Is Nacho Varga Really a "Good Guy" in the Breaking Bad Universe? A Deeper Look

As an avid Breaking Bad universe fan and content creator, I get asked this question a lot – is Nacho Varga truly a "good guy"? At first glance, it may seem that Nacho has some redeeming qualities. However, when we dive deeper into his full arc across Better Call Saul‘s 6 seasons, his moral compass is much more questionable and complex. Let‘s analyze the evidence!

Nacho‘s Criminal Background

First, it‘s important to understand Nacho‘s full backstory. Introduced in Better Call Saul season 1 in 2002, Nacho is a member of the Salamanca drug cartel, working under the erratic and violent Tuco Salamanca. He quickly moves up the ranks to become one of Tuco‘s trusted lieutenants.

Nacho is a career criminal – he‘s been selling drugs and involved in organized crime since at least the 1990s according to the BB timeline. This alone makes him hard to qualify as a "good guy."

By the later seasons of BCS, Nacho has become a full-fledged member of the cartel command structure, working closely with kingpins like Hector Salamanca and Juan Bolsa.

Nacho‘s Body Count: At Least 6 Kills

In his time with the Salamancas, Nacho carries out various criminal acts including:

• Threatening and attacking multiple gang members and associates
• Murdering the driver during a Los Pollos Hermanos supply truck heist
• Plotting to kill Tuco by switching out his drugs to trigger a deadly overdose
• Participating in the assassination of Winner owner Fred Whalen
• Killing one of Gus‘s operatives after being forced to destroy his own car
• Taking his own life in front of the Salamancas

While not as prolific of a killer as the Salamancas themselves, Nacho resorts to lethal violence multiple times to resolve problems.

Nacho‘s Motivations – Family Over Money

However, Nacho does have some redeeming qualities rarely seen in the criminal underworld of the BB universe. A big insight into his motivations comes in a S4 flashback:

Nacho‘s First Crime – Stealing Pills for His Sick Father

We learn Nacho actually got into the drug world desperation to pay for his beloved father Manuel‘s expensive medical treatment. Unlike Walt and Jesse who get seduced by big money, Nacho becomes a criminal to save a loved one.

Later when Hector Salamanca threatens his father to force Nacho into obedience, Nacho is willing to risk his own life to defy Hector and protect his innocent father:

"He‘s got nothing to do with this…I‘ll do what you want, just leave my papá out of it."

Family is Nacho‘s sole priority, not greed. This glimmer of humanity for his father makes him far more sympathetic than Hector and other hardcore cartel gangsters.

Nacho‘s Defiance of the Salamancas to Protect the Innocent

Another example of Nacho‘s moral lines is when Gus Fring forces him to infiltrate the Mexican construction company to drive a violent wedge between them and the Salamancas. Nacho shows some defiance when the plan requires an innocent family to be terrorized:

Nacho Refusing to Harm the Innocent Vega Family

He pushes back hard against Fring:

"You want to use an innocent family? … I won‘t do it."

This shows Nacho is not just a cold-blooded criminal – he has some boundaries he won‘t cross when it comes to harming regular innocent people. That‘s a moral line neither Fring nor the Salamancas themselves hold.

Nacho‘s Ultimate Sacrifice for his Father

Perhaps the strongest evidence of Nacho‘s character is his ending arc across Season 6. When he realizes Lalo Salamanca has survived the assassination attempt, Nacho knows his betrayal of the cartel means certain death for him and his father.

Rather than just run, Nacho instead hatches a dangerous plan with Mike to protect his father at the cost of his own life. The depth of Nacho‘s sacrifice becomes clear in his final conversation with his father:

Nacho‘s Tearful Final Goodbye to His Father

The devastation on Nacho‘s face shows how agonizing this decision is for him. But by luring the Salamancas into killing him, Nacho ultimately succeeds in sparing his innocent father from their retaliation.

Very few criminals in the BB universe display this level of self-sacrifice purely for a loved one‘s well-being over self-preservation.

Nacho vs Other Criminals – A Matter of Degree

When analyzing Nacho‘s moral compass, it‘s useful to compare him to other prominent criminals in the shows:

Criminal Comparison Chart

As we can see, while Nacho is a career criminal who kills for the cartel, he still displays more empathy, honor, and moral limits than the true sociopaths like Tuco and Hector. He‘s arguably exceeded by Mike Ehrmantraut who only kills for practical necessity.

But Nacho is certainly no saint – his body count and crimes would land him in prison for life!

Expert Analysis – An Antihero, Not a Hero

Based on Nacho‘s arc and persona, most Breaking Bad experts would characterize him not as a clear-cut hero, but more as an antihero:

• Rolling Stone: "Nacho has become one of the most righteous thieves and murderers we’ve ever seen on TV."

• Vince Gilligan: "I think he did the best with the crappy cards he was dealt…I personally find him very heroic."

• Michael Mando: "Nacho, in my eyes, is the only person breaking good."

The consensus seems to be that while Nacho is a criminal, he operates by his own moral code that is above the true villains in the BB universe. He commits bad deeds, but ultimately sacrifices himself for a heroic cause – his father.

So in summary – no, Nacho Varga is definitely not a truly "good guy" by any traditional definition. But in the criminal underworld of the Breaking Bad universe, he demonstrates more character, empathy and righteousness than nearly anyone else in the game. And that‘s what makes him such a compelling fan favorite!