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5* ActorShipping: Josh Radnor and [[spoiler: Cristin Milioti]] have gotten some of this due to [[spoiler: their chemistry as Ted and the mother combined with some of the backlash against the finale]].
6* {{Adorkable}}: Ted Mosby and Marshall Eriksen are the main dorks of the show and their endearing friendship becomes easily one of the show's biggest highlights.
7* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation/HowIMetYourMother Has its own page]].
8* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Not the series itself, but rather the introduction of the Mother, aka [[spoiler:Tracy]], as a recurring member of the cast in season 9. Most fans thought it was utterly impossible to live up to almost an entire decade of build up and hype, especially since the creators only had one season left. But, despite a couple of writing missteps in her first few appearances that made her a bit too perfect, once the writers found their footing with the character, coupled with Creator/CristinMilioti's adorable performance, she became one of the most beloved characters in the show. So much that, in a lot of post-ending fan works, she's depicted with the rest of the core gang as if she had been physically present all along, rather than just the final season. Pretty impressive considering the odds.
9* ArcFatigue:
10** The entire ''series'' wound up becoming this, with the fandom becoming increasingly fed up with only receiving a few minute hints as to the identity of the Mother prior to the season 8 finale. It got to the point that even the writers poked fun at Ted's story taking 9 years at the 2013 [=ComicCon=] by having Lynsey Fonseca and David Henrie [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOe4_kdqsmU reprising their roles as Ted's children after seven years and tear into him over it]].
11** The Barney[=/=]Robin romance arc, with the writers constantly resorting to [[UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo Unrequited Love Switcheroos]] to draw things out.
12** The writers continued to head back to the well with the Ted[=/=]Robin romance, long after the majority of fans had tired of it. That this was still going on in the eighth season, which was ''originally'' going to be the final season before being renewed once again, led to some of the more fed-up fans beginning to call the show "How I Was In Love With Your Aunt Robin For 8 Years Before Settling For Your Mother" while other fans have commented that Ted[=/=]Robin make [[Series/{{Friends}} Ross and Rachel]] look like a one-night stand. [[spoiler:But then, in the series finale, we learn that the Mother has been dead all along, and the reason Ted spent so much time telling his children about Aunt Robin under the guise of telling them how he met their mother was because he wants to know if they'd be okay with him dating "Aunt Robin." Your mileage may vary on whether this is FridgeBrilliance or the writers returning yet again to the tired old Ted[=/=]Robin romance.]]
13** In the season 6 premiere, it was revealed that Ted met the Mother at a wedding, and it took ''a full season'' to reveal Barney was the groom, another season to reveal Robin was the bride, another season to reach the wedding, and then ''another'' season was spent at the wedding weekend. Keep in mind that a large number of fans considered the identities of the bride and groom to be TheUntwist.
14** Season 9 was accused of this when it first appeared (and was later confirmed [[WordOfGod by Bays and Thomas themselves]]) that the entire season would be told in the timespan of Barney and Robin's wedding.
15*** This one is interesting and doubles as [[BrokenBase base breaking]]. Because of the small time span season 9 takes place over, it leads to bizarre mood changes for the characters. Such as James in one instance taking his relationship very seriously and only a few hours later he's making crude and mean jokes about the same topic.
16*** Marshall's journey from Minnesota to Farhampton took over half of the season.
17*** Season 9 occurring entirely during Barney and Robin's wedding is especially frustrating since [[spoiler: the marriage ended ten minutes into the finale]].
18* AssPull: The finale: [[spoiler:With little to no foreshadowing, Barney and Robin divorce and the gang splits up and don't see each other for years. All of this is done to facilitate the Ted/Robin ending that had been filmed seven years prior.]]
19* AudienceAlienatingEnding: The series finale is one of the most controversial, love-it-or-hate-it endings on record. [[spoiler:Barney and Robin get divorced after only three years; Barney goes right back to his womanizing ways and fathers a child with one of his one-night stands; Tracy (a.k.a. the Mother) is revealed to have died in 2024; the kids encourage Ted to go after Robin yet again]]. The meltdown among fans and critics was big enough to make the news and is likely to haunt the series for years to come, although some fans have been mollified by the alternate ending released with Season 9's [=DVDs=] (which basically just leaves out the unpopular parts at the very end).
20* AuthorsSavingThrow:
21** Some complaints about the later seasons (about season five on) revolve around the fact that Ted starts sleeping around with a lot more random women and has fewer long term relationships (like Victoria, Robin and Stella) than actually looking for his soulmate. It undermines the premise of the show and harms Ted as a character, claiming to want to get married but is unwilling to make those steps. It's later addressed in season eight with [[{{Yandere}} the crazy]] Jeanette breaking him out of random dating and season nine has him almost hook up with Cassie and, looking back, is grateful he didn't because it would have left a black mark on the weekend where he met The Mother.
22** For viewers who were offended by Barney's [[spoiler:"The Robin" play]] might've been relieved that in "The Bro Mitzvah" later on in the season, Robin [[spoiler:majorly got back at him with a similar ploy on how she deliberately tried to make sure his bachelor party would end up incredibly awful.]]
23** After the very vocal negative reaction to the ending of the series, the revelation that the DVD releases will have an alternate ending to the series is likely intended to be one. While the actual inclusion of the ending probably isn't intended to be one, the timing (less than a week after the finale aired) is being viewed by a portion of the fans as an attempt to placate those angered by the endings. For the record, the alternate ending [[spoiler: has Ted and Tracy's wedding and a summary of the series]] and has been well received so far by fans.
24* AwardSnub: As of 2010, Neil Patrick Harris has been nominated for four Emmys for ''HIMYM,'' but has lost all four times (to [[Series/{{Entourage}} Jeremy Piven]], [[Series/TwoAndAHalfMen Jon Cryer]] and [[Series/ModernFamily Eric Stonestreet]]). However, Harris won two Emmys in 2010 for guest starring on ''Series/{{Glee}}'' and hosting the 2009 Tonys.
25* AwesomeEgo: Undeniably, Barney Stinson is one of the most beloved egomaniacs in television, whose braggadocio tends to add to his charm. Barney constantly brags about how awesome he is, and manages to pull off some of the most audacious harebrained schemes in the history of sitcoms, whether he is seducing women, pulling pranks, or [[spoiler: getting revenge on the man who ruined his life back when he was at the tender age of 23, years after the fact, by betraying the latter to the FBI]].
26* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[AwesomeMusic/HowIMetYourMother Has a sub-page.]]
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32* BaseBreakingCharacter:
33** From the evidence on message boards, it seems that if you watch the show, you either love Lily and think she's a hilarious and endearing character and wonderful wife, or think she's a mean, shallow, selfish bitch who doesn't deserve Marshall.
34** Ted has a split similar to Lily's, with some thinking he is the best friend one could ever have and a genuine NiceGuy and feel bad for his search for love, while others think he is a DesignatedHero and a ManipulativeBastard who is not nice at all and will even screw over his friends to impress a girl. It should be noted that here's a notable trend for his haters to be extreme Barney fans and extreme Barney/Robin shippers. Given the fact that Ted and Lily are far less willing than Robin and Marshall to ignore Barney's bad behavior, [[MisaimedFandom it's hard to stop certain suspicions from emerging…]]
35** Barney is either a CrazyIsCool womanizer with HiddenDepths, or a one-dimensional asshole who treats every woman he meets, except his mother, like shit. In short, the fandom is mostly split by his MisaimedFandom and the people who are ''annoyed by'' his MisaimedFandom.
36** Weirdly enough, Jeannette falls into this status for some fans. While many hate her for the exact reasons that everyone in the show except for Ted himself does, there are almost as many who consider her behavior to be so completely batshit insane that it CrossesTheLineTwice and actually makes her a very entertaining character. Said fans also prefer watching a character who is clearly a terrible, terrible girlfriend for Ted and depicted as such, rather than someone who is depicted as being a good girlfriend despite everything indicating otherwise (as was the case with Zoey, and arguably even Stella).
37** The Mother. Some fans love her and think it was worth waiting 8 seasons to finally meet her, other fans think that she's an obnoxiously perfect character.
38* BetterOnDVD:
39** With all the {{Continuity Nod}}s, {{Call Back}}s, {{Brick Joke}}s, and {{Running Gag}}s, it's a lot easier to appreciate them, and by extension the show, when you watch the episodes in close succession.
40** After the series finale aired, Alyson Hannigan revealed in a Twitter post that the Season 9 DVD will contain a special feature that will finally explain where the Pineapple from "The Pineapple Incident" came from, and also mentioned that was at least 18 minutes worth of material cut from the episode for time restraints which will likely be on the DVD as well.
41** Carter Bays has revealed that they created an alternate ending that was "very different" from the ending that was used, and it will be included on the Season 9 DVD and Complete Series box set. Many fans who hated the series finale are hoping that the alternate ending will end the show on a better note. As it turns out, [[spoiler: it does]].
42* BigLippedAlligatorMoment:
43** Barney and Robin's dance in the seventh season premiere. Very sudden, very elaborate and the rest of the reception joins in, and then completely ignored the second the song ends. Almost certainly a result of Ted, the UnreliableNarrator, telling the story.
44** The [[NoodleIncident green dress]] became one in "Now We're Even".
45** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiweaZQ8g5U "Nothing Suits Me Like a Suit!"]] Justified in that it takes place in Barney's imagination.
46** Music/BoyzIIMen suddenly showing up in the woods outside the Farhampton Inn and singing "You Just Got Slapped" in their signature style.
