How I Met Your Mother/Characters

Main Characters

Ted Mosby

Played by: Josh Radnor Future Ted narrated by: Bob Saget

The main character and narrator, a thirty-something architect professor of architecture (and later an architect again) at Columbia with an excessively romantic disposition, looking for love in New York.

• Adorkable
• All Love Is Unrequited
• Beard of Sorrow: Grew one after breaking up with Robin. He is implied to do this every time a major relationship ends.
• Berserk Button: Ted is an extremely proud New Yorker and an extremely proud non-New Jerseyan. How proud, you ask? When Ted runs into Stella after she leaves him at the altar, the tipping point at which Ted decides to chew her out is not the fact that she left him in the first place--it's the fact that Stella refused to move to New York and expected Ted to move to New Jersey to be with her, but moves to Tony's place in New York once he and Stella get back together with no fuss.
• Camp Straight: Don thought Ted was gay for months.
• Cool Teacher
• Deadpan Snarker
• The Determinator: While Ted generally shows signs of this, the entirety of the season 1 finale is Ted embodying this Trope, to the point that he somehow defies logic itself and makes it rain: "It is meant to be, and you know why? Because I MEAN it to be!"
• Dogged Nice Guy
• Douche With A Heart Of Gold
• Earn Your Happy Ending: With Robin.
• Embarrassing Middle Name: His full name is Theodore Evelyn Mosby.
• Even the Guys Want Him: Marshall & Barney had an argument over which one of them Ted has gay dreams about; it devolved into this.

Marshall: Ted and I have a history! I could do things to him that would blow his m... ...Why do we keep trying to have sex with Ted? Barney: I don't know; it's weird.

• First-Person Smartass: Future!Ted has elements of this.
• Generation Xerox: Outside of storytelling ability and willingness to talk, Ted and his father, along with their respective relationships with Robin and Mrs. Mosby, are eerily similar.
• Hollywood Dateless
• Hot for Student: Though it technically wasn't his student.
• Irony: Out of the gang, he's the one who really wants to get married. However, his two best bros get married before he does, meaning he's the last one out of the gang to get marrried.
• Insufferable Genius: Even his friends find his ratiocination annoying.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Ted gets quite a few moments of this.
  • He intends to tell Stella what he thinks of her but changes his mind when he sees her with her family.
  • When Stella asks him to get her and Tony back together he refuses at first but ultimately decides to do so.
  • When Robin and Barney get together he is fully supportive. Not only because of his feelings for Robin but because of how much he loves Barney as a friend. He even teaches Barney a class on how to be a good boyfriend to her
  • He tells Robin of Barney's plan to propose to Patrice despite knowing that not doing so would increases his chances of getting with her.
  • When Robin is prepared to leave Barney at the altar Ted stops her from doing so and convinces her to try to make the marriage work.
• Love Hurts: Multiple times!
• Not Even Bothering with the Accent: When he and Barney pretend to be Southern tourists to pick up girls.
• Only Sane Man: Subverted all to hell, as while Ted may seem like a sensible guy, he does crazy things in the name of love.
  • Just in the name of love? He's perfectly happy going along with Marshall's and especially Barney's crazy ideas, and he even comes up with some insane schemes himself.
• Pungeon Master
• Screw Destiny: Ted knew that he and Robin probably would break up if they got together, but he never gave up until they started dating.
  • You Can't Fight Fate: Eventually, they both accept it won't work and break up.
• Straight Man
• Team Dad
• Unreliable Narrator: Future!Ted. His three main reasons for it are either censoring inappropriate parts of the story, building himself up, or that he simply can't remember the exact details after so long.
• Will They or Won't They?: This was Ted and Robin for the whole of the first season and part of seasons 4 and 7.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: It's not enough that Stella left Ted at the altar for him, but Tony then proceeds to write The Wedding Bride, which features a heavily Flanderized Jerkass Expy of Ted as the villain.
  • On the other hand, we never did find out what Ted said to him to get Tony to marry Stella. Maybe he said something to make a) Tony start crying and b) gave him the motivation to write a movie featuring Ted like that.
• Tall, Dark and Handsome

Marshall Eriksen

"The only people in the universe who haven't seen Star Wars are the characters in Star Wars. And that's cause they lived 'em, Ted! That's cause they lived the Star Wars!"

Played by: Jason Segel

Ted's former college roommate and best friend, a sweet-tempered goofball who makes his way through law school and eventually takes the Bar during the course of the series. In the pilot, he becomes engaged to his girlfriend Lily. They eventually wed and have a kid of their own.

