BREAKING BAD WIKI

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BREAKING BAD WIKI

Mike Ehrmantraut

00:00 02:15

Mike Ehrmantraut

PORTRAYED BY Jonathan Banks

CHARACTER INFORMATION

FULL NAME Michael Ehrmantraut

ALIASES Mike
Uncle Fester
Billy Jacko"
Pop Pop
Dave Clarke
Barry Hedberg
Finger

DATE OF BIRTH 1940-1944

AGE 60-64 ("Uno")

65-69 ("Say My Name")

FATE

STATUS Deceased

DATE OF DEATH October 2, 2009

MORE

CAUSE OF DEATH Shot in the abdomen by Walter

White, later bled out on a
Others like you alsoriverbank
viewed

SOCIAL LIFE
Jimmy McGill Gustavo Fring Walter White Jesse Pink
OCCUPATION Police O!cer

“
Ticket Booth guard
Head of Security at Los Pollos
Hermanos
Private Investigator
I have people. I have people waiting for me. They
Hitman / Assassin
don't know what I do, they never will. They're
RESIDENCE
protected, Mike's
but I do what I doHouse
so they can have a
better life and if I live or if I die it really doesn't make
FAMILY Unnamed parents
a di!erence to me as Unnamed
long as they have what they
wife
need. So when it's myMatt
timeEhrmantraut
to go, I will go
(son)knowing I

did everything I couldStacey Ehrmantraut

for them. Now, you(daughter-
ask me
in-law)
how I keep going? That's how.
Kaylee Ehrmantraut
(granddaughter)
MIKE TO JIMMY MCGILL ON WHY HE DOES WHAT HE
DOES.
RELATIONSHIPS Saul Goodman (former part-time
boss)
Gustavo Fring (former employer)
Walter White
Michael "Mike" Ehrmantraut (former business
is a Marine Corps
partner)
veteran, former Philadelphia police o!cer, and a calm
Jesse Pinkman (former business
and calculating career criminal.
partner) He worked for both
Victor
Gustavo Fringer and Saul (former fellow
Goodman as aenforcer)
private
Tyrus Kitt (former fellow enforcer)
investigator, head of security, cleaner, fixer, and
hitman. He has extensive knowledge of how to
operate on both sides of the law without detection.
APPEARANCES
As a former IN BREAKING
beat cop and true BAD
professional, Mike
maintains an extensive, up-to-date knowledge of
FIRST LAST
forensic evidence, surveillance equipment, and police
"ABQ" "Gliding Over All"
procedure. Mike is also well trained and calm in all
types of combat situations, once using science and
long strategy to take down a large number of hostiles
with ease.
APPEARANCES IN BETTER CALL SAUL

FIRST LAST

"Uno" ——

APPEARANCE IN EL CAMINO

Yes

Images (462)
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History

Background

Mike was born sometime in 1940-1944. He

remembers his father as leaving him a "cold-water
flat and a stack of bills," implying he didn't have a very
good childhood. ("Coushatta") It's implied that Mike
served as a marine scout sniper in the Vietnam War
("Gloves O""). It is possible he has a history in special
operations or intelligence agencies, as he has
extensive knowledge of surveillance equipment and is
well trained in stealth tactics. He also mentions that
he specializes in tracking individuals down, no matter
where they are in the world. Mike had previously been
married for 22 years. ("Wiedersehen")

For thirty years, Mike was employed at the

Philadelphia Police Department as a beat cop,
frequently having to deal with situations such as
break-ins and domestic disputes. His career was
mired in corruption, with his fellow o!cers pressuring
him into accepting bribes and participate in
protection rackets. When his son Matt joined the
force, and faced similar peer pressure, Mike was
forced to persuade his son to go along with the
corruption. Unfortunately, Matt's partner Troy Ho"man
and their sergeant, Jack Fensky, distrusted Matt and
murdered him by staging a gangland shooting.