47* BrokenBase:
48** The whole premise of the show being "How Ted Mosby met the mother of his future children" is a bit divisive amongst viewers. It is either a very original premise for a Sitcom and a great way to make it popular amongst the WildMassGuessing crowd, or the biggest cause of ArcFatigue and FridgeLogic in the show and makes some cynical viewers think that the show will never resolve that plot point because the show is too popular to end. [[spoiler:Even more so during the finale when it was revealed that the show's story was always more about Ted's incredibly off-and-on relationship with Robin than him finding the mother of his children]].
49** Robin's attitude towards her coworker, Patrice. Although most people found it funny at first because of Smulder's over-the-top screams, some fans think the joke overstayed its welcome for way too long ([[spoiler:right to the second to last episode!]]), and ultimately it did nothing but [[TookALevelInJerkass show Robin being a colossal jerkass]].
50** Barney's [[spoiler:"The Robin" play]]: while most fans saw it as this great romantic--albeit manipulative and underhanded--scheme and a major SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome for all of season 8, some fans… were less than thrilled, feeling that Barney had crossed the line.
51** When Lily left Marshall at the end of season 1, and Ted left a voicemail where it's heavily implied he called her [[CountryMatters a certain word]]. Lily (and the show) feel Ted is in the wrong, while Ted points out he made it while Marshall wouldn't stop moping, and Lily ''abandoned their wedding'', meaning Marshall and Ted had to tell all of the relatives it was called off. Fandom is split between who's right.
52** Lily and Marshall's argument in "Unpause," and who was ultimately more right.
53** The slap bet. While the majority of the fans thought it was very funny at first some began to feel it overstayed its welcome. Specifically, how uncomfortable and even afraid Barney became of each slap and how Marshall (oftentimes joined by the others) took great pleasure in tormenting him. To some that made it even funnier, and was only what Barney deserved. To others it left a bad taste in their mouth and crossed the line from comedy to abuse.
54** The Finale. Overall there are those who hated the ending and everything about it, or those who didn't mind the idea of the ending but thought it was poorly executed. There's also those who think it was a good BittersweetEnding that brought everything full circle, gave Ted the happy ending that nobody needed more than him, and makes sense. Though this lot seem nearly nonexistent, it may be they're keeping quiet to hide from the onslaught of the other two very vocal and furious groups.
55*** The fact that the [=DVD=] releases feature an alternate ending to the series. While some fans are pleased about this, there are others saying it's too late for Bays and Thomas to try and WinBackTheCrowd since they've already decided the show's canon ending, others accusing it of just being pandering to sell [=DVDs=] and get people to watch, those who liked it say the creators should stick to their original ending. And the new ending, despite being well-received, has created its own break, between those willing to now cut the creators some slack, and those mad this ending wasn't just used in the first place… and there are those who actually liked the original ending and consider the new one to be a sugarcoated happy ending made just to please those who hated the original ending. The question of whether the finale managed to provide [[spoiler: enough closure to Barney and Robin's divorce, or is simply too vague to infer anything is another major point of contention.]]
56** Lily's fate in the finale. Some fans accuse the show of sexism since they [[spoiler: did not touch on her career as an art consultant and make us speculate what happens to her at the end, leading to some to fear that her life after Italy became one where she [[StayInTheKitchen only exists to produce children for Marshall]].]] Others, even detractors of the finale argue that her character arc was resolved the most smoothly or that it was consistent with the show's narrative at the end.
57** Barney's fate is also a touchy subject. His divorce from Robin aside, it is revealed that Barney returned to his womanizing ways, eventually having a child by accident with a one-night stand. The show treats this as endearing, but certain fans hate that all the years of character development was tossed out the window, in favor of a strange ResetButton push halfway through the last episode. It doesn't help that, by that point, Barney was a middle-aged man who would regularly go to bars to have sex with drunk twenty-somethings. That is a very disturbing concept to some.
58** Ted and Robin's relationship. Some view it as a genuinely romantic relationship that fell apart less due to fundamental differences between them and more due to Ted and Robin wanting different things, and as such could [[spoiler:happily be rekindled when the things keeping them apart were no longer an issue]]. Others believe it's a completely incompatible relationship based on fundamental differences demonstrated throughout the series, and [[spoiler:that they shouldn't have gotten back together in the finale at the expense of more popular and compatible relationships (e.g., Barney and Robin, or Ted and Tracy)]].
59* CargoShip:
60** Barney and his suits. Also his Playbook, to an an extent.
61** Ted[=/=]Empire State Building. A cop suspects Ted of being an objectophiliac.
62** A {{Crossover|Ship}} Cargo Ship paired Lily with [[Film/AmericanPie flutes]].
63** Marshall and his Fiero.
64** Robin and her guns.
65** Ranjit and his cars.
66** The Captain and his fixation with boats.
67* CommonKnowledge: Both InUniverse and out (see a lot of the entries in this very page), almost everyone remembers that Lily secretly applied for an art program and when she was accepted, she dumped Marshall and ran off to San Francisco. In fact, Lily specifically said she didn't want to break up with Marshall, he was the one who insisted that it be all or nothing and that if Lily went through with the art program they would have to break up.
68* ContinuityLockout: Victoria's return could have been one, but they simplify the breakup between her and Ted to save an explanation ("I cheated on you with Robin" is a lot simpler than "I thought you weren't going to call me so I was going to break up with you after I started to cheat on you with Robin whom I had told that we had broken up but I never got the chance to because you called while I was at her place, and Robin answered because we had identical phone and then we fought for a while and eventually did hook up under completely unrelated circumstances").
69* CrazyIsCool: Barney, apparently. During a joyful "you said I was ''crazy''!" speech, he mentions that even his ''psychiatrist'' thinks he's crazy, then names the diagnosis: "narcissist with severe attachment disorder".
70* CrossesTheLineTwice:
71** The episode when Ted Mosby flies his mom and dad in. It's mentioned that they don't really talk about their problems. Barney sees Mr. Mosby making out with another woman in the bar, and tells Ted. When Ted confronts him, Ted's parents reveal they've been divorced for nine months (and separated for ''two years'') and simply chose not to tell Ted. During the credits, Ted asks how Grandma is; she hasn't been returning his calls. His parents look uncomfortable.
72** Anything involving Barney and the women he sleeps with. The things he does to trick them into bed are really scummy, but they're so over-the-top that they cross the line twice.
73** In ''Sorry, Bro'' when Lily finds out Ted is getting back together (''again'') with the pretentious, cheating beeyotch he dated in college: "Ted, honey, go outside and [[CurbStompBattle bite the curb]], I'll be out in a minute..." Hahaha, oh, Lily--[[Film/AmericanHistoryX wait…]]
74** "Bang, bang, bangity-bang, I said a bang-bang bangity bang! A bang bang bang... "
75** In-universe in the "Blitzgiving" episode. The gang (minus Ted who wants to sleep early) schemed to get back at Zoey for her attempt to ruin Ted's career:
76--->'''Barney''': ...And then, I'm just gonna leave her there...buck naked...covered in candle wax...tied to the bed.\
77''[everyone stares in horror]''\
78'''Marshall''': Barney, I know Ted doesn't like that girl, but that seems a little extreme.\
79'''Barney''': Wait, Ted doesn't like that girl?
80** Honey is a sweet, innocent young woman who has been ''horribly'' taken advantage of many, many times, often sexually. However, she's so cheerfully clueless about it, and the lies she falls for are so over-the-top transparent, that it quickly becomes sad ''and'' hilarious.
81--->'''Honey:''' My apartment building is so safe. My landlord, he even installed a security camera in my shower.\
82'''Marshall:''' Oh, honey.\
83'''Honey:''' Maybe I should feel weird about giving a stranger my Social Security number, [[FourOneNineScam but the guy's a Nigerian prince]]!\
84'''Marshall:''' Ohhhhh, honey.\
85'''Honey:''' I just had a ''great'' TV audition. Behind the KFC where the executive producer works on the weekends.\
86'''Marshall:''' [[RuleOfThree Oh, honey]]!\
87'''Honey:''' Long story short, I'm going to be on ''Series/{{LOST}}''![[labelnote:Note]][[DontExplainTheJoke That show had been off the air for a year at the time.]][[/labelnote]]\
88'''Marshall:''' [[OverlyLongGag Ohhhhhhh]], ''honey''!
89** Jeanette is a {{yandere}} of the highest order and often quite terrifying in her own way, but sometimes you have to laugh at the absurdity of it all.
90--->'''Jeanette:''' Here's your key back.\
91'''Ted:''' I never gave you a key.\
92'''Jeanette:''' And your grandmother's ring.\
93'''Ted:''' She was buried wearing this!
94* DesignatedHero: The members of the gang frequently fall into this territory (see BaseBreakingCharacter above). They typically get [[WhatTheHellHero called out for it]] by the others when they go over the line, but they're also often presented as being in the right. Also frequently inverted with InformedWrongness.
95* DieForOurShip:
96** Nora is quite the [[EnsembleDarkhorse popular character...]] except with militant Barney/Robin shippers who were enraged that she was his first serious girlfriend [[ShipSinking after their breakup]].
97** Ever since the very first episode it's been evident that Ted will marry and have kids with someone else than Robin, so some Robin/Ted shippers came up with the theory that eponymous Mother will eventually die, thus allowing Robin and Ted to get back together in the future. [[spoiler: Aaaaand it happened.]]
