Walter White (Breaking Bad)

“You see, technically, chemistry is the study of matter, but I prefer to see it as the study of change: Electrons change their energy levels. Molecules change their bonds. Elements combine and change into compounds. But that’s all of life, right? It’s the constant, it’s the cycle. It’s solution, dissolution. Just over and over and over. It is growth, then decay, then transformation. It’s fascinating really.” (Breaking Bad, "Pilot")

Walter White, played by Bryan Cranston, is the protagonist of Breaking Bad. He starts the series as an overqualified chemistry teacher, however, upon learning that he has terminal lung cancer, decides to cook crystal meth with a former student in order to leave money behind for his family. He begins as a meek and emasculated man who has no place in the world of drugs or cartels. However, over the five seasons of Breaking Bad, he slowly morphs into a kingpin who is feared and revered.

Walter White graces hundreds of top spots within lists of "Greatest Antiheroes/TV Characters/Fictional Characters of All Time." He is a perfect representation of what television story-telling is capable of. Before Breaking Bad, most television shows were open-ended in order to get as much content out of them as possible. Soap operas and sitcoms had most of the power and airtime, while serial dramas had less of a popular draw. However, Breaking Bad, unlocked popular interest in serial dramas, paving the way for shows like Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, and Better Call Saul. This is because Breaking Bad showed what kind of characters could be crafted over an extensive runtime, characters that couldn't be successfully explored in mediums like film or books.

Walt's transformation is a masterful display of crafting a character arc, and nothing he does ever feels out of character or poorly paced. Comparing Walt from the pilot to the finale, the character would feel borderline unrecognisable, but when taking the character step by step every episode, his change feels like the most natural course of events. Within five seasons, Walt is explored through dozens of different lenses. He is examined as a father through his relationship with his son Walter Jr, as well as his partner and former student Jesse. He is shown to be a man with a regretful past, shown via his relationship to his old business partners. Despite his somewhat pathetic introduction, he is shown to have a twisted sense of pride and purpose in what he does. All of these angles, along with Walt's transformation, have time to be developed and explored due to the amount of time given to the show, making Walter White one of the most complex and rewarding characters ever made.