Mike just before murdering Ho"man and Fensky.

Devastated by the loss of his son, Mike fell into

alcoholism and depression until he decided to take
action. He announced his retirement from the PPD,
and staged another bout of binge drinking, during
which he tricked Ho"man and Fensky into believing
he had evidence on them. When the duo came after
Mike, he allowed them to drive him to a deserted
alleyway with the intent of staging his suicide.
Brandishing a hidden pistol and throwing o" the
illusion of his drunken stupor, Mike gunned down
Ho"man and Fensky, su"ering a shoulder wound in
the process. He departed for Albuquerque the
following day, where he reestablished ties with his
daughter-in-law Stacey, who had moved there
several months earlier. ("Five-O")
Better Call Saul

Season 1

Mike working as a parking lot attendant at the Albuquerque courthouse.

Mike first meets Jimmy McGill while working as a

parking lot attendant at the Albuquerque courthouse.
Mike's attitude towards Jimmy is dispassionate,
usually not letting him pass through the parking gate
because he doesn't have enough validation stickers
on his parking ticket ("Uno", "Mijo"). A brief hostile
encounter at the gate lead the two to developing a
closer—but still frigid on Mike's part—working
relationship ("Nacho").

When o!cers from Philadelphia arrive in Albuquerque

to interview Mike, he hires Jimmy as his lawyer,
primarily because he believes that Jimmy is dishonest
enough to agree to help him steal evidence. Mike
discovers that his location had been tipped o" to the
PPD by Stacey. He confronts her and comes clean to
her with the entire story, short of actually confessing
to the murder of the Ho"man and Fensky, merely
saying to her, "You know what happened, the
question is: Can you live with it?" ("Five-O") Mike later
repays Jimmy by breaking into the home of the Craig
and Betsy Kettleman to retrieve stolen money. ("Bingo")

Wanting to provide for Stacey and his granddaughter

Kaylee, Mike uses the connections of a shady
veterinarian named Dr. Caldera to moonlight as an
enforcer. His first job is acting as a bodyguard for
Daniel Wormald, a first-time criminal who sells stolen
prescription pills to Ignacio "Nacho" Varga; Mike's time
in law enforcement gives him experience in how to
prepare for such a deal and makes him a valuable
asset in the exchange.

Season 2

Daniel lets his initial success go to his head and buys

a bright yellow Hummer H2. Mike, knowing full well
that Daniel's carelessness will eventually attract
police attention, declines to go to a meeting in the
Hummer and walks o" when he refuses to travel in
Mike's 1988 Chrysler instead. Daniel goes on to deal
with Nacho alone. While Daniel is distracted, Nacho
secretly learns of his home address from the car
registration in the Hummer's glove compartment. A
few days later, Daniel's house is burglarized by Nacho.
He calls the police, upset that his valuable baseball
card collection has been stolen. The responding
o!cers are immediately suspicious of Daniel's
Hummer. Investigating further, they find a hidden
compartment in the wall behind Daniel's couch,
apparently found and emptied by Nacho.

Mike finds himself having to intervene when the

police invite Daniel to the station for questioning.
Upon learning about the circumstances, Mike
cautions Daniel about talking, knowing full well the
police suspect Daniel is engaged in illicit activities.
Daniel, however, is adamant about getting his
baseball cards back. In order to prevent Daniel from
possibly implicating him in the drug deals, Mike o"ers
to find the cards. To do so, he tracks down Nacho to
his father's car restoration shop and negotiates a deal
where Daniel trades his Hummer to Nacho in
exchange for the baseball cards and $10,000. Nacho
subsequently destroys the Hummer at a chop shop
and splits $60,000 with Mike from reselling the parts.

