Tuco Salamanca

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“	No-Doze: Just remember who you're working for. Tuco: What did you say? No-Doze: I'm just saying, they got to know that they're working for you. Tuco: Like they don't already know that? Are you saying that they're stupid? No-Doze: No, I'm just saying. Tuco: Okay, so you're not saying that they're stupid? So I don't understand. Are you saying that I'm stupid? No-Doze: No, come on, Tuco, I'm just... I'm just saying. Tuco: No, you're just SPEAKING FOR ME! LIKE I AIN'T GOT THE GODDAMN SENSE TO SPEAK FOR MYSELF! Is that it? Is that what you're doing?	„
	~ Tuco demonstrating his poor listening skills by mistaking No-Doze's supportive comment for an insult just before killing him.

Tuco Salamanca is a major antagonist in the crime drama series Breaking Bad and a supporting antagonist in its prequel series Better Call Saul.

He is a psychotic and unpredictable Mexican drug kingpin who became the temporary distributor for Walter White and Jesse Pinkman. He is known for his violent outbursts and intimidating behaviour, which made him the archenemy of Hank Schrader as the DEA agent had to kill him to put an end to his horrible life and this left Hank with PTSD as a result.

He was portrayed by Raymond Cruz.

What Makes Him Pathetic?[]

While Hector enforces the "family is everything" motto within the Salamanca family and shows that he cares for his nephews on many different occasions, Lalo acts as a charming and faux affably evil sadist who can be feared and loved at the same time, and Marco and Leonel are silent but deadly antagonists, Tuco is a bloodthirsty maniac who is a member of the dangerous Cartel founded by Don Eladio.
Even before meeting Walt and Jesse, he forced Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman to watch him break the legs of two skateboarders just because they insulted his grandma. He also implicitly intended to torture the two dudes to death before Jimmy intervened and talked him out of it, which resulted with the skateboarders getting one of their legs broken instead.
He often "tests" his employees with his eyes and if they don't pass the "test" he kills them, for no logical reason.
He brutally beats the elderly Mike Ehrmantraut simply for bumping into his car while trying to park.
He severely beats Jesse just for not letting him get his favourite drug (but Jesse understandably tried to take the meth as Tuco didn’t want to pay for it) and insults him afterwards.
He infamously bludgeons his own henchman No-Doze to death all because he spoke out of line and what No-Doze said was something that Tuco thought was disrespectful to Walt, Jesse and Tuco.
He tried to kill Hank during a shootout which caused the latter's PTSD given he was horrified by having to shoot and kill a man and let down his "tough cop" persona more than once.
His death also led to the Cousins killing random people throughout Season 3 as they are trying to avenge him.
Despite having some comedic moments, they don't detract from how unhinged and vile he is and he's presented more seriously than most of the other villains and even NPEs in the series.
He initially felt remorse for killing No-Doze and Dog Paulson, but brushed off the former's death and felt "kinda bad" for shooting the latter.

What Makes Him A Pinhead?[]

Despite being Albuquerque's second biggest drug lord and having a large gang at his disposal, he never shows any feats of actual intelligence.
He murdered one of his gang members due to poor listening skills as he assumed that No-Doze was insulting Walt and Jesse when in reality, he was just trying to support them by reminding them not to forget who they're working for. Furthermore, Tuco could have simply asked No-Doze for clarification rather than beating him to death and he even refused to listen to his minion when he tried to clear up the wording mistake.
- It was Dog Paulson's senseless murder that prompted Nacho to seek revenge on him with the help of Mike, which landed him in prison.
He was also angry that Gonzo had disappeared and believed that he was working with the DEA, even though the latter was killed trying to treat No Doz's body.
He beats Mike when the police arrive and even hits his eyes in right front of them. It would have been even worse if he hadn't sent Nacho with the drugs he kept in his car.
- His activity also prompted Hector to send Mike to testify that Tuco's gun was his own, prompting the latter to threaten Mike's granddaughter.
In addition, although Hector managed to get a part of his sentence reduced, he got into trouble in prison for stabbing a guard for no reason, which likely further escalated his sentence.
- Even Hector notes that all he had to do was 6 months in jail, But it was just wholly impossible for Tuco do that because of his impulsivity and inability to control himself and his anger.
He has no idea what CPR is or how it actually works, as he expected Walt and Jesse to use it to treat No-Doze's fractured skull, even though it did nothing at all and was too late since No-Doze had no pulse.
He is almost completely incapable of calming down once he is angry.
He does not understand at all that Walt and Jesse are trying to poison him, he was saved from poisoning only thanks to his uncle Hector and instead of understanding what is happening he is angry at him for dropping his meal.
After he realizes that Walt and Jesse were trying to hurt him or his uncle he holds Jesse down with threats while listening to Walt's confession about trying to poison him. This gives Jesse the advantage to beat him and then steal his gun and shoot him, leaving him wounded when Hank arrives.
He ends up losing his gunfight with Hank badly as he spends his last moments loading his gun as the heroic officer waits for Tuco to be in shooting range before Tuco is shot in the head and dies cathartically, as Walt and Jesse would both be safe and Hank could finally stand up for himself rather than acting all high and mighty for a change.

Trivia[]

Tuco is a unique example of a Pathetic Pinhead as while it is true that he cannot count as a Hate Sink due to his many laughably evil and evil is cool moments as well as his psychotic behavior coming off as intimidating (which gives him some complexity), he is still an immature and unpredictable lunatic who kills people over mere misunderstandings that are easily fixable, has a hard time controlling his anger and is very impulsive.
He is the opposite of his cousin Lalo, who is a Magnificent Baddie.
- He is also the only member of the Salamanca family to be a PP.
Tuco was originally meant to be around for the entirety of Season 2 of Breaking Bad, but since his actor Raymond Cruz felt uncomfortable playing the role of a violent and brutal psychotic like Tuco, the character had to be killed off early. Had the plan not been changed, this could have affected Tuco's PP status and he may not have qualified at all, instead being a Magnificent Baddie (albeit possibly).