How I Met Your Mother: Each Main Character Ranked From Worst To Best

The show's de facto protagonist, Ted Mosby was the narrator of the series and the focal point of the majority of the episodes. Like Robin, he is career-driven and independent, but is also the biggest hopeless romantic you've ever seen.

This leads to some great moments of comedy and drama, and he remains throughout the show's run a surprisingly endearing character despite his worst tendencies. That being said, his issues are quite tough to hide. His feelings for Robin make him sweet and likable at first, but by the final season it's all become a bit stale, and his pretentious behaviour is sometimes a little bit over the top to be considered consistently funny.

Perhaps due to Josh Radnor's performance, though, he manages to be as easy to root for as he is flawed and (often) quite selfish (dumping a woman on two separate birthdays, telling his kids the story of how he met their mother just to see if they'd let him go after Robin again). His worst traits trip him up slightly, but Ted is still a compelling character, and it wouldn't be a good show if he - like Robin and Lily before him - wasn't flawed and imperfect.