With the police still looking into Daniel, Mike hires

Jimmy to be his lawyer. Jimmy accompanies Daniel
to a police interview, where he gets the cops to drop
the investigation by convincing them that the
burglary was the result of a failed gay love a"air and
the stealing of the baseball cards was revenge. To
provide Daniel with an alibi, Jimmy "explains" that the
space behind the couch contained fetish videos of
Daniel sitting in various types of pies and crying. The
detectives, taken o" guard by the outrageous story,
believe Jimmy.

Stacey voices her concerns to Mike about gunshots

she has heard outside her house late at night. Mike
does overnight surveillance without Stacey's
knowledge to investigate the gunshots. He learns the
"gunshots" are actually the sounds of newspapers
being tossed by a delivery person in the early
morning. At work the following day, Mike receives a
call from Stacey, who still believes she heard gunfire,
and points out a hole in her siding that she tearfully
insists is from a bullet. Despite knowing that there
was no gunfire (and the hole in the siding is just wear
and tear), Mike tells her what she wants to hear—that
he will help her get out of the neighborhood. Mike
meets with Dr. Caldera in order to find more jobs, but
refuses to do any violent work. The vet points out to
Mike that if he wants "next level pay", he must be
willing to do "next level work." ("Amarillo")

Shortly after, Nacho hires Mike to assassinate his

boss, the erratic drug kingpin Tuco Salamanca. Mike
ultimately decides against doing the hit, as he realizes
that Tuco's death would draw the attention of the
Mexican drug cartel. Instead, Mike makes a call in
advance to the police from a payphone across the
street from a restaurant where Tuco does accounting
with his dealers. Then, Mike drives over and
deliberately swipes Tuco's car, enraging him. Acting
clueless, Mike goads Tuco to beat him senseless just
as the police arrive. As a result, Tuco is arrested and is
imprisoned for assault and robbery, putting him out of
the picture for five years. Nacho asks Mike why he
went through all that trouble to avoid killing Tuco for
half the payo", but Mike refuses to answer. ("Gloves O"")

Mike being assaulted by Tuco Salamanca.

Mike and Nacho's orchestrated takedown of Tuco

does not come without consequences. Days later,
Mike is approached by Hector Salamanca, who o"ers
Mike $5,000 to tell the police that Tuco's gun is
actually Mike's, thus getting Tuco o" the hook for
illegal gun possession and shortening his sentence.
Mike refuses the o"er. In response, Hector begins
harassing Mike into reconsidering, first by having men
break into his house to scare him. When this fails,
Hector sends Leonel and Marco Salamanca to
threaten Kaylee while Mike is supervising her. Fed up,
Mike confronts Hector, negotiating a better o"er of
$50,000 in exchange for taking the fall on the gun
charge. After the meet, he splits the pay with Nacho,
refunding him for the failure of his previous work on
Tuco. ("Bali Ha'i")
Mike hires Jimmy again, this time to help him provide
an amended statement (as Hector had requested) to
the district attorney, though the DAs highly suspect
Mike has been paid o" by the Salamancas. Mike later
helps Stacey with purchasing a new house. ("Inflatable")
Meanwhile, Mike discreetly begins plotting retaliation
against Hector. He starts by surveying the ice cream
parlor where he had the meeting with Hector, and
observes Hector's crew receiving ice cream delivery
trucks transporting goods up from Mexico. He comes
to the conclusion that the trucks are carrying
contraband, either as drugs or cash. ("Fifi")

A few days later, Mike plans an attack on one of

Hector's trucks while it is en route to the El Paso
border crossing. ("Nailed") Mike deploys a homemade
spike strip made from nails and a garden hose. The
truck hits the strip, and goes o" the road. While
wearing a mask to conceal his identity, Mike disarms
the driver and ties him up. Mike then uses a saw to
extract $250,000 hidden inside the truck's tires. He
loads the money and his equipment into his getaway
car and flees the scene.

