Season 3, Episode 1)
Better Call Saul Debuts: “Bali Ha’i†(Season 2, Episode 6)
Known For: Terrifyingly stalking people, not saying much, running mortally afoul of Schrader.
Signature Moment: The aforementioned silent threat to Mike and his family’s life was pretty iconic, but let’s be real: Marco arrogantly dragging his silver-plated ax along the pavement, only for Hank to leave a crater-sized hole in the back of his head, was as thrilling as either series got.
Do They Survive? Leonel managed to hang on after running into the force of nature known as Hank Schrader, but Gus soon ordered Mike to execute him in the hospital (only after Leonel nearly died dragging himself across the floor trying to reach and murder Walt). Beats having your brains blown out in a strip-mall parking lot.
Gale Boetticher
Breaking Bad Debut: “Sunset†(Season 3, Episode 6)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Something Beautiful†(Season 4, Episode 3)
Known For: Nerding out over Walt’s genius and nearly supplanting him as Gus’s cook du jour.
Signature Moment: His private karaoke session to Tom Lehrer’s “The Elements†was as perfect a bookend to his Better Call Saul debut as one could possibly hope for.
Does He Survive? It brings a tear to any fan’s eye recalling how poor, sweet Gale succumbed to a point-blank bullet shot by poor, sweet Jesse Pinkman at Gale’s front door. No TV geek has ever met a more poetic and violent end.
Tuco Salamanca
Breaking Bad Debut: “Crazy Handful of Nothin’†(Season 1, Episode 6)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Uno†(Season 1, Episode 1)
Known For: Being, shall we say, an excitable brute who’s as fond of testing his family’s product as he is meting out beatings to anyone for any reason at any time.
Signature Moment: Take your pick: Tuco going ham on Jimmy’s yutzy young recruits after they besmirched his abuela in Better Call Saul, or Breaking Bad–era Tuco going ham on one of his own men in a meth-induced fit of Joe Pesci-in-Goodfellas-worthy rage. That man was wound “tight tight tight!â€
Does He Survive? Emphasis on “was.†Because he’s dead. Because Hank killed him.
Hector Salamanca
Breaking Bad Debut: “Grilled†(Season 2, Episode 2)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Rebecca†(Season 2, Episode 5)
Known For: Seething in his wheelchair, scrounging for his meds while bossing Nacho and others around.
Signature Moment: Ringing Gus’s death bell resonates, but for the purest, most distilled insight into the essence of Hector Salamanca, revisit his preferred mode of discipline when dealing with a young Marco and Leonel — a visceral example of violence passed down.
Does He Survive? The man goes down in a blaze of vengeful glory, taking Gus (and Tyrus) with him. And we mean a blaze: By all appearances, he literally exploded.
Lydia Rodarte-Quayle
Breaking Bad Debut: “Madrigal†(Season 5, Episode 2)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Off Brand†(Season 3, Episode 6)
Known For: Being a neurotic, Stevia-loving department head at shady conglomerate Madrigal, which is essentially a front for her involvement as an international meth merchant.
Signature Moment: Harried, screaming into a pillow.
Does She Survive? Hell no. Death by ricin, which Walt deviously subbed into her tea in lieu of Stevia. (Technically, we never see her final breath, but she’s a goner.)
Ira
Breaking Bad Debut: “Hazard Pay†(Season 5, Episode 3)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Something Beautiful†(Season 4, Episode 3)
Known For: Owning Vamonos Pest, the fumigation company that was a front for home burglaries.
Signature Moment: Camping out for hours in printer-magnate Mr. Neff’s office in Better Call Saul while pulling off a minor heist at Jimmy’s behest.
Does He Survive? Yes, and plenty wealthier after selling Vamonos to Walt and the gang.
No-Doze
Breaking Bad Debut: “Crazy Handful of Nothin’†(Season 1, Episode 6)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Mijo†(Season 1, Episode 2)
Known For: Making the mistake of undermining his boss, Tuco.
Signature Moment: Getting absolutely pummeled by Tuco after popping off to Walter White.
Does He Survive? For a few minutes after that mauling, yes. But then he dies. And then Tuco beats him some more.
Gonzo
Breaking Bad Debut: “Crazy Handful of Nothin’†(Season 1, Episode 6)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Mijo†(Season 1, Episode 2)
Known For: Being really bummed out after Tuco beat No-Doze to death.
Signature Moment: Offering his opinion to a psychotic Tuco that leaving No-Doze’s body to rot at a junkyard wasn’t “very Christian.â€
Does He Survive? Alas, he’s with No-Doze now. After returning to the junkyard to move his friend’s body, he gets his arm crushed under a bunch of cars and bleeds to death (much to Hank’s delight).
