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"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | What do I want? Respect. I want to make my own decisions, go my own way. I don't want anyone to even think of playing me. And I don't want to be looking over my shoulder. | „ |
| ~ Nacho explaining to Don Eladio what he wants. |
| “ | You are screwed. You want the Cartel to blame me for Lalo. But if they catch me, and make me talk? Ooh... That is not good for you, is it? Even if I disappear, everyone's gonna smell your stink all over it. The only way that this works for you is with me dead. Alright. Whatever bullshit way you want the story to go, I will make it go. But... I need one thing. My dad. I need to know that he will be safe. | „ |
| ~ Nacho expressing his goal to ensure his father Manuel's safety. |
| “ | Him? You think the... Chicken Man? What a joke. Alvarez has been paying me for years. Years, but you know what? I would've done it for free because I hate every last one of you psycho. Sacks. Of shit. I opened Lalo's gate. And I would do it again, and I'm glad what they did to him. He's a soulless pig. And I wish I killed him with my own hands, and you know what else, Hector? I put you in that chair. Oh yeah, your heart meds? I switched them for sugar pills. You were dead and buried, and I had to watch this asshole bring you back. So when you are sitting in your shitty nursing home, and you're sucking down on your Jell-O night after night for the rest of your life, you think of me! You twisted FUCK! | „ |
| ~ Nacho's last words to Hector before attacking Bolsa and subsequently taking his own life. |
Ignacio "Nacho" Varga is a major character in the crime drama series Better Call Saul, the prequel/sequel to Breaking Bad.
He was a criminal who had formerly been affiliated with both the Cartel and Salamanca Family, starting out as the right-hand man of Tuco Salamanca before going on to work for the latter's uncle Hector Salamanca following Tuco's arrest. Following this, Nacho played a bigger role in the Cartel to the point of becoming the one in command of the Salamanca turf in Albuquerque. Despite this, however, he grows more unhappy with the Cartel's ruthlessness as both the lives of himself and his father are put in danger - most particularly when he ends up being forced to collaborate with Hector's archenemy, Gus Fring, against the Cartel.
He was portrayed by Michael Mando.
What Makes Him Magnificent?[]
- Nacho is consistently an affable, deeply sympathetic, and cunning criminal who outwits the entire Juarez cartel including Tuco, Hector and even Lalo.
- His debut has him talk down the infamously ill-tempered and insane Tuco Salamanca from killing Jimmy and a couple of skateboarders, establishing him as both charismatic and a lighter shade of black compared to the rest of the cartel.
- When he gets arrested for supposedly kidnapping the Kettlemans, he uses his contacts to Jimmy to quickly get his name cleared.
- He manages to make multiple street deals behind the back of someone as notoriously paranoid as Tuco without him noticing.
- He outsmarts and robs the arrogant criminal Daniel Wormald of all his drugs and forces him to give him his car in exchange for giving back his baseball cards.
- He arranges Tuco's imprisonment together with Mike when he realizes Tuco is growing even more unstable then before.
- When Hector shows himself to be an even worse boss than Tuco and tries to force his dad into a life of crime, he pulls off a complicated scheme to switch his heart meds with sugar pills that would have killed Hector if it wasn't for Gus' interference.
- He may spend a good portion of the story as Gus' blackmailed mole but not only is this not due to any blunder on his part, he also does an excellent job in this role.
- Even while still heavily suffering from his injuries, he manages to kill a gangster that was trying to ambush the Salamanca twins.
- He salvages several drug stashes from a house that already is being raided by a SWAT team without any of them noticing, earning him Lalo's trust.
- He distracts Lalo by heating an excessive amount of oil in a pan, creating thick smoke to lure Lalo into the kitchen. This diversion allowed Gus' mercenaries to position themselves for an ambush. Although the assassins failed to kill Lalo, it wasn’t a mistake on Nacho’s part.
- When being hunted by the cartel and staged to die by Gus, he escapes the ambush and even evades the Salamanca cousins multiple times.
- He willingly turns himself in to Gus in exchange for Mike (and only Mike since he doesn't trust Gus at all), guaranteeing his father's safety.
- Even in his last moments he gives a scathingly awesome speech to the Salamanca family and Gus, revealing that he crippled Hector before taking Bolsa hostage. He then shoots himself, dying under his own terms after having ensured the safety of his beloved father.
What Makes Him a Baddie?[]
- He threatens to have Jimmy tortured or killed if he doesn't get him released.
- He robs his business associate Daniel Wormald as soon as he gets the chance.
- He is a hardened criminal, having his whole life being deeply involved in drug trade.
- He gets a rival gang wiped out by the Cousins by framing them for killing Arturo.
- He takes quite a noticeable amount of pride in having crippled Hector for life.
External Links[]
- Nacho Varga at the Villains wiki
- Nacho Varga at the Heroes wiki
- Nacho Varga at the Breaking Bad wiki
- Nacho Varga at the Villainous Benchmark wiki
- Nacho Varga at the Inconsistently Admirable wiki
[]
 /  Magnificent Baddies
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