• Agent Mulder: Loves the supernatural.
• Badass Bookworm
• Bad Liar
• Beta Couple: Forms one half of one with Lily.
• Big Eater
• The Big Guy: At 6"4", he's the tallest of his friends, but the shortest in his family.
• Bunny Ears Lawyer: Literally. He later becomes a judge.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Or as Barney says it "Goofy and Burdened with Wit."
• Deadpan Snarker
• Disappeared Dad: His father died in season 6.
• Ditzy Genius
• Guile Hero: There are hints that Marshall is far more sly and cunning that he acts. Note that he's often the first that seems to cotton on and predict Lily or Barney's gambits. Not to mention he played a pretty hardcore and Badass Paranoia Gambit on Barney with the "Slap Bet" and has manipulated Barney before with more efficiency than most.
• Grammar Nazi: With the difference between affect and effect, at least.
• Happily Married: To Lily.
• Heroes Want Redheads: Something he inherited from his father.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: The Huge Guy to Lily's Tiny Girl.
• Informed Flaw: In "Jenkins", the gang consider Marshall a "reacher" to Lily's "settler" in which he would never get anybody better then Lily. Since when this is mention, Marshall is working as a lawyer to a big company and is a fun Nice Guy and with Lily at worst being a tad bit manipulative and has credit card issues, this is hard to believe.
• Let's Get Dangerous: Turns out the fights he had with his brothers are all true.
  • COCOA BREAK!
• Manipulative Bastard: When he wants to be. If it wasn't for his lack of confidence, he'd be unstoppable.
• Not So Different: To Barney, becomes more prominent when they work together and when Lily is absent for a few episodes. He's also the most likely to return Barney's high fives about weird stuff.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: He may seem like a big goof most of the time (well, he is), but the minute he steps into lawyer!mode? Don't mess with him.
• Odd Friendship: He and Barney definitely qualify.
• Real Men Wear Pink: He loves girly/coupley things like those frilly pink "girl" drinks (which he never orders because of the double standard) and brunch.
• Shipper on Deck: Marshall thinks Barney and Robin are perfect for each other. And has commented that he likes the idea of Barney and Ted. He's also very much a Ted and Robin shipper.
• Sickeningly Sweethearts
• Unknown Rival: Really seems to hate Billy Zabka (yes, that Billy Zabka) for reasons unknown.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Commented on by many characters. Brad even says that Marshall should be a judge precisely because of this.
  

Lily Aldrin

"Today, I yelled at a little girl for painting a rainbow." —Played by Alyson Hannigan.

An artist and kindergarten teacher with a slightly rebellious streak, who is nevertheless deeply committed to Marshall. Together they represent the voice of stable, adult relationships in the series, as the resident Beta Couple.

• Ambiguously Bi: Happily Married to Marshall (who is very much male), but it is heavily implied she's attracted to female friend Robin.
• Balloon Belly: After eating about forty hot dogs in a row.
• Beta Couple: Forms one half of one with Marshall.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Something that Ted calls out every now and then.
• Calling Your Bathroom Breaks: "That reminds me, I have to pee."
• The Chessmaster
• Clingy Jealous Girl: She can hardly control her fury whenever she talks about Ted's ex-girlfriend Karen, because she "lingered" when she walked in on Lily painting Marshall nude way back in college. She also once beat the shit out of another woman for kissing Marshall when drunk, even though the woman apologized profusely. However, showing her jealous streak is probably more related to possessiveness than insecurity, she rarely gets suspicious of Marshall himself, even encouraging him to fantasize about other women rather than be guilty about it and telling him to loosen up and enjoy himself when they go to a strip club.
• Cradle of Loneliness: Does this with a pillow dressed in Marshall's clothes while he's away.
• Deadpan Snarker
• Does This Make Me Look Fat?: When trying to deter Marshall from jumping across two skyscrapers, she says she's pregnant. When Marshall says he noticed her gaining a bit of weight, she says she was lying and hopes he dies in his attempt.
• Fiery Redhead
• Happily Married: To Marshall.
• Hot Mom
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: The Tiny Girl to Marshall's Huge Guy.
• The Ladette: Not as much as Robin, but she's a perpetual winner of drinking contests and hotdog eating competitions and she won't let you forget that - it's in her resume!
• Large Ham
• Like Parent, Like Spouse: Lily and Marshall's mom. Both are feisty, red-headed Team Moms. Marshall however thinks Lily has a lot more in common with his dad than his mom. Lily takes offence.
• Misplaced Kindergarten Teacher: Lily does teach kindergarten, but in the brief time she tried other jobs, she tended to try and deal with workplace conflicts in the same manner and with the same reasoning as she had with children.
• Not So Covert Pervert: She tries to get Barney's porn collection off Ted, she is curious to watch a sex tape Barney had made, and she stares at Robin's breasts, in the space of two episodes. Others have her wanting Marshall to not cross his legs because he's not wearing any pants and mentions erotic dreams with Robin, Mila Kunis, Bill Cosby, Ranjit, George Washington and various other people. Of course her actress is pretty well known for playing these roles.
• Not So Different: To Barney. Despite her constantly scolding him for his womanizing ways and ploys, she's often shown to have just as much of a sex drive and manipulative streak. And they're both the only native New Yorkers.
• Parents as People: Admits to Ted that she has no idea how to be a mother and mourns for the days before she had Marvin.
• Parental Issues: With her father, at first.
• Redheaded Hero
• Ship Tease: Has quite a bit of this with Barney. Of course, it will never happen.
• Shipper on Deck: Lily really wants Barney and Robin together ...at first. She has also commented that Barney and Ted would be good together.
• Sickeningly Sweethearts
• Tsundere: Type B.
• Wanting Is Better Than Having: After years of having a lesbian crush on Robin, she drops all feelings after a single kiss.
• When All You Have Is a Hammer: See Misplaced Kindergarten Teacher; she tries to solve all conflicts using kindergarten-teacher logic. Not just in her other jobs, but in personal relationships quite often.
• Written in Absence: She's the only one of the gang not to appear in every episode due to her actress' pregnancy. In-Universe, she's spending time away from them due to a particularly dirty joke Barney told.