98** A bizarre case with Marshall and Lily. In order to fantasize about a different girl to Lily, he has to kill her off in his fantasy first. While he sees it as the only way to be faithful, she is understandably disturbed. Somewhat resolved at the end of the episode with [[ItMakesSenseInContext Stripper Lily]].
99** [[spoiler:The finale gives us one from the writers of all people, who not only divorce Robin and Barney (despite having spent an entire season-and-a-half showcasing them as a couple), but also kill off The Mother (despite having spent most of the final season showcasing her) -- just so that Ted and Robin can be together.]]
100* DrinkingGame: In the DVD commentary for the pilot, Neil Patrick Harris suggests one where viewers drink every time his character drinks following a punchline. Show creator Craig Thomas follows by suggesting a drink every time a character says "awesome", but joked that it may actually cause alcohol poisoning. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro0yZyVR0Qk&feature=related Challenge accepted!]]
101* EnsembleDarkhorse:
102** Nora for being the most decent girl Barney has met, seeing through his tricks, and being British.
103** Brad is unsurprising in hindsight, considering how Joe Manganiello's career subsequently took off.
104** Although Quinn is disliked by Barney/Robin and Barney/Nora shippers, she does have her own fans who like her for her feistiness and the fact that she can match Barney when it comes to being cunning and manipulative.
105** Stan from "The Three Days Rule" is also somewhat popular, probably due to his sexy voice, recitation of Pablo Neruda, and being played by [[Creator/KevinMichaelRichardson a pretty popular voice actor]]. One wonders how his date with Robin went…
106** Daphne, the SassyBlackWoman Marshall ends up hitching a ride with to get to the wedding in the ninth season.
107** Linus, the bartender giving Lily the [[INeedAFreakingDrink Kennedy Package]], who has his own meme.
108** Cristin Milioti as the Mother. While reaction to Season 9 from fans and critics alike [[BrokenBase were mixed]], the praise for Milioti was pretty close to universal. Even people who accused the character of being overly perfect usually thought her acting was spot-on. This is helped by "How Your Mother Met Me", an episode that the creators used [[ADayInTheLimelight to tie the Mother into the show's mythology]], basically explaining what she had been doing over the show's 8 years.
109** Despite the finale having [[BrokenBase mixed reactions]], most people liked the old lady Ted sat next to at the train station [[ShipperOnDeck who got excited about Ted meeting The Mother]].
110** Punchy, despite only being in four episodes, has a decent following. "Classic Schmosby!" is basically a MemeticMutation at this point.
111** Ranjit, the cab[=/=]limo driver from the pilot who occasionally pops back in.
112** Wendy the waitress.
113** Randy and his Wharmpess Beer. Try saying that out loud.
114* EpilepticTrees:
115** SO MANY theories about who the Mother was and how Ted met her. Among this included "Bump Girl" from the episode "No Tomorrow," which has Ted at a bar bumping into a random girl and apologizing in stride, with the episode specifying that the Mother was at that club on that night.
116** There were also some arguments that the mother is dead/died recently, and Ted is telling his kids the story of how they met to help cope with the grief of losing her. [[spoiler: The ending to "Vesuvius" pointed in that direction and it ended true in the series finale.]]
117** A pretty accepted in-universe explanation to why in the finale Future!Ted doesn't have Creator/BobSaget's voice is that, up until then, the audience was literally inside Ted's mind while he was narrating the story, so Saget's voice is how [[DoIReallySoundLikeThat Ted perceives his own voice]]. However, in the finale, the audience's POV finally leaves Ted's mind, so we get to listen to it as it actually is.
118** Some of the fans who hated Ted in the final episode put out a joke theory that the show is actually set in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, and Maria Hill is on a deep-cover mission to keep an eye on a possible supervillain.
119* EsotericHappyEnding: [[spoiler:Barney and Robin divorce and the Mother dies, all so that Robin and Ted can get back together 20 years in the future. By the reaction of the kids--basically "Mom's been dead for 6 years, yay, go bang Aunt Robin, Dad!"--this is meant to be the ultimate happy ending of two long-lost lovers. Meanwhile the blue French horn has become an object of derision and tragedy in the fan base and most viewers watching disintegrated into tears, yelling, or both. More cynical viewers have also pointed out that even if you're okay with the Ted/Robin pairing, the finale doesn't give any real indication that they're actually going to work out this time, as the show has previously spent a lot of time deconstructing their relationship and ultimately showing them as incompatible. Most of the issues that have caused them to break up in the past are left unresolved, they've never managed to overcome them before despite numerous attempts at getting together, and the finale only shows them (maybe) going on one more date, with no confirmation that they actually stayed together afterward. So even Ted and Robin may not be getting a happy ending.]]
120** The alternative ending while it does avert the most controversial part of the original episode still provides no conclusion to [[spoiler: Barney and Robin's relationship who are still divorced and had no romantic resolution whatsoever.]]
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124[[folder:F-G]]
125* FandomRivalry:
126** There's a heated rivalry between fans of the show and fans of ''Series/{{Friends}}''. Probably has something to do with the TakeThat made at season 2 and lots of their similarities (both shows being their respective creators' love letter to their friend group and time in New York in their twenties), to the point that fans' of the latter call it a "rip-off".
127** In its final season, the show earned the ire of some Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse fans by keeping Cobie Smulders from making many appearances on the first season of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD''. Luckily, this only applied to that one year.
128* FanNickname:
129** [[Franchise/StarWars Luke and Leia]] for Ted's kids, based off Ted being told to swear on his future children and responding "I swear on Luke and Leia." Season six reaffirmed those desires. Season 9's "Unpause" reveals that Ted's son ''is'' indeed [[AscendedFanon named Luke]], but his daughter is named Penny.
130** In the light of the final episode, there are many nicknames for the series such as "How I Met [[spoiler:Your Step Mother]]", "How I [[spoiler:Asked Your Permission To Bang Your Aunt Robin]]", "How I Met [[spoiler:My Children's Surrogate Mother]]" and so forth. The Mother also got a new nickname: [[spoiler:The Uterus]].
131** The TV show ending and the alternate ending are respectively called "The Blue French Horn" and "The Yellow Umbrella" endings, referring to [[spoiler:Robin and The Mother's respective {{Arc Symbol}}s in which depends who ends up ([[MaybeEverAfter implied in Robin's case]]) with Ted]].
132* FanPreferredCouple:
133** Barney/Robin; one of the main reasons for their popularity is the fact that they're BirdsOfAFeather. [[spoiler: This is one of the reasons the finale was not received well by fans.]]
134** Ted/Victoria, partially because the characters are BirdsOfAFeather and partially because [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Victoria would've been the Mother if the show didn't receive a second season]]. Interestingly, a number of people point specifically to [[spoiler:2005!Victoria, accusing 2012!Victoria of barely being the same character]]. In fact, people like them together so much that after the series finale, [[spoiler: people are writing alternate endings where The Mother still dies, but he gets together with Victoria instead of Robin.]] In fact, in a fan-voted poll about the most popular love interest of Ted's, Victoria got the most votes.
135** After TheReveal in the finale [[spoiler:that the Mother died six years before Future!Ted began telling this story to his kids]] now, even [[spoiler:Ted/Tracy]] qualifies as this as well. After being won over by [[spoiler:Cristin Milloti's performance]] in the ninth season, many fans would've preferred that [[spoiler:Tracy lived HappilyEverAfter with Ted in 2030 rather than literally [[DieForOurShip dying for the Ted/Robin ship.]] And now, with the alternate ending, it seems that they've got what they wanted]].
136* {{Fanon}}: Although it's never stated what illness [[spoiler:Tracy]] died from, the most common theory among fans is that it was cancer. Of course, the writers couldn't say since anything they picked could have a cure by 2024 (six years before 2030).
137* FanonDiscontinuity:
138** Do not mention "The Rough Patch" around Barney/Robin fans. Heck, even a bunch of fans who thought the whole relationship involved undoing most of what's good about Robin's character think "The Rough Patch" was a stupid way to end the first relationship.
139** ''[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS8E18WeekendAtBarneys Weekend At Barney's]]'' revealing that the Playbook burned back in [[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS8E09LobsterCrawl Lobster Crawl]] was a decoy is commonly ignored, as most fans find the original scene a great point in Barney's CharacterDevelopment and don't find the burning of the second Playbook nearly as significant.
140** From reactions to the series finale, most people have completely disregarded the final five minutes [[spoiler: and instead prefer to end it at the scene where Ted meets Tracy at the train station]]. Some fans have even gone so far as to disregard both of the finale episodes [[spoiler:so that Barney and Robin never get divorced, and Ted lives happily ever after with Tracy (the Mother) rather than her dying]]. The official alternate ending makes this much easier for fans who [[spoiler: wanted Ted and Tracy to live HappilyEverAfter]], though some fans still have to deal with [[spoiler: Barney and Robin getting divorced. Though to be fair, Future Ted's quote of things falling apart and being put back together that is said when we see Barney and Robin smile during his wedding with Tracy has been interpreted as them getting back together.]]
141* FetishRetardant: Post-breakup-with-Don Robin. As Barney puts it "you're giving me a de-rection". It should not be ''possible'' to uglify Cobie Smulders that much.
142* FlameWar: You want to start one? Mention that you hate the finale, or conversely love it. Sit back and watch the fireworks. Discussions on it can get very nasty, very quickly.
143* FriendlyFandoms: In stark contrast to ''Series/{{Friends}}'' fans, the show's fans and ''Series/{{Cheers}}'' fans are more civil with each other. Must have something to do with hanging out at bars!
