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| “ | La familia es todo. (Family is all) | „ |
| ~ Hector Salamanca giving two of his nephews, Marco and Lionel, a brutal lesson about their family motto. |
| “ | Hector: The boss... can SUCK ME! Bolsa: I'd watch what I say if I were you. Hector: Who you think you are?! You should be kissing my ASS right now! Me and my family, we built this whole business! Bolsa: We all did together. Hector: No, no! Salamanca did! Salamanca MONEY! Salamanca BLOOD! Bolsa: You have to calm down. Hector: That hacienda, I PAID FOR IT! And you treat us like DOGS! Bolsa: Hector, this isn't personal! Hector: IT IS! IT IS PERSONAL-! |
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| ~ Hector to Bolsa right before his crippling stroke. |
Don Hector "Tio" Salamanca is one of the two overarching antagonists (alongside Don Eladio) of the crime drama series Breaking Bad and one of the two secondary antagonists (alongside Howard Hamlin) of its prequel series Better Call Saul.
In his characterisation, he is a ruthless drug lord who serves as the Don of the Salamanca Family as well as a high-ranking capo of The Cartel - thereby serving under the command of his superior Juan Bolsa and their leader Don Eladio. An utterly sadistic and depraving elderly crime lord who deeply values his family, Hector would raise all 4 of his nephews into becoming successors for his criminal leadership by moulding them into ruthless killers as well as cartel distributors whilst also teaching them that family is everything.
Soon enough in 2003, Hector would end up paralyzed and unable to speak following a stroke caused by his heart meds being swapped with sugar pills to amplify his medical issue as part of a plan orchestrated by his former lieutenant Nacho Varga. Although he would end up wheelchair-bound and unable to verbally communicate for the remainder of his life, Hector would continue to carry a feared reputation and have the family business continued by his nephews altogether. He is the uncle of both Lalo and Tuco Salamanca alongside both of the twins Marco and Lionel respectively, henceforth serving as the boss of the latter two within the Cartel itself. He is also the business rival and sworn archenemy of Gus Fring, whose drive for revenge was created by Hector when he murdered his partner and lover Max Arciniega in front of him under the orders of Don Eladio himself.
He was portrayed by the late Mark Margolis, who also played Alberto the Shadow in Scarface, Felix Faust in Constantine, George Lobrano in Law & Order, and Antonio Nappa in Oz.
Character Overview[]
He is identified by the DEA as Hector Salamanca of the Cartel, but they think he hasn't been a major player in the business for years.
As such, he is paralyzed and unable to speak as a result of a stroke (portrayed in Better Call Saul) and uses a brass service bell taped onto his wheelchair armrest to communicate. Generally, one bell means "yes", zero bells means "no", but sometimes Hector is able to get his message across with a flurry of bell rings and the expression on his face. It is apparent, based on his facial tics, that he has tardive dyskinesia, which can be a result of heavy or prolonged antipsychotic use (sometimes used as a sedative); he has not yet developed this condition by the time he is introduced in Season 2.
A flashback revealed that he was working for cartel patriarch Don Eladio and his second-in-command, Juan Bolsa, at the time that both up-and-coming drug kingpin Gus Fring and his romantic business partner Max Arciniega had made an overture toward the cartel. At the time, he disparaged Gus as "the Chicken Man" and a "dirty South American." Soon Hector executed Max in front of Gus, which instigated a decades-long feud between the two rivals. After Hector's paralysis, Gus regularly visits his nursing home to taunt him with news of his progress in eliminating the Cartel.
Personality[]
| “ | Same old Hector. Just wants to kill everybody. | „ |
| ~ Lalo Salamanca accurately describing his tio. |
Due to being a highly ranked cartel leader, Hector embodies the both the typical and worst traits of a crime boss. Despite often presenting himself as a clearly no nonsense, though charismatic and affable businessman, it only veils his underlying nature of being a cruel, sadistic, despicable and generally completely unappealing person. He is easily willing to kill anybody who opposes and/or displeases him, either on someone's orders or out of his own choice. When ordered to do so by Don Eladio, he quickly shot Max Arciniega in the head and taunted Gus Fring about it by saying it was his fault this happened to him. He is also despicably self-serving, as he murdered an innocent good Samaritan simply for helping one of his men when they were tied up by Mike, and then having his nephews kill said worker. To emphasize the point on this evil measure, he did it for the purpose of getting rid of any witnesses, further highlighting his selfishness. He even threatened to kill the young granddaughter of Mike Ehrmantraut, thereby disclosing that harming children is a line he will gladly cross if needed to.