Barney Stinson

"Legen—wait for it—DARY!" —Played by: Neil Patrick Harris

The unrepentant bachelor who offers a counterpoint to Lily and Marshall's monogamous bliss. Barney is a business executive who works a high paying desk job, does exactly what he wants all of the time, makes it a point not to sleep with the same girl twice, and makes no apologies for what he is.

• Adult Child: From time to time.
• The Ageless: Whenever there's a flash forward, everyone but him has aged.
• Ambiguously Evil: Harris has described his character as "Darth Vader with a tie".
• Attention Whore
• Big Bad: From time to time.
• Blond Guys Are Evil: Subverted. 'Twas but a very convincing act.
• Casanova
• Camp Straight
• Catch Phrase: Multiple.
• Cloudcuckoolander: On occasion.
• Completely Missing the Point: Pick an episode. More than likely, Barney does this at some point in that episode.
  • Challenge Accepted!
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Heavily implied to be one of these. He's not.
• Deadpan Snarker
• Disappeared Dad: Until season 6.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Swarley. Swar-wait for it...-ley. Swarls Barkley. Any variation of Swarley, actually.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Despite being a womanizing arrogant Jerkass Barney is a total Momma's Boy. He believes every lie she ever told him and makes sure to call her every day. So much so that when she was sick and things looked bleak he hired actors to pretend to be his wife and son to make her happy. After Loretta recovered he was forced to keep up the charade for years.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Despite fully embracing Token Evil Teammate, there are lines he won't see crossed such as looking away from his bosses' illegal dealings.
  • Barney is horrified when he finds out a woman he was planning to sleep with is his cousin.
  • For all his womanizing he's not the type to forget a woman's name after having sex with her. In "The Bracket" When he gets the mistaken impression that he has done just that he immediately goes up to her and offers her a rare wholehearted apology.
  • In Season 1 when he tries to seduce Robin he makes sure to get Ted's blessing first.
  • Even Barney disagrees with Ted wanting to make Robin get rid of her dogs.
• Exact Words: He went to M.I.T. Ted assumes he meant the Massachusetts Institute of Technology but it really means the Magician's Institute of Teaneck.
• Foil:
  • Functions as one to Lily and Marshall (most prominently in Seasons 1 and 2), representing the single lifestyle as opposed to being a couple.
  • Largely one to Ted, being a confident liar while Ted is a honest romantic.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Lampshaded at first, subverted as time goes on.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: He was once just a normal coffee shop worker.
• Friend to All Children: Despite being a bad influence to them at times This was one of Barney's few redeeming qualities before he Took a Level In Kindness.
  • During flashbacks to his childhood Barney was quite lonely and unpopular. This probably has a lot to do with why he is nice to kids.
  • When he was throwing a fit about his brother getting married the news he was going to be a uncle immediately turned him into a supportive ball of joy.
  • Barney took to being a father immediately with his daughter being the right woman to set him on the right path.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Used to be this, before his girlfriend left him for a suit-wearing womanizer. And he decided to become one himself.
• Hypocrite:
  • One of his biggest arguements with Robin was because of her making fun of his interests but Barney constantly insults his friends for their interests and mocks Robin for her canadian herritage.
  • In Season 3 it's established that one of his rules is "No Sex with your bro's ex". Back In Season 1 when It looked like Stuart and Claudia wouldn't go through with their wedding Barney was more than willing to have sex with the former despite being friends with the two of them.
• Half-Identifying Hybrid: Refuses to acknowledge that he's 1/4 Canadian.
• I Hate Past Me: As a womanizer, he hated his hippie self and as a father, he hates his womanizing self.
• Heroic Comedic Sociopath
• Hidden Depths: Can speak Chinese and is a very good, albeit compulsive, gambler.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: Type B. Shown most prominently that while he's only professionally offended at Ted going against the demolition of the Arcadian and construction of the GNB headquarters but when Marshall (who was his coworker for years) does the same thing, it's a personal betrayal.