Lawson
Breaking Bad Debut: “Thirty-Eight Snub†(Season 4, Episode 2)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Gloves Off†(Season 2, Episode 4)
Known For: Being Mike and Walt’s go-to guy for military-grade sniper rifles and such.
Signature Moment: Being perhaps the only person to tell Mike how to do something — in this case, how to fire a long-range weapon to take out Hector Salamanca — and have Mike actually listen.
Does He Survive? Unlike all the poor souls targeted by his untraceable killing machines, he does indeed.
Juan Bolsa
Breaking Bad Debut: “I.F.T.†(Season 3, Episode 3)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Sabrosito†(Season 3, Episode 4)
Known For: Wishing he were the ultimate cartel boss. And loving horses.
Signature Moment: Holding Gus down to stare in the deadened eyes of his murdered BFF and business partner, Max. (This was a bad idea.)
Does He Survive? As you may have guessed, no such luck. And Gus smiled.
Don Eladio Vuente
Breaking Bad Debut: “Hermanos†(Season 4, Episode 8)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Sabrosito†(Season 3, Episode 4)
Known For: Swimming in speedos, antagonizing (and ordering the killings of) friends and enemies, enjoying fine tequila.
Signature Moment: Another unforgettable death, shot from an unforgettable POV.
Does He Survive? The cartel king didn’t even see it coming. How would he suspect Gus’s gift of Zafiro Añejo (ubiquitous in both series) would be poisoned, especially when his benefactor drank it himself? Except Gus excused himself and puked it up. Adiós, Eladio.
Gus Fring
Breaking Bad Debut: “Mandala†(Season 2, Episode 11)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Witness†(Season 3, Episode 2)
Known For: Running as tidy a ship managing chicken joint Los Pollos Hermanos as he does a growing meth fiefdom. And being both fastidiously collected and prone to explosive demonstrations of violence.
Signature Moment: Almost impossible to choose. His demise was legendary, but that first show of real force — sacrificing poor Victor to prove a point to Walt and Jesse — left even Mike agape.
Does He Survive? It was a tribute of sorts to his stature as an all-time small-screen foe that Gus initially walked away from a lethal explosion. Only problem was that he was missing half of his face. (He’s dead.)
Mike Ehrmantraut
Breaking Bad Debut: “ABQ’†(Season 2, Episode 13)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Uno†(Season 1, Episode 1)
Known For: Grimacing, seething, tending to his granddaughter Kaylee, tolerating Saul, taking Jesse under his wing like a baby bird, loathing Walter, and committing one stealth crime after another on Gus’s behalf.
Signature Moment: The only thing Mike’s better at than killing and caring for is lecturing. To wit, his foreshadowing monologue to Walt regarding “half measures†(and, more recently, a stinging admonishment of Stacey and her support group). Ice is as cold as he.
Does He Survive? No, and it’s a sleeper (no pun intended) for most poignant death of the franchise. Walt, of all people, gets the final say in how this tough-as-nails bastard bites it. Though, strangely, there by the lake, he also provides a long-suffering man his overdue moment of peace.
Jimmy McGill, a.k.a. Saul Goodman, a.k.a. Gene Takovic
Breaking Bad Debut: “Better Call Saul†(Season 2, Episode 8)
Better Call Saul Debut: “Uno†(Season 1, Episode 1)
Known For: As Jimmy, doing his best to surpass others’ expectations and be a reputable lawyer, but flailing as of late. As Saul, running a crooked law practice that ostensibly abets criminals like Gus, Walt, and Jesse, and produces some epically awesome local TV ads. As Gene, managing a Cinnabon in an Omaha, Nebraska, mall.
Signature Moment: It may well be in the midst of season four of Better Call Saul, when Jimmy finally embraces that voice inside of him that says, “How long am I going to go on being as much of a sucker as these other schmucks?†Which, it turns out, makes the otherwise tertiary role of printer honcho Mr. Neff — who endures a humiliating admonishment from Jimmy about what separates winners from losers — pretty crucial. Although teaching dum-dum Jesse how to launder money (in what apparently is not the same nail salon he used as a makeshift office early on in BCS) in Breaking Bad was quintessential shady Saul and sympathetic Jimmy.
Does He Survive? TBD. As of the season four BCS cold open, Gene has survived a health scare but gets the sense that his days flying under the radar are finally numbered.
An earlier version of this list failed to include Mike Ehrmantraut, so let the record show that he is one of the most crucial links between Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. Our apologies to the Ehrmantraut family for the error.