While How I Met Your Mother told the story of how Ted Mosby met the mother of his children, romance bloomed for many other characters as well.
In the CBS sitcom, an adult Ted is telling his children in the year 2030 the long-winded story of how he met their mother, looking back to his life in New York City as a 20- and 30-something-year-old man looking for love. He’s surrounded by his good friends Marshall, Lily, Robin, and Barney.
Lots of dating went on, but which couples were right for one another and which were all wrong? Here’s a look at the main couples from the series.
Marshall & Lily: Perfect Together
The list needs to be kick offed with the #couplegoals couple, Marshall and Lily. Perfect together, the two finished one another’s sentences and were best friends as well as passionate lovers. Any couple who delivers a solid argument than high fives the other is perfect.
They went so well together that it was impossible to imagine Marshall without Lily, and vice versa. Adorable and sweet, their true love is what Ted longed to have for himself. Marshall and Lily endured through everything, even if they had fights every now and then.
Ted & Zoey: Makes No Sense
Right from the beginning, Zoey seemed all wrong for Ted. They should have realized they didn’t make sense as soon as it was revealed that Zoey was protesting the very building Ted had worked on as an architect. She then proceeded to thrust her beliefs on everyone in his life, including his students.
Even if that didn’t do it, the fact that she was married – yes, married – should have been enough to convince Ted that the relationship didn’t make sense and would never work.
Ted & Victoria: Perfect Together
Long believed to be the mother in the story, many people still think Victoria would have been the right choice. A baker, she and Ted went so well together. They dated for quite some time and even rekindled their romance for a short period when Victoria ran out of her own wedding.
In the end, Ted’s clear romantic feelings for Robin and his close bond with her is what stood in the way of exploring his relationship further with Victoria. Had Ted been able to let go of Robin, he could have really been happy with Victoria.
Robin & Kevin: Makes No Sense
The fact that Kevin started out as Robin’s court-ordered therapist, who she had to see after assaulting another woman, made this relationship doomed to fail from the start.
Surprisingly, Robin and Kevin lasted for some time, thanks to Kevin’s calm and relaxed manner that balanced out the more hyper and wound up Robin. They only broke up when they came to a head about the issue of having children. Still, even though Kevin proposed, they lacked chemistry and he wasn’t the right fit for Robin.
Ted & Tracy: Perfect Together
Tracy, finally revealed to be the mother, was the woman Ted had been waiting for all his life. Or was she? The finale left many viewers angry for two reasons. For one, we discover that the mother had actually passed away from an illness. Secondly, years later, Ted decides to go see Robin, at the urging of his kids.
Does this mean Ted always held a torch for Robin? Probably, which means Tracy wasn’t the right person for him. But when they were together, it seems they were truly happy and in love, and would still be together to this day had she not passed on.
Barney & Quinn: Makes No Sense
While we’re all for Barney settling down with an actual girlfriend instead of having a string of one-night stands, Quinn was not the right girl for him. A stripper who Barney met in the strip club, they slept together but both couldn’t shake the feeling that they wanted more.
They went so far as to move in together, but in the end, neither was ready to settle down. Quinn wasn’t happy quitting her job for Barney, and they didn’t trust each other, which isn’t the greatest way to start a life together.
Barney & Nora: Perfect Together
Nora was a great partner to Barney and they could have been really good together. Robin’s co-worker, Nora was really interested in Barney. But once again, he was not ready to settle down.
The relationship was full of lies and lacked commitment. Eventually, Barney makes the mistake of sleeping with Robin, ending his courtship with Nora for good. Again, Robin seems to be the common denominator in a breakup, this time involving Barney rather than Ted.
Barney & Robin: Makes No Sense
Yes, they got married. And yes, Robin was the one woman who was finally able to tame Barney and make him unafraid of commitment. But they also got divorced, as we discover in the flash-forward at the end of the series. Furthermore, they never seemed like the right match, to begin with.
They were better off as friends, so their romantic relationship made no sense. Robin should have found someone outside of the group instead of mixing friendship with romantic love. They simply weren’t right for one another.
Ted & Robin: Perfect Together
Yes, it seems weird that Ted was seemingly perfect together with three women on this list! But the fact that he pursued Robin in the end anyway, the woman who directly or indirectly played a part in quite a number of Ted’s breakups, suggests she was “The One” all along. They were destined to be together.
Ted and Robin were best friends, and they understood one another on a level that no one else did. They were always there for each other, and there was a clear spark between them.
Ted & Stella: Makes No Sense
Yet another of Ted’s long-term girlfriends, Stella even accepted his marriage proposal. However, she ended up leaving him for her ex-boyfriend and father of her child, making her a total mismatch for Ted.
A dermatologist, Stella was clearly never over her daughter’s father, and Ted really didn’t know her well enough to start a life together. Even Ted’s friends knew she wasn’t the right fit for him, staging an intervention to warn him that he was moving too quickly with her.