• Jerkass: Even he isn't sure why they hang out with him.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold / Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Bounces back and forth.
• Ladykiller in Love: With Robin, Nora and Quinn.
• Large Ham
• Limited Wardrobe: Is almost never seen without a suit.
  • Sort of. In a number of episodes he is shown to have massive amounts of clothes. Only they're all suits.
  • That said, he does own other clothing such as a few t-shirts and jeans.
• Lovable Sex Maniac
• Magnificent Bastard: This is now Canon having been state almost word for word by Marshal in the season 7 episode 'Ducky Tie'.
• A Man Is Not a Virgin: He's even played by the Trope Namer.
• Mr. Fanservice
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished; He gets Ted a job by vouching for him to Arthur Hobbs. As a result when Zoey plays a recording of Ted saying the arcadian should be a landmark Arthur fires him for his poor judgement. Fortunately Lily gets him his job back.
• Pet the Dog:
  • After finding out Robin likes Ted he promises to keep it secret.
  • In "Th Bachelor Party" it's revealed he went to San Francisco to convince Lily to return to Marshall and that his seemingly dickish behavior of stealing dates from Marsahll was actually a way to keep him available for Lily.
  • Barney genuinely tries to comfort Robin after she's dumped by Simon. He does get laid in the end but this one time it didn't seem intentional.
  • In "Subway Wars" he tackles Ted to the ground to allow Robin to win the race after realising she needs the victory more than he does. Of course he denies it.
• Race Fetish: His Establishing Character Moment is announcing to Ted that he's moved on from half-Asian girls, and is now going after Lebanese girls. He also has said that his "type" is "Asian, with some boob."
• Rooting for the Empire: Not only for the Trope Namer but for The Karate Kid, Die Hard, The Breakfast Club, and The Terminator and numerous others as well. Possibly a reflection of his day job.
• Self-Imposed Challenge: To the point that Lily and Robin dare him to accept their challenges. He wins.
• Serious Business: Nothing suits him like a suit!
• Sharp-Dressed Man
• Ship Tease: Barney has expressed considerable attraction to Lily, and there's the inevitable chemistry matchmakers always seem to strike with their clients, but Barney and Lily will never go beyond a fantasy.
• Shipper on Deck: According to him, "The world needs Marshall and Lily together!"
• The Starscream: He took his high paying, largely illegal, job just to backstab his boss for stealing his girlfriend the instant he got enough dirt on him.
• Start of Darkness: Getting his girlfriend Shannon stolen from him by a sleazy guy in a suit. He was this close to joining the Peace Corps before it happened.
• Static Character: Until he started dating Robin. Ted lampshades to Robin how Barney didn't change much until he started dating her. He later says he always thought Barney having a new girl on his arm was the one constant in life.
• The Unfettered
• Token Evil Teammate: "At one point, I'm pretty sure I sold a woman." In the Season 3 finale, he was in a meeting with several high ranking North Korean generals.
• Too Much Alike:
  • With Quinn, his Distaff Counterpart. He doesn't trust himself so he doesn't trust her and vice versa. Their prenups were thicker than most college textbooks and they realized that there was no way this was going to create a healthy relationship.
  • With Robin. Both are extremely passionate and driven with the circumstances of their jobs meaning that one's career growth came at the expense of the other's.
• Wacky Guy
• "Well Done, Son" Guy
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Formerly. Still shows signs such as believing Bob Barker is his father well into adulthood.
• What Exactly Is His Job?: Whenever someone asks he simply brushes them off with a condescending chuckle and a "Please." As it turns out, that is his job: "Provide Legal Exculpation And Sign Everything" in other words be The Scapegoat for all the company's dirty deeds.
• With Friends Like These...
  • Barney manipulates Marshall into buying an expensive suit he can't afford so he will be forced to accept Barney's offer to work for his copmpany.
  • He screws Ted out of his opportunity to design the GNB headquarters in favor of Sven because he thinks their design is cooler. He does at least feel guilty and make it up to Ted by getting him the job in the end.
• You Are What You Hate:
  • Played for Laughs when Robin discovers he is 25% Canadian.
  • Played seriously when it turns out getting his girlfriend stolen from him by Greg turned Barney into someone exactly like Greg. A womanizer with lots of money who dresses in nice suits.