The heist puts Mike in a jovial mood—he spends some

of his new gains on drinks for all the patrons at a bar—
but this is short-lived when Nacho calls him to a
meeting and confronts him about the attack, having
deduced that Mike was behind it. Nacho asks Mike
why he pulled it o" and Mike asks why the hit isn't in
the newspapers. Nacho is o"ended realizing that Mike
was trying to draw police attention to Hector's
operation. Nacho also reveals that Hector killed a
Good Samaritan that happened to stumble upon the
scene and freed the driver. This greatly unsettles
Mike. ("Nailed")

Someone leaves Mike a message.

Mike eventually procures a sniper rifle from Lawson

and follows Nacho into the Tohajiilee Indian
Reservation, trying to get to Hector. He sets up on a
hillside and watches as the Cousins kill the driver and
bury him in an unmarked grave. However, his line of
sight to Hector is blocked by Nacho. Mike is then
drawn away from his position by the sound of his car
horn going o". He finds a tree branch wedged into the
driver's seat, and a handwritten note on the
windshield reading "DON'T". ("Klick")
Season 3

Realizing his cover has been blown, Mike drives o" at

breakneck speed to clear the area. After stopping to
review what happened, he figures that his car is
bugged. Proceeding to a nearby junkyard, he
disassembles the vehicle, searching the entire
chassis for hours and coming up with nothing. With
time running out, and the junkyard about to close,
Mike sells the car to the owner, and calls himself a cab
to return home, when his eyes come upon a stack of
replacement gas caps. Quickly returning to his junked
car, he removes the gas cap and inspects it. Sure
enough, he finds a tracking device hidden under the
seal.

Contacting Dr. Caldera, Mike purchases a device and

tracker identical to the one he has discovered. After
having found a second tracker hidden in the gas cap
of his personal vehicle, Mike switches out the two
devices, draining the foreign device of power in the
hopes that whoever planted it will come back to claim
it. As expected, a mysterious car arrives and takes the
bait, swapping the gas cap containing Mike's tracker
with a fresh one. ("Mabel")

Mike discreetly follows the driver around Albuquerque,

stopping when the driver abandons the vehicle at a
Los Pollos Hermanos. After determining this is a
nightly pattern of drops and pickups, Mike enlists the
help of Jimmy McGill. Mike has Jimmy pose as a
customer to observe what the driver does inside the
building. However, no drop-o" is made that Jimmy
can see. Continuing his counter-surveillance of the
driver, Mike tracks his vehicle to the middle of the
desert, only to find the gas cap containing his tracker
removed and set in the middle of the road, with a cell
phone on top. Mike has been discovered. ("Witness")

Answering a call from the cell phone, Mike is

immediately approached by Gustavo Fring and two of
his bodyguards. When Mike holds up the note from his
former car, Gus calmly explains that he has reasons
for keeping Hector alive. When Gus hints that Mike's
sabotage of Hector's smuggling line can continue,
Mike deduces Gus is a rival of Hector. He agrees to
continue with his sabotage, and a loose partnership is
born. Mike immediately sets to his purpose,
purchasing a small bag of cocaine from a contact of
Gus's, and waits to ambush another one of Hector's
trucks on its way to the border. Rather than shoot the
drivers, however, Mike plants the cocaine in a pair of
discarded sneakers which he hangs from an overhead
power line. Firing several dummy shots in the air to
mask himself as a random hunter, Mike waits until the
drivers, who have stopped in response to the gunfire,
dismiss the shots as a hunter. As the truck drives
away, Mike puts one final shot into the sneakers,
spilling cocaine unnoticed onto the back of the
vehicle, ensuring that the drivers will be arrested at
the border. ("Sunk Costs") Gus sends payment to Mike
for his services, but Mike refuses to accept it.

Later, Jimmy hires Mike to pose as a handyman to

repair Chuck's door while also secretly photographing
the interior of Chuck's house in order to document the
bizarre living conditions as evidence for a case Jimmy
is working on.

