Breaking Bad had an interesting way of making viewers somehow sympathize with the "bad guys" and loathe the "good guys." It depended, of course, on just how bad or good the character was.
There were some bad-to the-bone characters on the show and others who fans might argue were simply misunderstood. So who was the most and least liked of them all? Here's a ranking of the main characters, from least liked to most.
Todd Alquist
An absolutely despicable excuse for a human, Todd was a clear sociopath. He had no regard for human life and cared only about himself. He shot an innocent young boy on a bike in the middle of the desert, simply because the boy saw something he shouldn't.
Then, he executed Jesse's girlfriend Andrea, right in front of her young son, with zero regard for either of them. Todd had absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
Skyler White
Interestingly, Skyler was an innocent party in all of this. Yet somehow, she was one of the least likable characters on the show. Perhaps it was the way she treated Walt and the fact that maybe she contributed in some way to his lack of self-confidence.
But then, while fans were rooting for Walt to become a strong, confident man, forgetting the fact sometimes that this involved the dark underbelly of the drug world), Skyler just kept getting in the way.
Lydia Rodarte-Quayle
There's a reason Lydia was the object of Todd's affections: she was almost as cold and callous as he was. She pretended in the real world to be a successful and moral businesswoman. But behind the scenes, she was critical to the drug trade.
It was Lydia, in fact, who ordered Walt's murder, and she who Walt made sure would get what was coming to her before he died. No one really liked Lydia, they just needed her.
Marie Schrader
Annoying from the get-go, Marie seemed aimless and depressed. She had an issue with petty theft and liked to insert herself into other people's business, especially her sister Skyler's.
Marie wasn't necessarily disliked by people but she wasn't liked either. And her quirks, like being obsessed with the color purple to the point of bathing her home in it, were more weird than endearing.
Gus Fring
It's odd to say that Gus was likeable, but his public persona was charming, hard-working, and focused on making sure his customers and employees at Los Pollos Hermanos were always happy. He provided service with a smile and took great pride in the quality of his work.
But behind the scenes, Gus was anything but likable. He was cruel, menacing, and unforgiving. He didn't crack a smile, ever, and laid down the law, sometimes by showing enemies or those who crossed him the barrel of a gun.
Walter White, Jr.
Views were polarizing on Walt's son Walter Jr., who seemed to, on the one hand, idolize his father, but on the other, to want to protect his mother. No one can fault him for that.
Yet for some reason, viewers weren't too keen on the young man. Perhaps it was his close association with Skyler, the fact that he was closer to his uncle Hank than to his father, or the way he grew distant from Walt over time. And what was up with his insistence that people call him Flynn all of a sudden? For these puzzling reasons, Walter Jr. falls in the middle of the pack.
Hank Schrader
Hank was the "good guy" in all of this, an upstanding DEA special agent who would take down his own brother-in-law if he was guilty of a crime. And indeed, he tried to do just that when he figured out what was going on.
For this reason, fans didn't like him much. However, Hank's upbeat personality, goofy jokes, and desire to be a good person, along with his unwavering commitment to his job and to rid the streets of harmful drugs made him someone worth iring.
Walter White
Walter White isn't number-one on this list because, while he began as a pretty likeable character, he descended so far into his own ego that it was tough to continue to find him likeable (though fans continued to be fascinated by him). He began treating everyone around him as though they were pawns in his game, even his own wife.
He became so drunk with power that he likely couldn't even stand himself and what he had become in the end. And while Walter White remained a truly likeable guy, his Heisenberg persona? Not so much.
Jesse Pinkman
While fans started to not like what Walter had become by the end, they ironically started to feel more comion towards Jesse. He started off as an annoying, entitled and troubled young man and quickly emerged as someone with a true moral com.
Jesse cared about people and was put through a lot because of Walter. And fans began to like him more and more because of it. Even though he was aimless and lazy when he was first introduced, he really came into his own, oddly after going way too far down a very dark path.
Mike Ehrmantraut
It's tough not to like Mike, despite his monotonous voice, general lack of empathy, and consistently dejected attitude. You won't get much in the way of excitement from this guy, but he's a lethal force who can take down a bunch of guys half his age, both with wit and physical skill.
Mike had the brawn, the brains, and an unwavering love for his grandchild (and guilt about his son's death) to fuel him to be a truly likeable guy, even when he did despicable things for even more despicable people.