Was Walt (Breaking Bad) always a bad guy or did he become one?

[RRR3]

I think he was always a piece of shit personally. Not to say he didn’t have positive qualities but he was always full of darkness IMO.

[ArbitraryWater]

we didnt see much of him before, but beneath all that "shyness" and how much he held back, he didnt seem to be a very caring or thoughtful person, no.

wouldnt say full of darkness tho

[Im Still Ballin]

Extremely bitter because he played himself out of a billion-dollar empire he helped create. Oh, and don't forget the physically disabled son, as well as the shitty job.

I don't think it's fair to paint him as either 'good' or 'bad.' He was, in some regards, a very real person: a human being we've likely come across before. He had character flaws; we all do.

I believe his issue was he was scared of having his intellect challenged. So, naturally, as humans do, he self-sabotaged. He limited himself to being a high school teacher. He broke up with Gretchen because she was from a wealthy family; I think he didn't like the optics of the relationship.

My diagnosis? Extremely narcissistic, egotistical, and insecure. Those were his character flaws and personality disorders from the beginning when he was young even. It caused him to be, as Hank put it best, 'an overqualified underachiever.'

Walt was that kid who was smart but always had to be right.

The cancer was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

I don't consider him, in the beginning, an evil person; just a flawed one. The Breaking Bad Tale is one as old as time: the path to hell is paved with good intentions... however misguided they may be. I believe, given the right circumstances, anybody is capable of anything.

[RRR3]

we didnt see much of him before, but beneath all that "shyness" and how much he held back, he didnt seem to be a very caring or thoughtful person, no.

wouldnt say full of darkness tho
Well the potential was there for darkness I mean. He was always self centered yes.

[Im Still Ballin]

Oh and I forgot: unfathomable levels of pride.

Remember how he couldn't take the handout from Gretchen and Elliot? Remember how pissed he got when Gretchen and Elliot got the props for paying for his treatment at the party? The dude was FUMING. I would be too.

How about when Jesse was finally able to make high-quality blue meth? When he tried to sell it himself? Walt was pissed AF.

[iamgine]

Before he seems like a normal boring guy. Things that happened to him changed him.

Everyone has potential for darkness.

[Norcaliblunt]

He’s the most overrated character ever. All these shows that hype up dysfunction or take average people and make them go dark are for sheltered mofos who have never seen anything crazy in real life.

[ArbitraryWater]

Before he seems like a normal boring guy. Things that happened to him changed him.

Everyone has potential for darkness.

Dont confuse yourself with everyone

[Patrick Chewing]

Oh yeah, RRR3 is definitely selling meth.

[SouBeachTalents]

i felt like Breaking Bad made no attempt to explain what happened to Walt between leaving Gray Matter and becoming a high school teacher. I guess the assumption is he had bills to pay and eventually a kid so he had to find work to make a living. I'm sure plenty of talented and gifted people end up underachieving in life, but idk, Walt seemed too intelligent and more importantly too ambitious for me to believe he wouldn't have tried anything else after Grey Matter didn't pan out.

To answer the OP's question, I think Walt was more selfish and prideful than evil when he started out his meth venture. He seemed legitimately upset about having to kill Crazy 8, and was even going to let him go before finding out about the plate. But his indifference towards the wellbeing of others grows as the series progresses; from letting Jane die, to having Gale killed instead of going to the police, to of course poisoning Brock. By season 5 he's essentially a full fledged psychopath, though we still see some semblance of a human side to him in Ozymandias.

[Norcaliblunt]

Would have been a much more interesting show if he didn’t go so evil.

[Charlie Sheen]

I think he was always a piece of shit personally. Not to say he didn’t have positive qualities but he was always full of darkness IMO.

I lean towards this too. The end when Hank tells him

“You want me to beg? You’re the smartest guy I ever met, and you’re too stupid to see — he made up his mind 10 minutes ago.”

WW didn't give a shit about Hank until he had to. Above anything... he wanted to live out his heisenberg fantasy once he had a taste.