144* GrowingTheBeard: Generally considered to be "Slap Bet," although other popular choices are "Drumroll, Please" and "The Pineapple Incident", the latter of which was the first episode in the series to use AnachronicOrder.
145
146[[/folder]]
147
148[[folder:H-N]]
149
150* HarsherInHindsight: See [[HarsherInHindsight/HowIMetYourMother the page]].
151* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: While no one doubted the acting skills of Creator/JasonSegel and Creator/AlysonHannigan, their performance at the end of "Bad News" [[spoiler:after learning that Marshall's father had died of a heart attack]] is one of the saddest moments of the entire series. Further solidified throughout "Last Words," where Jason puts on a convincing performance of [[spoiler:a man who just lost his father. It really feels like Marshall is going through all five stages of grief throughout that episode.]]
152* HilariousInHindsight: See [[HilariousInHindsight/HowIMetYourMother the page.]]
153* HoYay: See [[HoYay/HowIMetYourMother the page]].
154* HollywoodHomely: In "The Rough Patch," Robin is meant to look horribly exhausted to complement Barney's massive weight gain (as Future Ted admits he mentally exaggerated how much they let themselves go), but other than her hair being disheveled and a pimple or two on her chin, she doesn't look that much worse than normal. Most of her problems lie in her checked-out attitude.
155* IdiosyncraticShipNaming: "Blue French Horn" for Ted/Robin and "Yellow Umbrella" for Ted/The Mother.
156* IKnewIt: Many twists have been accurately predicted over the course of the series:
157** Marshall would use the final slap [[spoiler:to stop Barney from freaking out before he got married.]]
158** The mother's name being [[spoiler:the same as the stripper from "Belly Full of Turkey"]] was correct.
159** The fact that the mother [[spoiler:was DeadAllAlong was a common fan theory even before the show got heavy with {{Foreshadowing}}]].
160** Perhaps most surprising of all, [[spoiler: Ted winds up trying to get together with Robin in the end. Despite marrying them both off to other people, they still wind up together… ish.]]
161* InformedWrongness: The show frequently does this to get the plot to move in the direction it needs, or to present AnAesop that turns into a SpoofAesop because a lot of fans didn't agree with the message they were going for.
162** Ted is treated as an ignorant jerk for still seeing Heather as an irresponsible teenager. This is despite the fact that she really does have a very long history of being irresponsible. And the way she decides to prove Ted wrong is to have [[spoiler: Barney and herself undressed in his office, get caught by Lily, and then accuse Ted of being a jerk for making the obvious assumption that they had sex]]. [[SarcasmMode Yeah, way to prove you're a smart, mature adult, Heather]].
163** When Barney gives Marshall relationship advice, everyone says they shouldn't listen to Barney and his advice is always awful. Sure enough, Marshall listening to Barney winds up getting him in the dog house with Lily and everyone agrees Barney's advice is wrong. Except…Marshall didn't listen to Barney's advice. He went completely off-script and that's why Lily got so mad.[[note]]To elaborate, Barney suggested Marshall tell Lily that he doesn't want to wash dishes to he can save his energy "after a draining work day" for "showering her with love". Marshall got flustered and said he shouldn't do them because he works harder and makes more money. Upon hearing this, Barney is shocked Marshall actually said that.[[/note]] While Barney's advice may not have been helpful, it's not his fault because Marshall didn't actually follow it.
164** Barney and Robin are painted as being in the wrong for refusing to go on another double-date with Marshall and Lily after their horrific first double-date.
165** Ted was treated like a bad guy for having left a message insulting Lily after she broke off her and Marshall's engagement and went to San Francisco, even though the message was left during the summer when Ted was trying to get Marshall to stop moping about Lily leaving, and most people who weren't fond of Ted would have agreed with him.
166** After a little talk with [[ItMakesSenseInContext ghosts, Lily, and his father]], Marshall faults himself for bringing up the whole San Francisco debacle at Lily seven years after the event. His self-guilt rings hollow, however, since he had every right to bring it up when Lily claimed that she has never acted as selfish as him, and furthermore, Lily herself had proven unable to answer his question--whether he and Marvin are just consolation prize after her failure at the art school in SF. The later episode "Daisy" paints Marshall not only wrong for questioning Lily's devotion to their family, but [[spoiler:also wrong about staying in NYC and becoming a judge, as he quickly changes his opinion and they wind up spending the year in Italy after finding out she's pregnant again--something that reinforces every reason Marshall had given to stay in New York]].
167** Ted's relationship with Stella was [[{{Understatement}} troubled in a lot of ways]], but in the episode when they try to figure out who should move in with who, SHE'S treated as in the wrong for wanting to stay in New Jersey so as not to uproot her daughter's entire life or take her away from her school and friends, whereas Ted can more easily move out of his apartment. Yet we're supposed to side with Ted & co. that ''Stella'' is being super selfish and unreasonable for putting her daughter's stability and happiness before Ted's attachment to his bachelor apartment (or his snobbery against lame old ''New Jersey''). In another episode, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotHeinous she's also demonized for not liking]] Franchise/StarWars. No, [[BitchInSheepsClothing it doesn't excuse how Stella treated Ted later]] ([[spoiler:leaving him at the altar, moving to New York with her ex-husband the way she wouldn't for Ted, and having her husband write a movie where Ted was the villain]]), but for those episodes Ted definitely can come across as entitled and immature... [[FridgeBrilliance which might explain why Stella decided to break up with him.]]
168** When Lily is pregnant, Lily likes Doctor Sonya, who always gives permission to have "just a little bit" of everything. Marshall is concerned about whether they're getting the right advice and feels her attitude is too casual (it's true that there are myths around pregnancy and in some cases people can overreact in terms of how much they restrict themselves). Ted even does some research which, whether right or not, claims some of her advice is incorrect. The episode then turns into a debate over how much Ted is involved in their lives, with Lily not even showing up to a birthing class because Ted's there and Marshall learning the lesson that what's really important is what makes Lily comfortable. So if she likes Doctor Sonya, that's what counts. The fact that he was genuinely concerned whether what they were doing was actually going to be best for the health of their child was completely ignored.
169** In "Slutty Pumpkin," Robin is first criticized by Lily and then dumped by Mike, the guy she's been seeing for a few weeks, because she's not "acting like someone in a relationship." However, Mike's basis for this claim is obviously from comparing his and Robin's relationship dynamic to Lily and Marshall's - an ''engaged'' couple whose relationship is at least ''150 times older'' than his!!! Talk about unrealistic expectations...
170** In "Murtaugh" Marshall is painted as being in the wrong for being a DrillSergeantNasty coach to his kindergarten basketball team and that Lily's "play to have fun and reward the players with participation trophies" style is the right way. The problem is when Lily was "coaching" the team at practice, she just let the kids run around aimlessly while playing songs on her guitar and wasn't even ''teaching them how to play basketball''. While Marshall may have been unnecessarily harsh and sucked the fun out of the game, he was at least instructing them on how to play it.
171** Barney and Quinn shame the gang for judging her for being a stripper. Yeah, that part was wrong, but they also judged her because she scammed a lot of money out of Barney ''after'' she got to know him and slept with him. Plus, she and Barney played a con on them by having her top that by being incredibly controlling. Its Barney and Heather all over again, but this time he actually slept with the chick.
172* ItWasHisSled:
173** Lily and Marshall get back together after a few episodes of the second season, and get married in the penultimate episode of the same season.
174** Robin isn't the Mother, but this really only applies to the pilot.
175** Every girl Ted dates before the final season not being the Mother.
176** It's impossible to discuss the plot of the ninth season without mentioning it takes place entirely at [[spoiler:Barney and Robin's wedding]].
177** The identity of the mother is no longer a secret, especially considering later works starring her are described as "starring the mother from HIMYM."
178** The backlash to the events of the series finale received a huge amount of media and social coverage which likely means it'll be difficult to avoid hearing about for new viewers.
179* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: In summary, Season 9 expects viewers to overlook everything that happened between Seasons 1-8.
180** Audiences always loved Barney, despite his sociopathic tendencies. But, as the years went by, they saw Barney go from a player to someone who wanted to settle down and commit. Which we see him do with Nora, Quinn and [[spoiler:Robin]]. Characters can evolve over the years, as people do. What healthy people ''don't'' do is regress to their past selves after a divorce, completely disregarding all the lessons learned over the past several years. Barney is suddenly back to his old self? He even wrote another stupid Playbook?
181** Robin starts off as an ambitious reporter who constantly puts her career ahead of love and admits to feeling lonely. This changes when she chooses Don over the job in Chicago. She opened up to her friends and starts putting effort into relationships by making compromises, something she never did (remember that guy in season 1 who she wouldn't share food with). She and Ted try making it work a few times, but he wants a nuclear family and she doesn't. By now (season 7 -- 8), we seen many moments that make us realize that [[spoiler:Barney]] and Robin, despite their dysfunction, are a good match. They both want to settle down, but aren't obsessed with making babies and moving to the suburbs. Their respective pre-wedding freak-outs also make sense since they're both so afraid of commitment. Even after [[spoiler:Barney]]'s heartfelt speech and locket confession, she ultimately wrecks their marriage by choosing her career over him. ''And'' she abandoned her decade-long friendships with people she considered to be family. They turned her into Season 1 Robin. Also, after all these years, [[spoiler:she ends up back with Ted]]. How will this scenario play out? Robin is super-busy with her career and doesn't want a family, [[spoiler:step-children]] or no!
182* JerkassWoobie:
183** Barney. He has done some absolutely horrible things with absolutely no compunctions, but he's really a very broken man with a lot of issues because of events in his life.