| “ | Oh, you think you can negotiate with me? I say the word, my nephews go to a certain motel, pay a visit to your daughter-in-law and your little granddaughter. What do you think happens then? Consider your position carefully. | „ |
| ~ Hector threatening to kill Mike Ehrmantraut's family unless he adheres to his demands. |
In addition to having no remorse over his crimes, Hector also proved to be utterly arrogant, egocentric, petty, and selfishly envious to the core. Said envy was extent to Gus due to the latter's status as a South American and quickly winning over Eladio. It was because of this that Hector developed a deep hatred for, a mutual feeling given that he shot Gus' friend - maybe even lover - in front of his very eyes. He was also somewhat of a pervert, as he intentionally dropped a glass of water only so that he can stare at the butt of the nurse cleaning it. Despite his amniosity towards Walter White for crossing paths with his family, Hector was willing to team up with just because he hated Gus that much.
For what it was worth, however, Hector isn't totally heartless. The motto he taught his nephews is that family is the most important thing, and it's shown he truly believes this given his despair when Marco and Leonel, two of his nephews, were murdered. Out of his entire family, it seems like Lalo is the favorite - given their close relationship and the fact they committed crimes in the past - He was devastated when he thought Lalo died, and doesn't bother hiding his joy when he realises Lalo is alive, and when he calls him again after a few weeks. He also tried to make Tuco his successor when it comes to making business in Albuquerque, as confirmed by Juan Bolsa and Tuco's influence over the region by 2008.
| “ | I am the Cartel. | „ |
| ~ Hector to Gus. |
A man with an insane ego, Hector is easily angered by simply stopping his plans or pointing out someone is more powerful than he is. Whenever something bad happens, he tends to react angrily - Best shown when he hears Tuco knifed a guy in jail and got put in solitary confinement, knocking over a table in anger over the fact his nephew couldn't handle six months behind bars without causing any harm. This trait, alongside his sociopathy and sadism, made him feared by many, but not even slightly liked by his fellow cartel dons, with Eladio mocking Hector, and the man himself stating the rest of the Cartel treats him and his family like dogs despite what they did. A stubborn man, Hector constantly tried to take over the business of Nacho Varga's father, and started distrusting the man when he refused, which proven to be his undoing when Nacho caused the stroke that rendered him stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. When he found out, he shot Nacho's corpse several times as one last act of spite.
Hector had no respect towards anyone but his family, even viewing Don Eladio himself as someone below him - constantly insulting him and refusing to follow his orders. He also holds an immense disliking for the DEA, not even contemplating the thought of ratting someone out to them, even if it's about his own nephew's death. Despite this, he still has respect for Mike due to his "giant balls" and thinks that Tuco should respect the elders - this being the reason why he lets him sit in jail.
Known Victims[]
- Max Arciniega - Shot in the head on Don Eladio's orders.
- Unnamed Good Samaritan - Shot in the face off-screen, mentioned.
- Ximenez Lecerda (indirectly) - Shot by the Cousins on Hector's orders.
- Unnamed Hotel Owner - Tortured and burned alive off-screen, mentioned.
- Gustavo Fring - Blown up with a pipe bomb to avenge the death of his family and friends.
- Tyrus Kitt - Blown up along with Gus.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- He was originally supposed to be the main antagonist of Breaking Bad's third season, but that idea had to be scrapped when Tuco was killed off early into Season 2 instead of staying around for the entire season as originally planned.
- He eventually becomes one of the two main antagonists for Better Call Saul's second and third seasons.
- Hector and Lalo are the only Salamancas to be referred to as Dons, implying they're the highest-ranked Salamancas in the Cartel by 2004.
External Links[]
- Hector Salamanca on the Breaking Bad Wiki.
