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"Mature Content!" |
| “ | Look, the day I go in with this, it's the last day of my career, Marie. I'm going to have to walk in there, look those people in the eye and admit that the person I've been chasing the past year is my own brother-in-law. It's over for me. Ten seconds after I tell this story, I'm a civilian. Then how can we help Skyler when she comes to her senses? When I go in there, I'm bringing proof. Not suspicion. I can be the man who caught him, at least. | „ |
| ~ Hank to his wife, Marie. |
| “ | It was you. All along, it was you! You son of a bitch. You drove into traffic to keep me from that laundry. (...) That call I got telling me Marie was in the hospital... that wasn't Pinkman. You had my cell number. You killed ten witnesses to save your sorry ass. You bombed a nursing home. Heisenberg. Heisenberg! You lying, two-face sack of shit. | „ |
| ~ Hank confronting Walter White after finding out he was Heisenberg |
| “ | What? You want me to beg? You're the smartest guy I've ever met... and you're too stupid to see... that he made up his mind ten minutes ago. Do what you're gonna d- | „ |
| ~ Hank's last words before being killed by Jack Welker. |
Henry R. "Hank" Schrader, or simply Hank Schrader, is the secondary antagonist of the crime drama series Breaking Bad and a minor antagonist in Season 5 of its prequel series Better Call Saul.
He is a DEA agent who seeks to take down the druglord Heisenberg, unaware that it is his brother-in-law, Walter White. Hank is also faced with numerous threats from the rival drug cartels which takes a toll on his mental health as the series progresses, and eventually starts taking more extreme measures to find "Heisenberg" and arrest him.
Hank was portrayed by Dean Norris.
His Good Ranking[]
What Makes Him Admirable?[]
General/Background[]
- Served as a DEA agent for around 20 years, always doing his best, which made him a hero in the eyes of his nephew Walt Jr.
- Felt immense remorse for cheating on his wife Marie while drunk just a few hours before their marriage.
- In spite of his flaws, Hank is overall a well-meaning and extremely brave man who proves more than willing to get in deep for the right purpose. Hank’s measureless bravery is shown when he refuses to give in to Jack Welker, telling him he can “go f-ck himself” knowing Welker fully intends to kill him in any regard.
- In addition, despite his ways of dealing with criminals and investigations in general, he is presented as one of the sharpest investigators and the main person who took care of uncovering the drug lord who controlled the southwestern United States, even though he was his brother-in-law.
Better Call Saul[]
- After accepting Saul's offer of making Krazy-8 a DEA informant, he made sure that his identity as a snitch is protected, dropping all charges.
Breaking Bad[]
Season 1[]
- Managed to recover from $700,000 from a dead drop, and invited all his friends for a drink afterwards for doing a good job.
- Led a meth lab bust where he recovered another $700,000 dollars.
- While it turned out to be a major mistake, he allowed Walt to hop in on a ride along and watch Hank do his job.
- Once he thinks Walt Jr. is doing marijuana, he tries to persuade him that it's a poor lifestyle.
- Upon finding out about the mysterious Heisenberg and his amazingly pure meth, he makes it his life mission to catch him and put him behind bars.
- Once he finds out about Walt's cancer, he comforts him and makes it clear he'll take care of his family if anything bad happens to him.
- Believed Walt should take the money from Elliot Schwartz, who offered to pay for his cancer treatment, but then admitted Walt should have the right to die on his own terms.
Season 2[]
- After his wife shoplifted, he got her a behavioral therapist, who Marie said helped her deal with problems.
- Apologizes to a kid once Marie runs over his toy car and gives him money to buy a new one.
- Comforts Skyler once she breaks down in front of him while trying to encourage her to talk to her sister.
- Went looking for Walt who had disappeared as well as posted wanted ads in his neighborhood and even at his station.
- Killed Tuco Salamanca, a dangerous and psychotic drug kingpin, Although it was actually in self-defense, after he confused Jesse's identity.