One night when Mike is working his parking attendant

job, Gus arrives to meet him personally. Gus probes
Mike as to why he didn't accept his money and also
lets Mike know that he's interested in hiring him.
Additionally, Gus reveals that he stopped Mike from
killing Hector because "a bullet to the head would
have been far too humane." ("Sabrosito")

Mike helps with construction on a new playground

area and receives help from the other members of
Stacey's support group, including a woman named
Anita. Upon returning to work, he is approached by
Daniel, who wants to hire him as a bodyguard again
to keep an eye on Nacho, which Mike declines. At a
meeting, Mike begins to befriend Anita as she
recounts how her husband mysteriously disappeared
on a hiking trip and the fact that she doesn't know
what happened to him constantly troubles her.
Apparently touched by Anita's story, Mike calls Daniel
and agrees to be his bodyguard. At the meeting with
Nacho, Mike learns the full story about Hector's desire
to force Nacho's father into the drug trade and the
plan to replace Hector's medication with fake pills.
Mike agrees not to interfere, but advises Nacho to
switch the pills back after Hector dies so they cannot
be traced back to him. ("Expenses")

Mike, using information he gained from Nacho, tracks

down the body of the Good Samaritan that Hector
shot and anonymously reports the discovery to the
police. Later that night, Mike approaches Gus to seek
help in laundering the remaining $200,000 he stole
from Hector so that it can be left to his family. Gus
agrees, warning Mike that the process will be di!cult,
and both men shake hands. ("Slip") Mike is hired on as
a "security consultant" to Madrigal on Gus'
recommendation to launder his stolen money. ("Fall")

Season 4

Mike finishes his final shift at the parking booth and

plays with Kaylee in his backyard. He tells Stacey that
his new job has more flexible hours, allowing him to
pick up Kaylee on a regular basis. Mike's first paycheck
from Madrigal arrives, and it is over $10,000. After
obtaining the address for the company's Las Cruces
facility, Mike breaks in after stealing Barry Hedberg's
identification. Identifying himself as a security
consultant to the o!cer manager, he lists all the
potential security breaches he found and tells the
manager to contact Lydia. ("Smoke")

Mike meets with Jimmy at Loyola's Family Restaurant,

where Jimmy wants him to break into Ne" Copiers.
Jimmy intends for Mike to steal Mr. Ne"'s Hummel
figurine and replace it with an identical fake. Then
Jimmy will sell the figure and split the proceeds with
Mike. Mike passes on the opportunity, and o"ers his
condolences for Chuck's death. ("Something Beautiful")

At Loyola's, Mike is approached by Anita. During their

conversation, he tells her that Henry DeVore from the
support group is making up his dead wife, Judy. Mike
tells Anita to look for a tell next time Henry talks about
his wife, and they agree to a $10 bet. At the group
meeting, Stacey talks about fearing that she is
forgetting details about Matt, a"ect Mike. After Henry
again talks about Judy, Mike explodes and reveals
Henry's lies and then turns on the rest of the group,
accusing them of feeding o" each other's misery. The
next day, Mike ignores a call from Stacy, but is forced
to talk to Victor who summons him to a meeting with
Gus. At the Los Pollos Hermanos Factory Farm, Gus
accuses Mike of being aware of Nacho's plot against
Hector. Mike admits that he did, and while he agreed
not to kill Hector, he points out that he never agreed
to stop others from doing it. Realizing that Gus has a
job for him, Mike demands to know what it is. ("Talk")

In Denver, Colorado, Mike meets a Frenchman in a

wooded section of the Rocky Mountains. Hooding
him, Mike and his associate, Nick, drive him in a
windowless van to Albuquerque. Underneath the
Lavandería Brillante, the Frenchman conducts a
cursory evaluation and believes that he can excavate
a new basement in at least six months. Mike thanks
him for his time and then drives him back to the
Rockies with a return plane ticket. Later, Mike
transports another structural engineer, Werner Ziegler,
to Lavandería Brillante. Werner's inspection is much
more thorough and talks about the logistical