Robin Scherbatsky

"Let's go to the mall! *forced chuckle* Today!" —Played by: Cobie Smulders

Former Canadian teen pop star turned reporter for a crappy news station and later to a researcher for a more respected one, she's got a fun mix of geeky/guyness to her. Ted falls in love with her at first sight, but it's not meant to be. She ends up a member of the gang (and Lily's best friend) anyway. She slept with Barney once, which seems to have given him a case of feelings for her, and she seems to reciprocate. They get together (then break up). Then get married (then divorce). And finally she ends up with Ted after he recovers from the death of The Mother.

• Abusive Parents: Robin's father is extremely dismissive towards Robin as she was not the son he wanted. To rub salt in the wound, he has no problem with her younger sister.
• Agent Scully
• A-Cup Angst: One of her concerns about Ted having stuff from previous girlfriends is that they all seem more cultured than her and one of them had a much bigger chest. Though when Cobie Smulders was pregnant, Robin's chest swelled up several sizes.
• Badass: So much, it's kind of a running gag.
• Baby Got Back: All of the gang (even Lily) has checked it out at one point. During her actress' pregnancy, it took up two spots on the couch it was so large.
• Canada, Eh?
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Toys with being one in Season 2.
• Deadpan Snarker
• Earn Your Happy Ending: With Ted.
• Eighties Hair: In her music videos as Robin Sparkles in the 90's, no less, because the 80's hit Canada late!
• Embarrassing Middle Name/Gender Blender Name/Tomboyish Name: Robin Charles Scherbatsky, Jr. (Her father was in denial because he wanted a son.)
• Eskimos Aren't Real: Robin believed that the North Pole and reindeer were made up.
• Even the Girls Want Her: It's been hinted a lot that Lily has a crush on her.

"Robin Scherbatsky is many things: friend; confidant; occasional guest star in some confusing dreams that remind me a woman's sexuality is a moving target, but she is no crazy, jealous stalker-bitch."

• Everything's Better With Robin Sparkles
• First Girl Wins
• Fetish Retardant: After breaking up with Don, the extremely slim and attractive Robin tells Ted she'll try to have sex with him at some point to which Ted alternate being excited or just plain terrified about for weeks. When she says she's ready, she's gained weight from stress eating, her hair's a mess and she's been wearing the same sweat pants for days on end. Barney lampshades it.
• Hartman Hips: Related to Hide Your Pregnancy, Cobie Smulders became absolutely massive making it near impossible to cover her up fully but it became very apparent when she sat down as the formerly thin Robin now had a massive rear that took up two spots on the couch.
• Hide Your Pregnancy: Cobie Smulders was pregnant in Season 4 and the writers had her dress in loose clothing to try and conceal this fact. It failed horribly as she's very visibly pregnant given her increased size. It's more notable when she's sitting down on the couch.
• Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Slightly. She does seem to have gained some serious emotional scars.
• Hot Scoop
• Idol Singer
• Kent Brockman News: Another running gag.
• The Ladette: Likes hockey, guns, cigars, scotch. Marshall outright says that he and Lily, when trying to decide who would be Marvin's godparent, toyed with the idea of putting all three in a cage and having them fight only to realize that that would give Robin an unfair advantage.
• Law of Inverse Fertility: Gets hit with this hard when she realizes that she will never be able to be a mother, even if it wasn't in her immediate plan.
• Master of the Mixed Message: With Ted, and then later with Barney.
• Meganekko: Starting in season six, Robin, played by the already ridiculously hot Cobie Smulders, actually managed to get even hotter by donning a pair of glasses.
• Ms. Fanservice: There are a lot of eye-catching moments.
• Music Video: Two, heinously awful and amusing.
• Naive Newcomer
• Narcissist: Your idea is never better than Robin's.
• Old Shame: Robin Sparkles.
• Post-Stress Overeating: After Don leaves her.
• Raised as the Opposite Gender: Until she kissed a boy.
• Robot Buddy: In both Let's Go To The Mall and Sandcastles In The Sand. It was her sidekick.
• Running Gag: Sometimes whenever the gang tells her something about herself that is absolutely obvious, she laughs hysterically while denying it, followed by a quick "Shut Up!".
• Shipper on Deck: After she breaks up with Barney, Robin ships Barney and Nora.
  • Matchmaker Crush: Until she realized that she still has feelings for him.
• Sweet Polly Oliver / Bifauxnen: In her backstory.
• The Stoic: She really was hurt after Barney went after all those chicks shortly after their break-up. She's just good at holding it in.
• Sugar and Ice Personality: She keeps her feelings hidden most of the time because of her childhood, but has proven numerous times that she has a warm and caring side.
• Tall, Dark and Bishoujo
• Too Much Alike: With Barney. Both are extremely passionate and driven with the circumstances of their jobs meaning that one's career growth came at the expense of the other's.
• Tsundere
• Unknown Rival: Patrice and Brandy are blissfully unaware of how much Robin hates them.
• Unrequited Love Switcheroo: Played for Laughs. After she and Lily kiss in Season 9, Robin is eager to do it again but Lilly is satisfied.
• "Well Done, Daughter" Chick: Specifically cited by Ted as the one thing Robin really wants — approval from Dad.
• Will They or Won't They?: With Ted in season 1 and with Barney in seasons 3, 4 and 7.
• Yet Another Baby Panda: Much of her career.