- Despite the fact they've been mocking him, he goes to help the agents who got injured during an explosion.
- Placed a charity fund at the station to finance Walt's treatment.
- Drives Walt when he is in the process of divorcing (which did not materialize) from Skyler and tried to cheer the latter up.
- Arrested James Kilkelly when he believed to be Heisenberg, even if he was very quickly proven wrong. Also lets Badger be released from detention for his help.
- Threw a party in celebration once Walt entered remission.
- Once he believed Walt Jr. had a bit too much tequila, he tried to get Walt to stop pouring him more.
- After Walt got into a confrontation with a police officer Hank used his connections to help him avoid any charges.
Season 3[]
- Once he felt like he's getting close to solving the Heisenberg case, he decided to stay in Albuquerque instead of going to El Paso so he could work on the case.
- Upon being tricked into thinking Marie was in the hospital after a car crash, he rushed in to the hospital.
- After brutally beating up Jesse Pinkman after losing his cool, he feels remorse for it and calls the paramedics.
- Is honest with his bosses about what happened with Jesse despite being encouraged by Marie to lie and say he was acting in self-defence.
- Kills Marco Salamanca and heavily injures his twin Leonel, who both were dangerous cartel assassins who killed dozens, Although again it was self-defense.
- Was willing to comfort Walt after being tricked into thinking he has a gambling addiction.
Season 4[]
- Agree to enter Tim Roberts investigation on Gale Boetticher death, even though he was suspended from the unit and on disability.
- Despite Heisenberg's nature as a drug dealer and his general low view on criminals, he didn't want him dead, and expresses sadness when Gale Boetticher, who he originally assumed to be Heisenberg's true identity, died before being caught. Overall, he has sympathy for Gale despite all the insults, pointing out he could've done something great if he wasn't a criminal.
- Asking Steven Gomez to release his wife after she was arrested for stealing during home visits.
- He begins to investigate Gustavo Fring once he finds proof he might be connected to Gale.
- When Hector Salamanca "agreed" to report to the DEA he agreed to leave his secure home despite his family's warning of retaliation by Gus or the cartel.
- While part of his anger at Gus' death is because of selfishness, it's also because he died instead of actually getting punished in form of going behind bars, proving for the second time he doesn't believe death to be a good way to face consequences.
- Allows Walt Jr. and Holly to stay with him to give Walt and Skyler a chance to work through their problems after the latter fakes a suicide attempt.
Season 5[]
- Starts investigating Mike Ehrmantraut to tie up loose ends about the Gus Empire.
- Comforts Walt when he fakes crying.
- After the murder of 10 prisoners he feels shaken, albeit partially due to his obsession but also as a result of the failure and as a relief he drinks with Walt and fantasizes with him about his days leading a patrol in the forest.
- When he realises Walt is Heisenberg, he makes sure he will end up behind bar and also warned Skyler against leaning on her husband's side (although in practice he destroyed her support for him).
- Searched for incriminating evidence against Walt and refused to report to his superiors, since the day Walt was interrogated it would be the last day of his career.
- Stops Marie from kidnapping Walt's infant daughter Holly.
- Stops Jesse from burning down Walt's house and when Jesse begins to cry about Walt poisoning Brock (a 6 year-old boy who is the son of Jesse’s girlfriend Andrea Cantillo), Hank calms him down by telling him that Walt won’t get away with his crimes any longer to comfort Jesse and cheer him up. He then offers Jesse a chance to team up to take down Walt.
- With Jesse and Gomez's help, he managed to arrest Walt, although that ends very quickly.
- Tried to bring down Jack Welker and his gang in his last moments alive.
- He also tried to protect him best friend Steven Gomez from been kill, but he failed.
- Seconds before death, he shows he still has respect for Walt despite all the hatred, calling him "the smartest guy [he's] ever met".
- Although Walt's arrest ended quickly, it had an impact even after his death, as Hank's investigation pushed his family and Walt himself to report the latter's true identity.
