The Most Heartbreaking Deaths on ‘Breaking Bad’ Ranked

Breaking Bad is much celebrated for its intricate details and genius storyline but it also touches on the devastating deaths of characters we related to and came to love. 

This post ranks the most overwhelming deaths in the crime drama series that might have made some fanatics tear up.

While Krazy-8’s death wasn’t all that sad because he was a drug dealer, it’s the experience leading up to his demise that viewers found hard to swallow. 

Krazy-8 was Walter White's first victim, laying the groundwork for the series' main villain Heisenberg to emerge. Domingo and Walter bonded when they discovered that Domingo's family owned the furniture store where he bought his teenage son's baby crib. 

As much as Walter tried to look for a reason not to kill Krazy-8, it had to be done when he noticed that Krazy-8 had concealed a piece of broken plate ready to kill him at the slightest chance. He kept saying 'I'm sorry' repeatedly as he was killing the drug dealer.

Another not-so-tragic death compared to others on the show, but still, fans couldn't help but mourn the death of their favorite villain Gus Fring.

There's no denying that Gus, the owner of Los Pollos Hermanos chicken restaurant and a methamphetamine empire, was a badass and viewers couldn't help but root for him. He may have been more dangerous than Walter but always made calculated steps and wasn't as impetuous as the latter. 

In fact, he managed to keep the meth business running round the clock under the radar of the DEA until Walt came along, and everything fell apart. 

Even worse, after Walter killed Gus, it spiraled into a chain of unfortunate events, including the unemployment of thousands and the death of several loyal employees. His death alone caused a whole restaurant chain and laundry business to collapse. 

How devastating it must have been for those employees and their families.

Another consequence of Gus's death is several people were incarcerated, including Mike's men. Mike Ehrmantraut, who worked as Gustavo's hitman, had to cover his men's families to keep their mouths shut about the former employer's dealings. 

However, Walter organized a God-awful 2-minute synchronized killing of all ten men and Mike’s incarcerated lawyer across three different prisons, executed by a Neo-Nazi gang. 

The murder sight of the unsuspecting victims was gore, horrific and chilling to the bone.

Mike signed his death warrant unknowingly when he decided to become Walter’s business partner after the death of Gustavo. The ex-cop was always cautious when it came to wiping the slate clean in the meth business. 

However, Gus's death prompted the DEA's investigation into Mike's personal affairs. He eventually became a liability when the force caught up with his lawyer as he was distributing money to Mike's men's accounts.

The saddest part about Mike's death is that Walter shot him in fits of rage when Mike wouldn't forfeit his list of men in prison. When Walt remembered that he could have asked their other associate Lydia for the list, it was too late, and Mike was bleeding to death. Mike's last words were, 'Let me die in peace', when Walter tried to apologize.

The sweet, intelligent and mild-mannered chemist was unfortunate to get caught between two narcissists. His death was sad because he was the sacrificial lamb so that Jesse and Walter could live. 

Gustavo recruited Gale as Walter's lab assistant but Walt had him replaced with Jesse, his initial partner. 

After the plot thickened and Walter killed two of Gus’s men, the only reasonable option was for Gus to eliminate Walter, but Walt convinced Jesse to murder Gale. 

It was heart-wrenching to watch Jesse struggle before pulling the trigger on Gale. It was even more heartbreaking seeing Gale pleading for his life. Gale was Jesse's first kill, followed by Todd who no one cared about.

Combo’s death was extremely sad and a consequence of Walter’s greed. Combo was one of Jesse's close friends alongside Skinny Pete and Badger, who also became his low-level meth distributors. 

After Walter and Jesse’s dealing with their initial distributor Tuco Salamanca went murky, they decided to distribute the crystal meth themselves. Walt pushed Jesse to expand their territory, forcing Combo and his friends to sell meth in unfriendly corners. As a result, Combo was murdered by rival dealers, which fans later discovered were Gustavo’s men.

Combo’s death burdened Jesse with guilt for dragging his friends into his meth business. Resultantly, he sank deeper into drug use.

Though Drew Sharp was a minor character, featuring briefly in two scenes in the show's fifth season episode 5, 'Dead Freight,' his death was one of the saddest. 

Drew was an innocent 14-year-old boy who was out on a solo adventure with his motorcycle when he ran into Walter, Jesse and Todd after pulling off their train heist, stealing gallons of meth. 

Todd shot the boy without blinking simply for being at the wrong place and the wrong time, even though the kid appeared clueless about what they had done.

They later dissolved Drew's body and belongings in hydrofluoric acid, leaving no trace and his parents' grief of dealing with his disappearance.

Breaking Bad couldn't get more brutal than Andrea's death. Andrea Cantillo was Jesse's second girlfriend, whom he met at a drug rehabilitation center. Jesse was particularly fond of her 6-year-old son Brock and would often provide for his sake. Andrea and Jesse never seemed to have a stable relationship because of the nature of his work. 

It was most excruciating to watch as Todd recklessly shot her in the back of her head as captive Jesse watched in anguish. Her death was Jesse's punishment for trying to escape the Welker compound.

Jane Margolis' death made many fans resent Walter for life. While she was no saint, she didn't deserve to die the way she did, especially when it could have been avoided. 

Jane was Jesse's landlord and later girlfriend in the show's second season. The two were somewhat bad for each other as Jesse introduced Jane to crystal meth use while Jane to heroin. Jane choked on her vomit and died after overdosing on heroin. 

Walt inadvertently flipped her onto her back as he was checking on Jesse. But the fact that he stood and watched her die was truly disturbing and horrific. Her choking sounds linger in your mind for a while. 

Jane's death caused a tragic ripple effect- the collision of planes JM 21 and Wayfarer 515, killing 167 passengers. This was due to the unsightly negligence of Jane's father, Donald Margolis, a traffic air controller who was distracted at work because of mourning his daughter.

Partners and best buddies to the end! The death of this duo was the show's most depressing as fans expected them to be the ultimate heroes, and nobody could see it coming. 

Walter's brother-in-law and the head of the DEA, Hank Schrader was Breaking Bad's champ. Every fan rooted for him. It was thus extremely depressing for the two to die side-by-side outnumbered and outgunned by the Neo-Nazi gunmen. No matter how hard Walt tried to negotiate with the Welkers not to kill Hank, it was heartbreaking to see Hank accept his gruesome fate.

It was even harder to watch because the two had already arrested Walt and finally closed the Heisenberg case they had worked on for so long.