184** Lily. Despite all her manipulative BitchInSheepsClothing moments and the times she can be incredibly selfish or self-absorbed and generally unlikable, she has a StrawFeminist mother and her father was neglectful and barely ever there for her as she grew up and this has haunted her throughout her life.
185** Billy Zabka. He's a [[TheWoobie Woobie]], because everyone hates him just for playing the bad guy in ''Film/TheKarateKid'', but he's also a {{Jerkass}}, because he tries to take over Ted's position as the best man at a wedding, out of nothing but jealousy.
186* LauncherOfAThousandShips: Barney's shipped with ''everyone'', and that includes [[CrossoverShip several characters from other fandoms]].
187* LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt: Lampshaded in The Autumn of Breakups, where Narrator!Ted suggests one of four couples--including Lily and Marshall--will break up overnight. After a moment of dramatic music, he admits it wasn't Lily and Marshall.
188* MemeticMutation:
189** Like so many shows, HIMYM fans have their very own private jokes. *salutes* Private Jokes.
190--->'''Lily:''' You don't salute privates!
191** Mosbius Designs has failed... (Classic Schmosby)
192** "NOBODY ASKED YOU PATRICE!!!"
193** Legen--wait for it...--dary
194** Basically anything Barney has ever said.
195** "I LOVE EVERYONE IN THIS BAR!" Particularly famous as a very common [[http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lheg4eGYzn1qhxr17o1_400.gif reaction gif]] on various comms and discussion boards.
196** Barney's catchphrase of "True Story".
197** As a general rule, whenever a HIMYM star appears in something, the "Kids, in the summer of…" comment will soon follow. It's commonly a Top Comment if it's on Website/YouTube. That, and/or "And that's the story of how your Aunt/Uncle (character) met ..."
198** In the aftermath of the Season 8 finale: [[spoiler:WE MET THE MOTHER!]]
199** "Thank you, Linus."
200** "That's a Penis" from "Aldrin Justice". The reversed gif is also popular.
201** Which Tim Horton's were you in and what donut were you eating when Robin Sparkles died?
202** A special case with the character of the Mother. The character [[FanNickname was always dubbed as such]] during the shows 9 seasons, but after the series finale, there is a still growing part of the fan base who refuses to keep referring to her like that, and decide to use her real name instead ([[spoiler: Tracy]]).
203** [[http://youtu.be/dwer5w3pEzE Bradley Cooper reacts to the finale.]]
204** Still a better ending than ''How I Met Your Mother''.
205* MisaimedFandom: The series' actual fanbase, who take The Bro Code seriously and quote it regularly. The IRL book version of The Bro Code appears in the ''humor'' section of the bookstore for a reason.
206* MisBlamed: A number of people believe that [[spoiler: Ted never truly loved Tracy and simply used her to get the kids that Robin could not give him, and waited for the right time to get Robin.]] While the writing of the finale certainly didn't help things, this is ignoring the fact that Ted himself noted that he loved [[spoiler: Tracy]] for their entire relationship even [[spoiler: when she got sick and died]] and that he [[spoiler: waited 6 years after her death before he even considered trying to woo Robin again]]. If his plan was just [[spoiler: get kids, then bang Robin]], why would he wait that long? And it's not uncommon for people who have lost someone they care about to find love again after their significant other is gone (See ''Series/TheNanny'', for example).
207%%* {{Moe}}: [[spoiler: The Mother]]
208* {{Narm}}:
209** Season 9's "Bedtime Stories"--an episode entirely told in rhyme. The general consensus is that the gimmick got old very quickly, especially any moments that were supposed to be dramatic, touching, or have significance.
210** In the season 9 episode "Sunrise" [[spoiler:the episode ends with Robin floating away like a balloon while "Eternal Flame" plays, symbolizing the fact that Ted has let her go. Although it was meant to be a touching scene, many fans found it unintentionally funny. One Reddit user joked "[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Robin has to go now. Her planet needs her]]" while another said [[CaughtUpInTheRapture "Robin got raptured!"]] There was even a Tumblr user who asked "[[http://crazy56u.tumblr.com/post/75539294040/um-is-ted-tripping-balls Um… is Ted tripping balls?]]"]]
211** The Canada jokes slowly evolved from silly winks at stereotypes to monotonous overkill, especailly when Robin's family is at the wedding.
212* NarmCharm: In "The Front Porch", Ted muted the TV before Robin's morning show started just after he found out that Lily sabotaged several of his relationships. Their argument was very intense and serious but the hijinks in Robin's show [[FunnyBackgroundEvent on the background]] (such as the chef of the cooking segment getting his sleeves on fire while Robin tries to put them out, the weatherman having a heart attack and Robin delivering a baby live on camera) lowered the dramatic tension in a good way.
213* NauseaFuel: Barney piercing his own ear. Sure it may be humorous, but look closely at the towel he's holding to his ear right after he does it. There is a LOT of blood on it. Then the piercing becomes infected, and gets redder as the episode progresses. [[BodyHorror Ouch.]]
214* NeverLiveItDown:
215** Just try mentioning this show to someone and they would usually point out the ending and how screwed up it was.
216** Lily with regards to Ted calling her a dirty word after their break-up. Her detractors tend to forget that she does have a HeelRealization and she apologises to Ted, telling him he has nothing to be sorry for and admits that she did deserve it to an extent.
217** Some Stella fans hold it against Ted for initially expecting her and her daughter to move in with him, giving up their lives in New Jersey just because he hates it. This ignores that the episode ends with Ted realising his mistake, agreeing to move to New Jersey when he and Stella marry, and also the fact that Stella ended up seemingly moving to New York with Lucy for Tony - and Ted highlights the hypocrisy there. Also she and Tony are said to have moved to California shortly after, so even with that big speech about not wanting to uproot her daughter, she does so twice in the space of two years.
218* NightmareFuel:
219** The Cockamouse, a squeaking, buzzing hybrid of a cockroach and a mouse that lives in apartments and seems impossible to contain. Sure, moments when it's actually onscreen are SpecialEffectFailure, but look at this combination of factors: we never get a truly good look at it, but the characters do and are quite certain it's a cockamouse. There are numerous shots from the cockamouse's perspective, it can fly, and given how little else in the series is so fantastic, it's thoroughly an OutsideContextProblem... put all together, it's a nightmarish visual, as well as ParanoiaFuel for those living in rundown apartments. The ScareChord that accompanies it is one of the most terrifying pieces of music ever composed. Oh and, according to "The Perfect Cocktail", it reproduced.
220** Lily's brief flashback to one of her students stabbing her in the leg with a pencil.
221** The representation of "crazy eyes" in "Swarley." The girl stares at the screen with swirling red eyes, and it suddenly cuts to a sequence of creepy random visuals, like a creepy laughing jester and melting clocks, to illustrate her supposed insanity.
222** The potential client that Ted meets with in "As Fast As She Can" who wants a "laundry room" that's completely soundproof with chains on the ceiling. Ted, Robin and Marshall immediately work out the guy was asking for a "murder house". It's the only time the man appears, leading the viewer to wonder if he's still out there doing his [[DeadlyEuphemism "laundry"]].
223
224[[/folder]]
225
226[[folder:O-S]]
227
228* OneSceneWonder:
229** Taxi/limo/anything driver Ranjit shows up at various points in the series, always willing to drive the main cast anywhere in his trusty vehicle, whatever it might be at the time.
230** Stan the security guard reciting Pablo Neruda and later on [[spoiler: taking Robin out on a date!]]
231** The old woman in the series finale who becomes a ShipperOnDeck for Ted and the Mother. Even with how controversial the ending was, everyone seems to love her.
232** Herm, the old MotorMouth Rent-A-Car cashier who gives Marshall the last car to get to Farhampton for Barney and Robin's wedding
233** [[Series/MarriedWithChildren Bob Rooney]] plays [[BigBad "America"]] in Lily's god-awful arthouse play in the season 2 episode ''"Stuff"''.
234* OneTrueThreesome:
235** Barney/Robin/Ted.
236--->'''Victoria''': Who's Barney's ex?
237--->'''Ted''': Robin.
238--->'''Victoria''': Your Robin?
239--->'''Ted''': Mine and Barney's Robin.
240--->'''Victoria''': You don't all hang out with each other?
241--->'''Ted''': All the time.
242--->'''Victoria''': Aaaaand we have weird.
243** Also, Marshall/Lily/Ted:
244---> '''Marshall:''' Deep in the Amazon rainforest, there's is a tree that only grows around the body of an existing tree. It cannot survive without this tree; it's supported by this tree. Lily, we are that tree... we grew around Ted and without him we're slowly dying!
245** One might even speculate that part of the reason Ted's romances keep failing is because he's entangled in two threesomes and can't focus on a person from outside of his group. He even explicitly declares that he will never get serious with a woman who doesn't like his friends.
246** Barney/Lily/Marshall, based on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQDZegZo-Cc this]].
247* RetroactiveRecognition:
248** Architecture student Cook Pu is played by Creator/HongChau, later known for her roles in ''Series/Watchmen2019'', ''Film/TheMenu'' and ''Film/TheWhale'', in one of her first ever TV roles.
249** Creator/JonBernthal and Creator/BethRiesgraf appeared in the second episode. This was five years before Bernthal's StarMakingRole in ''Series/TheWalkingDead2010'', and three for Riesgraf's in ''Series/{{Leverage}}''.
250** Creator/AprilBowlby, way before ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'', ''Series/DropDeadDiva'', and ''Series/DoomPatrol2019'', appeared as Barney's crazy stalker Meg.