Others

The Mother (Tracy McConnell)

"Kids, I'm gonna tell you an incredible story. The story of how I met your mother."

Played by: Cristin Milioti

The woman about whom Future Ted is telling a story to his kids about. Little is known about her, other than that she owned a yellow umbrella and that she was in the class Ted's seen teaching at the end of season four. Glimpsed in part several times during the course of the series, and finally revealed in the last episode of the series.

• Adorkable: She's played by Cristin Milioti. This is a requirement.
• Distaff Counterpart: To Ted.
• Hot for Teacher: Although Ted had the wrong classroom, so she's not actually his student.
• Last Girl Wins: Or so one imagines. Ultimately averted: Tracy is dead by the time Future!Ted tells his story — and he gets together with Robin after he comes to term with her passing.
• No Name Given: Her name is established as Tracy very early on, as part of Ted trolling his kids to believe that she was a stripper, but her full name is not given until the end.
• She Who Must Not Be Seen: Until the finale of Season 8.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man
• The Un-Reveal

Luke and Penny Mosby

Penny played by: Lyndsy Fonseca Luke played by: David Henrie

Ted's son and daughter living in the year 2030. Currently he's subjecting them to a lengthy and needlessly detailed tale of how he met their mother.

• Completely Missing the Point: After Future!Ted tells them the story of when he dated an ex, who he had previously dumped on her birthday, via an answering machine message while her friends and family hid in her house for a surprise party, convinced her that he'd changed in order to get a second chance, only to break up with her on her birthday AGAIN, only this time in person... Which led to her kicking Ted's ass. All Ted's kids took from this story is that their dad got beat up by a girl.
• Deadpan Snarker: When they could still comment on Ted's stories anyway. Probably got it from dad.
• Not Allowed to Grow Up: Currently the "reaction" of the kids are only stills from a previous clip. Their reaction in the Grand Finale was filmed during Season 2.
• Shipper on Deck: For Ted/Robin.
• Shout-Out Theme Naming: Penny is named after her parents' love of coin collecting while Luke is named after their love of Star Wars.

Ranjit

"HELLOOOOO!" —Played by: Marshall Manesh

The gang's favorite cab/limo/anything driver. Meets the main five for the first time in the pilot episode, and after driving them around a few times eventually becomes friends with them to the point of knowing many personal details about their lives.

• Ascended Extra: After several One-Scene Wonder moments, he graduates to this in Season 9.
• Beware the Nice Ones: "Ted, I don't want you to see me pissed!"
• Catch Phrase: "Hellooooooo!" and "To the [vehicle]!"
• One-Scene Wonder
• Rags to Riches: Thanks to some wise stock investments.

Carl MacLaren

"I can trust you guys!" —Played by: Joe Nieves

The owner of the bar the core five frequently go to. He has known the gang at least since 2001 and seems to be relatively close to them.

• Deadpan Snarker
• Limited Wardrobe: Always wear Black.
• Only Sane Man: in The Pineapple Incident, when Ted gets hilariously drunk.

Wendy

"I-It's a tie..." —Played by: Charlene Amoia

The most prominent waitress at MacLaren's Bar. Like Carl, she seems to be relatively close to the main five and even had a short fling with Barney.