- He also prevents Jesse from taunting on arrested Walt.
What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]
- He is a massive jerk and has serious anger issues:
- In Seasons 3 and 4, he becomes seriously mad at his wife, Marie, for no reason while he was recovering from his attack by the Salamanca twins.
- He frequently gets angry at his friend and partner Steve Gomez, who frequently has to ask him to calm down during his investigations.
- In Season 1, he harasses a prostitute named Wendy and jokingly tells her to give Walt Jr. a blowjob as a way to intimidate his nephew into not dealing meth.
- He often makes rude comments in front of his young nephew. In Season 5, he even gossips with his wife about Junior's disability while the latter listens to them.
- He has serious moments of unjustified anger where he beats up people, such as Jesse in Season 3 (although he did feel remorse for it), Walt in Season 5, and starting a bar fight for no reason in Season 2.
- He throws around several racist remarks, especially in the earlier seasons, for example, calling Mexican people "beaners," although it's mostly in jest.
- Despite his hatred of criminals, he's willing to bend the rules when it comes to his own family. He pulls strings so that Walt Jr. and Marie won't be arrested for underage drinking and shoplifting, respectively. However, he did send Marie to a behavioral therapist because of it. He was also unimpressed when Walt claimed to have bought marijuana from Jesse and when he later claimed to be a gambling addict.
- He also shows immense hypocrisy by smoking an illegal Cuban cigar, claiming that "forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest".
- He has an immense hatred for criminals in general and a tendency to be extremely lethal towards them, often thinking poorly of them and mocking their deaths in the earlier seasons. At one point, he says all criminals should be stomped on like cockroaches.
- He has a very proud and inflated ego. It becomes incredibly clear he pursues "Heisenberg" not because he genuinely cares for everyone's safety, but because he wants to fuel his ego by being the one to catch him. In fact, while he does feel sympathy for Gale and is angry at Gus' death because he deserved prison, it's also partially because he didn't get to be the one to arrest him.
- In the end, it's his pride that gets him killed, as he had to gloat to Marie on the phone about how he caught Walt instead of just delivering him to prison right away, leaving before Jack and his gang could arrive. His ego also made him refuse medical treatment after the aforementioned attack, which Marie requested he receive. When he realized she spent more on treatment than he wished, he was furious with Marie and didn't appreciate her favor at all despite how much aid it provided him.
- Some of the methods he uses against criminals are unprofessional, illegal, and even harm the dignity of those involved:
- Many of his investigations are based on mere suspicions.
- He physically involves himself in investigations and spies on suspects, even when his superiors ask him to stop. He even continued for a short time in Season 5 after he had already become a station manager.
- During his search for a meth trailer, he follows a trailer of private individuals who almost reported him.
- He arrests Hugo Archilleya, a genuinely friendly and chill guy, for possessing a small amount of marijuana while working at a school, despite it being a meth investigation, resulting in him getting fired.
- He almost ruins the deal with Tortuga just because he was mad at Pinocchio and his slow way to spy on the cartel.
- He begins, albeit with a logical and still tenuous reason, to investigate Los Pollos Hermanos even after Gus was taken in for questioning and Hank's associates did not recognize an unusual procedure to investigate. The investigation not only fails, but also endangers his entire family. Worse, he also asks Walt for help driving him to the drug stash sites, which further justified Gus' decision to get rid of Walt and his family.
- He ignored Jesse's concerns over being killed by Walt regarding their plan to catch him, even telling Gomez that if Jesse was killed, it wouldn't be a problem, as it would be evidence against Walt on tape.
External Links[]
- Hank Schrader on the Heroes Wiki
- Hank Schrader on the Breaking Bad Wiki
- Hank Schrader on the Guile Heroes Wiki
[]
 Inconsistently Admirable
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Animated Features Live-Action Features Live-Action Television See Also | ||
 /  Inconsistently Admirable
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Walter White | Jesse Pinkman | Nacho Varga | Hank Schrader | Mike Ehrmantraut | ||