251** Creator/JoeManganiello plays Marshall's law school buddy Brad, two years before his StarMakingRole in ''Series/TrueBlood''.
252** Creator/LucyHale shows up as Robin's sister Katie, four years before her StarMakingRole in ''Series/PrettyLittleLiars''.
253** A pre-''Franchise/TheVampireDiariesUniverse'' Creator/CandiceAccola appears as Lily's cousin Amy in the Season 2 finale. She's the one who stylyzed Marshall's hair before he gave himself a FreakOut-induced TraumaticHaircut.
254** Creator/LinManuelMiranda appears in the season 9 episode "Bedtime Stories" and even raps. This was two years before ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'' became a smash hit and made him a huge star.
255** Creator/JoeLoTruglio plays Marshall's boss Mr. Honeywell in Season 8, one year before ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'' premiered.
256** Creator/NazaninBoniadi played a minor character named Nora who appeared only for 10 episodes, a decade before starring as Bronwyn in ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower''.
257* RomanticPlotTumor: The series suffered from this greatly. The series started out with Ted focusing on trying to get together with Robin, succeeding by the end of season one, and then them breaking up at the end of season two. Not so bad yet, namely since at that point it was treated as a ForegoneConclusion, and we knew sooner or later, Ted would meet his real wife. But then as the show went one it continued to have Ted and/or Robin pining for the other only to repeatedly go through a lesson that they just weren't right for each other, all the way up to the final season. And then the final episode came. [[spoiler: The ship between Robin and Barney, one that a lot of fans preferred no less, was almost immediately thrown out minutes after the episode began, and much later it turned out that Ted's wife fell deathly ill six year prior to the events of the show's framing sequence. The plot tumor took over in-universe as well as it revealed that even though Ted was telling his kids the story of how he met his future wife, the fact that he focused more on Robin when he was telling the story was actually because he wanted permission from them to start dating Robin again, all so they would hook up at the last minute.]] Needless to say, a lot of people were not happy.
258* RonTheDeathEater:
259** Lily. While she's done some fairly selfish things before, they're much more uncommon than some of her detractors claim. She is often portrayed as a bratty, shrill harpy by parts of the fanbase as opposed to the decently loving and nurturing wife as the show tries to portray her.
260** Ted frequently gets a lot of hate and while he can be an arrogant douche he's not nearly as bad as many make him out to be. While many fans point out that he's been with a lot of women when they try to claim Ted's not much different than Barney, the difference is that Ted genuinely cared about most of those women and unlike Barney he usually shows regret when he acts like a dick. People also blame him for falling out with Barney in season 3 when Barney is the one to blame for sleeping with Ted's ex and then hiding it from him. Ted is often shown to be a very supportive friend (He risked his relationship with Zoey to protect Barney from being fired) and genuinely interested in helping his students but fans only ever seem to focus on his negatives rather than his many positives.
261* TheScrappy:
262** Zoey who manipulated Ted, lied to him, tried to ruin his career and when [[spoiler: he said "no" to saving the Arcadian]], she revealed she kept the recording of Ted praising the Arcadian despite promising to erase it. In a fan poll, she was the least popular of Ted's love interests. When that list includes [[AxCrazy Jeanette]] and [[RunawayBride Stella]], that's saying something.
263** Don, a sleazy idiot with a cavalry's worth of [[InformedAbility informed ability]]. Being the first guy to date Robin after the break-up of FanPreferredCouple Barney[=/=]Robin didn't help matters.
264** Stella became this after "Shelter Island". And just when "As Fast As She Can" allowed to some to [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap forgive]], "The Wedding Bride" threw her right back to Scrappy. While it was her husband who wrote the film, many details could have only come from Stella. So she dumped Ted at the altar and then helped her husband slander him as the villain in a hit movie. That's ''[[BitchInSheepsClothing stone cold]]''.
265** Clint, Virginia's new husband after she and Alfred get divorced, that is just an annoying stereotype of hippie.
266* SeasonalRot: Season 5 got a bit stale, most especially after Barney and Robin had their first break-up. The writers attempted to undo the damage in Season 6 by introducing the arcs on Marshall and Lily's efforts to conceive and Barney meeting his real father etc. Season 7 focused more on [[SpotlightStealingSquad Barney's and Robin's]] relationships which made Ted OutOfFocus for a while. Then, Seasons 8 and 9 managed to restore the balance by building up the first meeting between Ted and the Mother. Despite the efforts to increase the dwindling ratings and to prevent the show from getting cancelled, the later seasons except for Season 6, which got mostly positive reviews, are considered to be lackluster by critics and viewers due the mentioned examples of ArcFatigue above.
267* ShippingBedDeath: In season 5, [[spoiler:Barney and Robin. After a season and a half of Ship Teases,]] it was clear that writers didn't know what to do with them as a couple, leading to "The Rough Patch." However, when they get back together in season 8, the writers seemed to have figured out how to portray their relationship in a much better manner, keeping their identities intact while still making it seem like they match.
268* ShipsThatPassInTheNight: The fandom frequently paired Carl with Wendy, despite zero canon evidence of them being interested in each other and no examples of them interacting onscreen. And that she ends up marrying some other guy.
269* SignatureScene: Too many to count. But the most iconic examples are.
270** ''Season 1'':
271*** Ted stealing the blue French horn from a bistro.
272*** Ted seeing Victoria for the first time.
273*** Ted making it rain and becoming a couple with Robin.
274*** Ted seeing a sad Marshall after the former's breakup with Lily.
275** ''Season 2'':
276*** Marshall slapping Barney for the very first time.
277*** TheReveal of Robin's IdolSinger past.
278*** Marshall and Lily's wedding.
279** ''Season 3'':
280*** [[spoiler: Barney and Robin's hookup.]]
281*** Ted and Stella's two-minute date.
282** ''Season 4'':
283*** [[spoiler: Stella leaving Ted at the altar.]]
284*** [[spoiler: Barney and Robin's [[TheBigDamnKiss Big Damn Kiss]].]]
285*** The gang jumping one-by-one from their apartment patio towards their neighbor's concluding with a Ted accepting the teacher job.
286** ''Season 5'':
287*** Barney's "Nothing Suits Me Like a Suit" music number.
288** ''Season 6'':
289*** Lilly breaking the news to Marshall that [[spoiler:his father had died of heart attack]].
290*** Barney [[spoiler:reconnecting with his father and his rant to him]].
291*** TheReveal of who's the groom of the wedding where Ted will eventually meet the mother.
292** ''Season 7'':
293*** The scene where Robin [[spoiler:finds out that she cannot have children]].
294*** TheReveal of who's the bride of the wedding where Ted will eventually meet the mother.
295** ''Season 8'':
296*** The WackyMarriageProposal of the aforementioned groom to the aforementioned bride.
297*** Ted and Robin's conversation at the park.
298*** [[spoiler: The Mother's very first appearance.]]
299** ''Season 9'':
300*** The Mother singing "La Vie En Rose" at a hotel balcony next to Ted's room.
301*** Ted and the titular mother's first meeting.
302*** [[BrokenBase For better or for worse]], the very last scene of the show.
303*** The RevisedEnding.
304* {{Squick}}:
305** Marshall trying to produce a sperm sample in the bathroom, while his mother stands outside and tells him about a new bikini she bought and how good she looks in it. This would have been bad enough if he'd just been trying to do his regular business.
306** Robin's favorite sex act "The Old King Clancy". Though it's not described, Urban Dictionary does have a definition… several. However, those were all submitted the day the episode aired, so it was likely fans pulling definitions out of their… let's not give them any more ideas. We know it's "like a Sacramento Turtleneck, but with maple syrup."
307** As the show goes on, it has been an increasingly common fan reaction to the potential FridgeLogic[=/=]FridgeHorror that Future Ted is telling his kids about the many women that he bedded before their mother (including their [[HonoraryUncle Aunt Robin]]).
308** Both in and out of universe (but especially within universe): Mickey's line in "The Over-Correction": "We're family… with ''benefits''."
309** In the Comic-Con trailer, "Luke" and "Leia" tell their father that because they have been listening to the long, drawn-out story, they have not been able to go to the bathroom and have had to resort to going #2 in a bucket, cultivating a spider-farm in their "World's Greatest Dad" mug, living off rain-water, "Luke" having the hots for his sister much to his horror, and having to hear their beloved father bang "an endless parade of sluts".
310** In-universe when Barney discovers the naked pictures of the girl that Ted is dating on his phone are of his sister.
311** Barney and Robin, at one point, believe that they are related.
312** Barney's line in "Coming Back": "How 'bout we nibble on my brother's ding dong ''together''?" A bit too weird, even for the show.
313** The increasing number of references to wetting/crapping one's pants as the show goes on.
314* SpecialEffectFailure:
315** Invoked and done intentionally on purpose, as most of the CGI effects (provided by MFX) looks cheap and have bad lighting for comedic value, much like ''Ned's Declassified''.
316** In "The Lighthouse" (Season 9), the top of said lighthouse looks… pretty fake in the close shots. So do 99% of the rest of the backgrounds throughout Season 9.
317** In "Come On" at the end of Season 1 when Ted is doing his rain-dance, the camera angle makes it ''quite'' clear in some shots that they're not actually on a roof, with the backdrop of what is supposedly the skyline revealed as 2-D.
318** Future!Ted's grey hair in the series finale looks more blue than grey.
319** Also in the finale, the scene with Future!Ted and the kids, which uses scenes that were recorded 7 years earlier. It doesn't feel like they really are in the same room. Specially jarring if we consider that it's a simple shot-countershot.
320* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Series/{{Friends}}'' and ''Series/{{Cheers}}'', hence the FandomRivalry with one and FriendlyFandoms with the other.
321* StockFootageFailure: A brief EstablishingShot in "Baby Talk" ostensibly shows Marshall's old high school in Minnesota, but the flag flying outside is clearly [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Quebec Quebec's]]. The building used in the stock footage is actually not even a school at all but the offices of La Direction De La Santé Publique De Montréal-Centre, a public health agency in Montreal, Quebec.
322* StrangledByTheRedString:
323** In the first few seasons, Ted/Robin were the will they/won't they pair à la Ross and Rachel. But unlike ''Friends'', in which Ross/Rachel wanted the same things in life and didn't end up marrying/divorcing Joey, the situation was different. Ted constantly "let go" of Robin only to keep coming back to her. Understandable since Ted was a huge sap. The official letting-go moment was the episode where [[spoiler:Barney]] and Robin got engaged. He told her to go after [[spoiler:Barney]] and she did, but that wasn't the end of it. Ted still pined for her. It happens. So the ''final'' letting-go moment was the day of her wedding when he "let her hand go" at the beach in Farhampton just like his balloon as a kid. Right after that, he met Tracy who was supposed to be the love of his life. ''But'', [[spoiler:of course, years later, he still decides to go after Robin]]. Even though the main sticking point between them was that Ted wanted a family and she never did. There were huge, monumental moments where Ted makes a big show of letting Robin go, but they kept circling back to the same tired pairing, even though they have little in common.
324** Robin and Don. ''Twice''. First, his introduction painted him as an important relationship the second he was introduced, but that was seemingly a bait-and-switch when subsequent episodes paint him as a lazy jerkass Robin has no interest in. Then suddenly he resolves to be less of a jerkass at the end of one episode, and hangs out offscreen with the cast, and suddenly everyone (Robin included) thinks he's perfect for her. [[spoiler:Then he unceremoniously dumps her to take a job in Chicago]].
325
326[[/folder]]
327
328[[folder:T-Z]]
329
330* TakeThatScrappy:
331** Lily and Marshall's fight in "Unpause," when [[spoiler:he responds to Lily's claim that she's never been selfish in their relationship by pointing out that she dumped him less than two months before they were going to be married and ran off to San Francisco to try to be an artist]] has been universally praised by the fans who hate Lily due to her selfishness and BitchInSheepsClothing status for doing this. Whether that was the intention of the writers or their intent was to have the viewer side with Lily is debatable, though the following episodes make it seem like Lily was supposed to be the sympathetic one and treat Marshall's question as a mistake.
332** The episode "The Lighthouse" to Clint where Marshall and Daphne make fun of his efforts to help them; he snaps and starts yelling. At the end, an angry Mashall leaves him on the road.
333** The WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue from "Gary Blauman" brings back Zoey for a brief scene and shows her attempting to lead a crusade for saving an endangered species of hawk only to be savagely attacked by said hawk. Most people didn't mind.
334* TheyCopiedItSoItSucks: A general complaint from the series' detractors is that it bears a lot of similarities to ''Series/{{Friends}}'', specifically that both shows take place in New York and it's about a group of friends that hang out in a specific place and share similar personalities and dynamics.
335* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
336** [[spoiler: Detractors of the finale have accused this of being done to the Mother, as the chemistry between her and Ted built up in the scenes in the future and during the finale when they finally meet was well-received, only for said character to have been revealed to have been DeadAllAlong and possibly was only a plot device for Ted to get back with Robin.]]
337** Also, Trudy from "The Pineapple Incident". They got [[Creator/DanicaMcKellar Winnie]] from ''Series/TheWonderYears'' (whose storyline with that show's protagonist Kevin Arnold eerily mirrors Ted and Robin's) and only used her for one episode.
338* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
339** One of the complaints about the series finale is that the show tries to cram 17 years of story into 42 minutes after spending an entire season on one weekend. Subsequently, what would have made for interesting viewing ([[spoiler:such as Barney becoming a father or Ted coping with the death of his wife]]) instead rings hollow because the episode quickly glosses over certain major events in order to get to [[spoiler:Ted and Robin getting back together]].
340** With the alternate ending, some fans felt that the implication that [[spoiler: Barney and Robin got back together not long after Ted's wedding to Tracy should have been more developed given the vagueness of the implication. Through to be fair, given the fact that the creators only had 5 minutes, there wasn't much room for them to maneuver unless they fully reshot the finale episode.]]
341* ToughActToFollow: [[ReplacementScrappy Quinn]] was introduced to the show not long after [[EnsembleDarkhorse fan favorite]] Nora was written out [[ShipSinking after breaking up with Barney]]. It didn't help that her introduction involved being demeaning to Barney, and then hustling him out of his money. Compare this to Nora, who was probably [[ThrowTheDogABone the one good thing that was happening to Barney]] in a season-long of {{deconstructi|on}}ng his personality and Quinn being another obstacle in the way of [[FanPreferredCouple Barney getting back with Robin]].
342* UnintentionalPeriodPiece:
343** Given that the series is entirely told via {{flashback}}s, it's noted that time passes particularly with some of the pop culture references thrown during conversations and the evolution of the characters' cellphones (from the flip phones to [=PDAs=] to smartphones). Lampshaded at the beginning of "Mystery vs. History", where a flashback in 2005 shows the gang debating about the most popular food in America and then in 2011, the gang are browsing through their smartphones where Robin searched that the most popular food is bread.
344** Ted admits to getting beaten up by one of his ex-girlfriends. Also, his last girlfriend Jeanette is profoundly unstable and exhibits many abusive tendencies, including destroying many of Ted's things. All these moments are PlayedForLaughs to some degree or another. The show was made around the tail end of the time where DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale could be played for laughs, before it was more widely accepted as serious socially that men can be victims of domestic abuse as well as women.
345** This is played with, however, for "Monday Night Football": despite the episode taking place in 2007, it isn't outright ''said'' what year it is. Also, because of Future Ted's poor memory about that particular Super Bowl, at no point are any team names mentioned.
346** Barney's suits also date the show almost precisely. At the time, suits were generally not worn by men, unless they had to, for work or formal functions. After the show ended, they made a comeback for normal wear, especially due to the rise of hipster culture. So, while Barney's obssessiveness is still quirky, his desire to "suit up" will not be seen as out of the ordinary by modern audiences, as was intended by the writer. The particular type of suits are another example; they are nearly all dark or grey, never light-colored, popular both before and after the show's run, but not during. Barney also starts to wear three-piece suits, popular in the late 2000's, early 2010's.
347** Ted's need to use sandwiches in place of marijuana when talking to his kids in 2030. Recreational marijuana was legalized in New York in 2021.
348** The show ended just at the time online dating apps such as Tinder gained mainstream popularity with young single people and became a primary source for finding partners. Thus it can be jarring to see the show make several jokes about how online dating is strictly for crazy people.
349* UnintentionallySympathetic:
350** Cassie was supposed to be annoying, but actually goes through some serious hardships in one day ([[TheWoobie fired from her job, dumped by her boyfriend, learns her uncle died]]). The focus was on Ted being stuck as her confidant, when the initial intention was a meaningless wedding hook-up. Ted was supposed to be the one to empathize with, as he stuck by her and didn't take advantage of her ([[AboveTheInfluence even when throwing herself at him]]), but he came across as slightly insensitive while she was a wreck.
351** Victoria in the Autumn of Breakups. Forcing Ted to end his friendship with Robin seems less [[ClingyJealousGirl clingy and jealous]] considering Ted's perceived inability or failure to move on from Robin despite all his efforts to. [[spoiler: The finale arguably makes her ultimatium completely justified]].
352%%%
353%%Due to an edit war over the fight from "Unpause", take any proposed edits to the discussion page before making them.
354%%%
355* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic:
356** In "Moving Day" Ted unintentionally comes off as a bit of a jerk for taking so many communal items from the apartment when he moves out. It rings a bit hollow that he's complaining about there not being room for his stuff when Marshall and Lily desperately needed that stuff. After all, there was no need for Ted to bring another microwave over to Robin's.
357** During the episode "The Goat" Ted learns that [[spoiler:Robin slept with Barney during a moment of weakness.]] When he confronts Barney on this, he pretends to be okay with it... only to [[SuddenlyShouting suddenly start yelling at him]] for doing so. The episode goes out of its way to make Ted look like he's in the right, but when one [[StrawmanHasAPoint listens to his]] [[SarcasmMode sarcastic comments]] on why he shouldn't be mad, Ted comes across less like he's rightfully angry, and more like an [[EntitledBastard entitled]] [[ItsAllAboutMe jealous]] {{Manchild}} who can't accept that he and Robin were broken up at the time. Not to mention, [[spoiler: The fact that he bears no ill will towards Robin while temporarily ending his friendship with Barney]] only makes Ted look [[{{Hypocrite}} worse in this situation.]] Ted is not entitled to [[spoiler:Robin,]] she's her own person who made her own choice. To make this even more unsympathetic, Ted was pursuing a relationship with Stella at the time, meaning he had even less reason to be angry with Barney.
358** In "The Exploding Meatball Sub," Lily tries to support Marshall after he leaves GNB and is volunteering with the NRDC. Constantly supporting him is taking its toll on her, however, and she is worried about her future and is being run ragged. It's pretty hard to sympathize with her considering she spent an earlier episode ("Natural History") essentially pressuring Marshall into doing exactly what he's doing, and the fact that her idea of coping with financial insecurity is to buy a last-second ticket to Spain. While Marshall is hosting a party. It's considered a sacrifice on her end, but to many viewers her not going through with the trip comes across as WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency.