• The Chew Toy: She seems to get hurt a lot at MacLaren's, often because of the gang.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Subverted - Barney sees her as this during their short fling, because he's Barney. She simply thinks they're actually boyfriend and girlfriend, and acts accordingly.
• Deadpan Snarker: On occasion.
• Everyone Calls Her Barkeep: Subverted. Everyone knows her by her first name, but she's always called "Wendy the Waitress".
• Happily Married: In Ted's 2021 flashback, she's married to an ex-coworker of Marshall's, and they run into Ted while on their second honeymoon in Hong Kong.
• Nice Girl
• Wide-Eyed Idealist

Victoria

Played by: Ashley Williams

Victoria is the first serious girlfriend Ted gets in the series. She shows up in mid-season one and stays around for most of the remaining episodes of the season until she gets a baking scholarship in Germany.

• Put on a Bus
• Romantic False Lead: Subverted. The writers initially wrote her as this, but she that didn't stop her from becoming a beloved character among the fandom. If the show hadn't been renewed for a second season, she would have been The Mother.
• Sickeningly Sweethearts: To the point that Marshall and Lily are jealous of how lovey-dovey she and Ted are.
• Sixth Ranger
• The Bus Came Back: In Season 8. She and Ted break up again because, just like last time, Ted's UST with Robin gets in the way.

Scooter

Played by: David Burtka

Scooter is Lily's ex-boyfriend. Their parents are friends and the two of them dated throughout their teenage years, but Lily broke things off when she went to college. To this day, he's still trying--and failing--to win her back.

• All Love Is Unrequited
• Butt Monkey
• Depending on the Writer: Is his real name Jeff or Bill?
• Determinator: Never gives up on Lily, no matter how many times she tells him she doesn't want anything to do with him.
• Friendly Enemy: Barney and Brad may be on Marshall's side, but they're still very nice to "Bill".
• Puppy Dog Eyes: Even Marshall isn't immune.
• Stalker with a Crush
• Unknown Rival: To Marshall.
• Unlucky Childhood Friend
  

Brad

Played by: Joe Manganiello

Brad is one of Marshall's friends from law school. He's introduced in the second season and becomes friends with the rest of the gang.

• Cloudcuckoolander
• Estrogen Brigade Bait
• Genius Ditz: Even more of a ditz than Marshall. Still passed the bar (which, it should be noted, has a 50% failure rate) on his first attempt.
• Sixth Ranger: Whenever he shows up.

Stella Zinman

Played by: Sarah Chalke

Stella is a dermatologist who Ted visits for the purpose of removing his lower-back tattoo and becomes his main love interest throughout seasons three and four and almost marries him. She has a daughter named Lucy and has an unresolved relationship with Tony, her ex-boyfriend and father of her daughter.

• Actor Allusion: Stella's a doctor played by Sarah Chalke.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Uses Ted to get through all her emotional issues then dumps him and endorses Tony making a film about the marriage painting Ted as the villain.
• Easily Forgiven: Averted hard. When she comes back for an episode, no one forgives her for leaving Ted on their wedding day.
• Entitled Bastard: When Tony breaks it off with her because of his guilt towards hurting Ted, Stella tells Ted he has to fix it.
• Fauxshadow: In season 3's St. Patrick's Day episode, narrator!Ted states that the mother was at the same party he and Barney went to, but that they didn't meet her then. Stella mentions offhand that she was at a party on St. Paddy's.
• Hospital Hottie
• Hot Mom
• It's All About Me: Even moreso than Barney. She was completely unopen to compromising with Ted about anything and forced him to uproot his life but she moved to New York with Tony. She later felt entitled to ask Ted for favours and supported the making of a film painting him as a villain while revealing private details about their relationship.
• Kick the Dog: She leaves Ted at the altar in "Shelter Island", leaving him nothing but a letter and is then seen making up with Tony.
  • Not to mention her part in the making of "The Wedding Bride," which made everyone hate Ted's character and humiliating Ted.
• Love Epiphany: Realizes she's not over her ex-boyfriend on the same day she's supposed to marry Ted.
• Put on a Bus
• Sixth Ranger

Tony Grafanello

Played by: Jason Jones

Stella's ex-boyfriend and Lucy's father. Is jealous of Ted and Stella's relationship, as he never got over her, but is shown to feel guilty for getting back together with her on the same day she and Ted were supposed to get married.

• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He feels so bad about Stella & Ted breaking up that he arranges for Ted to get his teaching job at Columbia.
  • Eventually becomes a Jerkass, after he writes The Wedding Bride.

