Ignacio "Nacho" Varga (/nɑːtʃoʊ vɑːrɡə/) is a fictional character who appears in the AMC television series Better Call Saul, a prequel spin-off of Breaking Bad.

Nacho is forced to be a mole for Gus within the Salamancas' organization, which is further complicated when the shrewd Lalo arrives to oversee operations.

After sending in an audition tape, he was flown to Los Angeles to meet with showrunners Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould and perform a screen test.

[1] Breaking Bad season two episode "Better Call Saul" mentions the character by his real name, Ignacio.

Mando said he felt this helped fit Nacho's character, waiting patiently for the right opportunity to make a move to get ahead.

[4][5] Mando considered Nacho the only character in Better Call Saul that was "breaking good", as "an ambitious person who believes in a morality outside of justice" and trying to improve his situation, making him "heroic, romantic, and transcendent".

[9][10] Nacho engages in a side deal with "Pryce", who wants to sell pills stolen from the pharmaceutical company where he works.

He later breaks into Daniel's house and steals the money back, along with a valuable collection of baseball cards.

[12] Mike realizes his involvement will be uncovered if police continue to investigate, so he convinces Nacho to give Daniel the cards and $10,000 in exchange for the Hummer.

After Hector, attempting to coerce Mike into giving false testimony to the police, threatens his daughter-in-law and granddaughter, Mike attempts to draw police attention to the Salamanca operation by hijacking one of the trucks used to smuggle drugs over the Mexican border, leaving the driver tied up and gagged at the side of the road and stealing the US$250,000 hidden in one of the tires.

Nacho tells Mike that Hector covered up the hijacking by killing the Good Samaritan who stopped to aid the driver.

[15] Mike's actions lead to Hector looking for other routes to smuggle drugs, and he considers using Nacho's father Manuel's upholstery shop.

Nacho realizes Hector suffers from angina and decides to try to kill him by replacing his nitroglycerin with ibuprofen in the hopes of inducing a fatal heart attack.

Gus performs first aid while awaiting an ambulance, and succeeds in saving Hector's life, though he remains comatose.

[23] After recovering, Nacho takes on a more prominent role in the Salamanca organization but also keeps a safe with cash and fake Canadian IDs for himself and his father.

Nacho is surprised when Lalo Salamanca arrives to aid in running the business, and takes a stronger interest in the day-to-day details than Hector did.

Jimmy secures Domingo's release and assures his protection by making him a confidential informant for DEA agent Hank Schrader and having him reveal the location of Gus's dead drops.

[a] With Nacho's assistance, Mike poses as a private detective to feed the police information that ties Lalo to the murder of Fred Whalen, a money wire store clerk.

Victor delivers a duplicate safe, into which Mike places the cash, Nacho's fake ID, and an envelope.

Gus instructs Nacho to claim that the hit on Lalo was organised by a Peruvian gang led by Alvarez.

Gus, Tyrus, and Victor hand Nacho over to Juan, Hector, and the Cousins as Mike watches and trains his rifle on them.

[38] David Segal, in praising Mando's performance through the fifth season for The New York Times, said "[Nacho's] torment is all cinched down, everything roiling behind his eyes.

[Mando] manages to convey Nacho's heartbreaking predicament without raising his voice, or asking for pity.

"[39] Kenny Herzog of Vulture praised Nacho as "Better Call Saul's most compelling criminal," stating Mando "plays the character with a mix of humanity and hubris that's rare among TV henchmen.

Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone complimented the episode's straightforward narrative and said Mando's performance was "fantastic throughout — so tired, so defeated, and yet so insistent about ending things on something resembling his own terms if he can.

It is a tour de force, particularly the phone call sequence and Nacho staring down the Salamancas for the last time.