359** Lily, in her and Marshall's fight in "Unpause". Marshall [[spoiler:brings up the canceled wedding/San Francisco move of [[CallBack season one/two]] in response to her claiming to have never been so selfish, even asking if he and Marvin are just a consolation prize]]. Lily runs off crying, and the follow-up episode "Sunrise" suggests the intention is that Marshall may have been right in the argument, but pulling that card was a bad move (Lily was more than aware of her mistake back when it happened) because that kind of behavior will only push her away, and it was insensitive. However, his move was cheered by the portion of the fandom who hate Lily for being selfish, so her hurt feelings for Marshall bringing it up were unsympathetic to them.
360** Ted's kids after the finale. To elaborate, in the pilot and a few appearances in the first and second seasons, the kids whined when Ted told them he was going to tell them how he met their mother and how long it was taking. Given how long the story ends up going on, that seems pretty understandable. But then we find out [[spoiler:their mother has been DeadAllAlong. This combined with their reaction to the end of Ted's story being "[The point of this story] is that you totally, totally have the hots for [[HonoraryUncle Aunt Robin]]" and being 100% okay with that, kind of makes them come off like {{Jerkass}}es who didn't care about their dead mother.]] It doesn't get any better when you realize that their final scene was filmed years in advance, meaning that the writers knew early on that [[spoiler:The Mother was dead, but still wrote lines for the kids like "Are we being punished for something?"]]
361* UnpopularPopularCharacter:
362** [[TheCasanova Barney.]] He's TheFriendNobodyLikes to an extent, with the other characters disliking him for being [[TheCasanova a womanizer]], but he is adored by the fans.
363** Patrice is treated as the ButtMonkey by Robin, and while none of the other characters are anywhere near as nasty to her, they do generally treat her as being weird and pushy. Among the show's viewers, however, she actually has more than a few fans due to being so unflinchingly positive and good-hearted, with her role in helping with Barney's and Robin's engagement along cementing her EnsembleDarkhorse status for many.
364* TheUntwist:
365** The reveal of [[spoiler:Robin as the bride at Barney's future wedding]] at the end of Season 7 came as an utter shock to about 2% of viewers. At most.
366** On a much smaller scale, the "twist" that the reason the Captain wanted to see Lily to hire her came as a surprise to even fewer viewers.
367** [[spoiler:Considering how many "the mother is dead" theories came about even before episodes like "The Time Travelers" and "Vesuvius" hinted it, the revelation that the mother became terminally ill wasn't too much of a shocker to many people.]] What came after that, however, served as a bit more of a controversial twist (and for the sake of avoiding any potential flame wars, it's being left at that).
368* ValuesDissonance:
369** Some of the show's politics solidify it as a product of the mid-2000s. Starting with the mid 2010s, Ted's behavior towards Robin comes off less as love and more of a nasty case of EntitledToHaveYou. (i.e., Ted seems more like a self-proclaimed "Nice Guy" than an actually nice guy.)
370** Barney's LovableSexManiac antics were already a bit iffy, and he wasn't exactly considered a great guy for them in-universe, but evolving views on consent, respect (he once recounts possibly selling a woman!), and even rape progressively dated some of his conquests and made them come off as almost monstrous while in the show, no matter how terrible they were, they were played as a joke. Equally Ted is not exactly blameless in this regard, occasionally aiding Barney and once lying about being a Vietnam War veteran in order to seduce Barney's sister.
371** The show has quite a few gay and transgender jokes that rely on stereotypes. The transphobic jokes in particular have ''not'' aged well, especially not the one that implies being a trans woman is on the same level as being a puppy-killer, and the one where Zoey outright uses the word "tranny," which is considered a slur when used by anyone outside the trans community. The show was made in the last era where [[QueerPeopleAreFunny jokes at the expense of LGBT people]] could still be made, and it shows.
372* VindicatedByHistory: Back when it was airing, the consensus was that the show started to decay in its fifth season and it never recovered, culminating in the infamous GrandFinale. Nowadays however, most criticism towards the show goes towards the final season or with [[FranchiseOriginalSin issues with his own premise that the series always had]]. Season 5-7 are now considered by fans to be as good as the early seasons (or at least good enough to stand in their own right) and Season 8 has a SoOkayItsAverage reputation. There's even a not insignificant portion of the fandom who regards Season 6 as the peak of the show which back in the day would have being a major FandomHeresy.
373* {{Wangst}}:
374** When Ted whines about never finding true love can be seen as this. ''In-series'', even.
375** Robin's post-breakup routine tends to follow the pattern of "play it cool, cry when nobody's looking, let it out during the next argument, then receive a heap of pity". The thing is she has a habit of taking her boyfriends for granted, so her emotional moments seem less like heartbreak and more that she's just upset at the idea of losing anything.
376* WinBackTheCrowd: The alternate ending to the series (which was leaked online 2 weeks before the Season 9 DVD) has been well-received by many fans who hated the original ending to the show.
377* WhyWouldAnyoneTakeHimBack:
378** Lily calls off the wedding and runs off to San Francisco at the end of Season 1. She returns in Season 2, begging forgiveness. But the show doesn't HandWave the damage done to Marshall and he refuses to take her back immediately and for the rest of the season, she is seen getting back in Marshall's and Ted's good graces. However, it is revealed that Marshall [[spoiler:still has resentment for her actions in the Season 1 finale during their argument in Season 9's "Unpause" and feared that he and Marvin are "consolation prizes" for Lily's failure in San Francisco. This was due to the fact that they were giving up their lives in New York and Marshall's dream of becoming a judge to follow her dream job as an art consultant in Rome]].
379** Robin and her ex-boyfriend Simon (who is also a FutureLoser but good luck convincing ''her'' of that). The first time he dumped her because the girl he was chasing after had a pool. The second time, he did it again because the same girl's parents had a jacuzzi.
380** In-universe, Ted uses this excuse to tell Tony that Tony shouldn't pity Ted, he doesn't want Stella back.
381** Karen, Ted's on-and-off girlfriend from college. She is hated by Ted's friends due to the fact she's rude, pretentious, and continuously cheats on Ted.
382** The rest of the group asks this of Ted after he considers getting back with Zoey after she tried to destroy his career, manipulated him, lied to him and secretly kept recordings of his conversations to screw him over. Ted realizes that they're right and decides that she's not worth it.
383*** Arguably, it goes both ways. Throughout the sixth season, Zoey fought as hard as possible to prevent the destruction of The Arcadian. After she finally manages to convince Ted to agree to help her, he ends up betraying her at the last second and ensuring the building's destruction instead. One has to wonder why would Zoey want to get back with Ted after what he did. Alternatively, Zoey knew Ted was in a precarious position, so she should have known there was not much he could have done, and she lied about erasing the recordings she blackmailed him with.
384** Jeanette is a [[{{Yandere}} crazy]] {{stalker|WithACrush}} who [[DisproportionateRetribution breaks Ted's stuff for minor offenses]], but after they break up, Ted wants her back. Although this is the general attitude in-universe as all of his friends wonder this, Future Ted admits she was a big mistake, and it ends with Jeanette setting many of his belongings on fire.
385* TheWoobie:
386** Barney, surprisingly. Most of the time he comes off like he has no doubts or problems, but not only is he an actual person, he's a pretty frail one. Especially when it comes to loving Robin or issues with his father.
387** From a fifth season episode, one of Ted's students. Poor [[spoiler:Cook Pu]]. You can't not feel sorry for her by the end.
388** Marshal is very vulnerable. Viewers pity him when Lily leaves him for San Francisco, when he struggles with his plight to save the environment or when his father dies unexpectedly.
389** Honey. "You want to wrap her in a blanket and protect her from the wolves."
390** Robin is being heavily woobified in season seven. Especially as of "Symphony of Illumination". Almost anytime she mention her father and him not even acknowledging her.
391** [[UnintentionallySympathetic The Captain.]] He gives off a creepy vibe without intending to, and is genuinely devastated when Zoey divorces him, even as he admits they didn't have anything in common.
392** [[SitcomArchNemesis Patrice]] is a perfectly nice coworker who is always sweet to Robin (baking her cookies, ironing her pants, offering to help her out at work) and who is the only person on the show to show Barney, who is obviously experiencing some genuine depression with the [[spoiler: breakdown of his engagement to Quinn/continued rejection from Robin]], any genuine empathy. And all Robin does is scream at her. Real nice, Robin.
393** Cassie in season 9: She's fired from her job after being dumped by her boyfriend then met him with another girl, her uncle dies and finally gets her foot broken.
394** Ted. While watching him go through an endless parade of wrong girls can get [[ArcFatigue a bit tedious]] for the viewers, it can't be easy for him to keep loving and losing. Of course, ''we'' know he's [[SavedByCanon going to meet the woman of his dreams]], but ''he'' doesn't. And before he gets there, he has to be the best man for [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy the wedding of the only woman he's come close to loving as much as the Mother to his best friend]] and even after meeting the Mother and getting to be with her for 11 years and having two kids with her, she dies from some illness and he's left all alone. The last few seasons really dial up how unhappy he is.
395** The Mother after her backstory is revealed in "How Your Mother Met Me", made it all even worse (MUCH worse) when [[spoiler:her demise is revealed. Thankfully it's averted in the alternate ending.]]
396
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