Don

Played by: Benjamin Koldyke

Don is introduced as Robin's new love interest after she and Barney break up and "the guy she's supposed to marry". He left after accepting the same job opportunity that Robin turned down in order to be with him.

• Character Shilling: One episode after he's shown to be a jackass and loser, he hangs out with the gang offscreen and the gang simply starts talking about how perfect he is. It's rather jarring.
• Creator's Pet: See above.
• Irony: The only reason that Don got a shot at his dream job is that Robin gave up that same opportunity.
• Jerkass: Being apathetic about his job regardless of who else that interferes with? Pulling the Naked Man on Robin after trying to make amends for his behaviour? Leaving Robin for a job that Robin turned down so she could stay with him? Yeah, this guy fits here.
• Put on a Bus
• Romantic False Lead

George van Smoot, aka, The Captain

Played by: Kyle Mac Lachlan

Zoey's ex-husband.

• Awesome McCoolname: Named himself "The Captain" because he believes a real man can do that.
• Large Ham
• Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: Plays up his creepiness because he's shy.
• Sophisticated As Hell

I daresay Scylla and Charibdis could not have torn us asunder: we had great big boners for each other.

Stuart and Claudia

Stuart played by: Matt Boren Claudia played by: Virginia Williams

Friends of the gang. Introduced in Season 1, appeared sporadically throughout and had a baby in Season 6.

• The Alcoholic: How Stuart copes.
• Aw, Look — They Really Do Love Each Other: At Marshall's bachelor party, Stuart uses all the tired clichés of marriage being a ball and chain, the end of freedom, etc. and pretty much confirms it's because his own marriage isn't going so well. As the party goes from bad to worse, he states that he misses Claudia.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: To be fair, Claudia is a bit of a shrew.
• Your Cheating Heart: It's frequently implied that they cheat on each other.

James Stinson

Lily: Remember that time you two scored a brother-sister combo? Barney: She was a little bit country. James: He was a lot into black guys. —Played by: Wayne Brady

Barney's gay half-brother. Not a jerk like Barney.

• The Cast Showoff: He is Wayne Brady after all.
• Happily Married
• Hard Gay: As a young man.
• Ladykiller in Love: Happened to him in the backstory for his introduction episode.
• Magical Negro: Essentially plays this role in "The Rebound Girl".
• Nice Guy
• Sibling Yin-Yang
• Straight Gay
• Your Cheating Heart: He cheated on his husband, Tom, with Gary.

Kevin

Played by Kal Penn

Robin's court-ordered therapist after she had assaulted another woman. He stopped being Robin's therapist because he was attracted to her and they ended up dating.

• Nice Guy
• Only Sane Man: Literally. As a professional therapist, he can point out all the specific psychological ways the Five-Man Band is so completely messed up.

Patrice

Robin's co-worker. She doesn't like her.

• Ascended Extra: Introduced as a background character in reaction shots. Gradually comes into more focus.
• Butt Monkey

"NOBODY ASKED YOU, PATRICE!" "DAMN IT PATRICE, STOP SMOTHERING ME!" "PATRICE IRONS MY PANTS WRONG!"

• Fat Girl
• Sitcom Arch Nemesis

Arthur Hobbs

• Disproportionate Retribution: He fires Meeker merely for speaking in favor of Marshall's proposal.
• Evil Is Petty: Is said to have once fired a man for wearing the same tie as him.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He's almost cartoonishly evil at times but has a soft spot for his dog Tugboat.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk:
  • When Marshall gives him a "The Reason You Suck" Speech and tells him he quits Arthur seems affcted and states he needed to hear it but when Marshall then apologizes for being harsh Arthur clarifies he's just glad he won't have to pay him a severence package.
  • When Marshall leaves GNB Arthur parts with him on amicable terms and offers to give him a good reference. Turns out he only did so in order to slander Marshall to his potential employer and keep him from getting the job out of spite.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Downplayed as Arthur is mostly just a jerk but he does show some signs of this. He is nice to Tugboat, appears to have a genuine freindship with Barney and has a few Pet the Dog moments that suggest he isn't as bad as he seems.
• Kick the Dog: He reduces a man to tears by yelling at him in front of his daughter in his first appearance.
• Mean Boss: Yells at everyone at work to the point of making Marshall cry.
• Pet the Dog:
  • When Marshall compares Tugboat and Randy Arthur agrees to let him rehire the latter.
  • Tells everyone in the gang to be open and honest in their relationships so they won't lose each other like he lost Tugboat.
  • In Garbage Island Arthur almost fires Marshall for making a proposal he doesn't like but refrains from doing so out of sympathy upon being told of his father's recent death.