Abstract
Saul Goodman, Slipping Jimmy, Charlie Hustle, Gene Takavic, Viktor Saint Claire, and many others — all
seem to be aliases of one James McGill. The characterization question, from the point of view of the
metaphysics of identity, is trying to answer what determines personal identity. The notion of persistence
describes necessary and sufficient conditions for a person to continue or cease to exist as a person. The
practical importance of persistence includes both responsibility for a person's actions and the
fact that identity matters practically because of a person's selfish care about his or her own future. From
a Better Call Saul perspective, we are combining metaphysical issues of identity — that pinpoint what it
takes for someone to remain the same person — with the pendulum of various James McGill personae.
James McGill does seem to have both biological and psychological continuity while shifting from one
character to another, but we will argue that psychological continuity is only relevant at the lowest level
and that the narrativist account seems to better explain different Jimmy personae. Narrativism answers
the persistence question by stating that we are persisting as the same person because of the stories we
tell about ourselves, which influence our lives and our decisions. Identity is being constituted at a
narrative level, that is — Jimmy is his (current) story, determining when he begins and ends. In this
paper, by analyzing character development throughout the series, we are trying to show that James
McGill may not always be equated with his aliases because of different spatial and temporal narratives,
which also could open various ethical implications of responsibility for past actions.