Why Barney Stinson Was The Best Character on HIMYM

Womanizer. Blunt. Inappropriate. These are a few words many use to describe How I Met Your Mother‘s Barney Stinson. The character, who was portrayed by Neil Patrick Harris,  was a fan favorite thanks to his memorable catchphrases, appreciation for well-tailored suits and magnetic, yet sometimes unbefitting charm. Barney was much more than Ted Mosby’s sex-crazed best friend – in fact, he was the star of the show. If you’re anything like me, you found Ted to be unbearable (sorry!) and found sweet relief when Barney was back on the screen. In 9 seasons, we saw Barney prove his unfaltering loyalty to his friends, develop meaningful relationships with people he loved and save the day on more occasions that we can count.  Here’s why Barney was indisputably the best character on HIMYM:

His catchphrases were iconic.

It’s almost impossible to say legendary without thinking of Barney. My personal favorite moment is when he told Ted, “legen-wait for it and I hope you’re not lactose intolerant, because the second half of the word is-dary!” How does he even come up with this stuff? Other favorites include: “suit up!” and all of his high fives like “almighty five” and “self-five”.

He was the perfect fit for Robin.

Sure, they might not have ended up happily ever after but there’s no denying these two made a great pair. Not only did their personalities compliment each other, but they always had each other’s backs. Remember when Robin got really drunk and ended up in Canada? Yep. Barney was there to bring her home to New York. When the two went to Tim Horton’s afterwards, he even defended her when some scary Canadians tried ganging up on her. Robin loved Barney for the crazy, sexual fiend that he was and that warms my heart. Plus, their wedding was totally cute (although their marriage was sadly short-lived).

He was an incredible friend to Ted and Marshall.

I may be biased here, but I don’t think Marshall and Ted appreciated Barney enough. Sure, there were some mishaps (we won’t talk about Ted’s bachelor party when he almost got married to Stella) but Barney did everything with good intentions. He wanted his friends to live their lives to the fullest, even if they couldn’t handle the “Barney lifestyle”. Oh, and who helped Marshall land his first big lawyer job? Barney did. You gotta give credit where credit is due! Even though Ted repeatedly told Barney that Marshall was his best friend instead of him, I knew Ted was grateful for Barney’s friendship.

He was multi-talented.

Barney was great at a lot of things: performing on stage (his one man show would so win a Tony if it had ever transferred to Broadway), video editing (he even created Robin’s video resume that got her a few calls) and magic! Although his extracurricular talents weren’t a huge part of the show, the few moments that Barney showed off his skills were great to watch. It just further proved the point that Barney was awesome in pretty much every aspect of his life. Fun fact: Neil Patrick Harris is a magician too! Is there anything he can’t do?

These are the reasons why Barney is and forever will be my favorite HIMYM character. What are yours?

Photo Credit: CBS