Ted Mosby

Ted Mosby is the main protagonist and narrator of his love life on the TV series How I met Your Mother.

His younger self is played by Josh Radnor, while his future self is played by Bob Saget.

Personality
Ted has always been a romantic at heart, pulling the most outlandish stunts just to impress a woman. After witnessing the love lives of his friends Marshall and Lily, he's developed a yearning for a loving relationship and hopes to one day settle down with a wife and kids, making him the "old man" of the gang.

He's something of a rennaissance man, having intricate knowledge of art, history and philosophy. This makes him somewhat of an oddball among his friends, who all have a layman's perspective on everything.

Ted is an architect. His dream is to one day design a building that will stand out in New York City. He was born in Ohio and has a strong dislike for New Jersey. He doesn't obsess over his clothing in the same way Barney Stinson does, but he makes the minimal effort. His true vanity shows itself when he tries to fix his hair, as it takes him half an hour to get that "dishevelled" look he likes.

Season 1
Ted's quest for the perfect woman began on the day his college friends Marshall and Lily got engaged. When out searching for women with his wingman Barney Stinson, Ted spotted a woman that he felt an instant attraction for. After successfully wooing her, she allowed him back to her apartment, where in a moment of misplaced romance he said "I think I'm in love with you", jeopardising the relationship. It was at the end of the first episode that this woman was revealed to be Robin Sherbatsky, who later becomes part of Ted's gang.

Ted spends most of the first series chasing after Robin, but soon meets Victoria, whom he shares a short romance with, sidelining Robin. When Victoria gets accepted into a school in Germany, Ted feels the strain of a long-distance relationship take its toll on him, so in a moment of poor judgement, he tries to get with Robin, who assumed at the time that they had split. Robin only found out otherwise when Victoria tried calling Ted, only for Robin to pick up the phone. The relationship then ends.

Season 2
Ted and Robin finally admit their feelings for each other and pursue a relationship. This turned out to be short-lived, however, as the two found out they had next to nothing in common. They split up sometime before Marshall and Lily get married. Robin travels to Argentina and Ted sits at home recovering from his loss.

He also finds out that his parents got divorced but didn't tell him. When he asks them how they even met, they give a bland response ("A bar"). Ted then swears to one day tell his future children the whole story of how he met their mother, down to the last detail.

Season 3
Ted finally gets over Robin and goes back into the dating scene, only to wake up one morning with a butterfly tattooed on his lower back. He goes through a series of casual dates, but none catch his interest in the way Robin and Victoria did. After trying to get his tattoo lasered off, he makes a connection with his dermatologist, Stella. Stella initailly brushes Ted off, citing that its unprofessional for doctors and patients to date, but Ted persists. Stella finally agrees to date him after a series of romantic gestures.

Season 4
Ted's relationship with Stella outlasts his previous relationships. After several ups and downs, the romance only gets stronger between them. When Stella's sister breaks off her engagement after arranging a wedding date, Ted and Stella decide that this is a sign that they are meant to be. Robin, however, feels that Ted might be rushing into a relationship that is not his own.

On the day of the wedding, Ted makes a decision he would regret for the rest of his life. Ted invites Robin to the wedding, making Stella uncomfortable as she's well aware of their history. Ted decides to show her that its not such a big deal by inviting her ex-boyfriend Tony as a gesture of peace. When Stella and Tony see each other, unresolved feelings well up and the two decide that they still love each other. Ted waits for Stella but, not seeing her at the altar, rushes to her room and finds note telling him that she left him for Tony.

Ted then falls into a depression as both his love life and his career begin to suffer. He tries to start his own architecture firm, but through sheer fear of failure he refuses to advertise himself. Tony, now Stella's husband, approaches Ted and offers him a teaching position at a local college. Ted, upon turning 31, decides to take a new step in his life and accepts the job. He would later find out that the mother of his future children was a student at that same college.

Season 5
Not having to worry about his career anymore, Ted enters the dating scene once again with vigour, taking time to help Barney sort out his feelings for Robin. Ted's confidence is so strong at this point that he even dates a student named Cindy, risking his teaching career. When Cindy invites Ted back to her apartment, Ted notices several telltale clues that he's found his one true love. Unfortunately, it isn't Cindy, as all these things belong to her roomate.

When Ted's mother gets remarried, Ted reflects on how lonely he really is. He then buys an old house with plans to renovate it into a home for his future family. Tony releases a movie titled The Wedding Bride, which Ted realises is all about his relationship with Stella, only in this story, he's the bad guy. It almost took him back, but his friends remind him that he's not the villain in his own story and that he can find true love.

Season 6
Ted is approached by Barney's banking firm to design a new building. The only problem is, Ted's newest fling Zoey is protesting against it, as the building would force the destruction of a local hotel that she used to go to. The two initially had a hostile relationship, but when Ted scratched a little deeper, he realised that Zoey was al ot more vulnerable than she let on. The two then fell in love, which was complicated by their stances on the building project as well as Zoey's husband.

Zoey got divorced, allowing Ted the chance to pursue a relationship with her, but she was still protesting his chance at having one of his designs built. The tension bubbles under the surface, until Robin reminds Ted that no matter what happens, the two are fated to end on unhappy terms. Ted then makes the choice: destroy the hotel and break up with Zoey.

Season 7
Ted runs into two old flames, Victoria and a woman he met at a Halloween party that he refers to only as "The Slutty Pumpkin" (because of her pumpkin costume at the time). Victoria is engaged and the Slutty Pumpkin has become someone completely different to the person he remembered. Once again frustrated with his love life, Ted gets desperate and tells Robin that he loves her. Robin reminds him that it didn't work out the first time and it won't work out now. Robin and Ted then separate for a while. He tries to date other women, but his obsession with Robin has left him unfit to date anyone.

Victoria, on her wedding day, meets up with Ted. She tells him that she still has lingering feelings for him and that if he wants to be with her, now's the time. Ted is left with a sudden realisation: what happened on his wedding day three years ago was now happening to another man.

The Future
On the day Barney Stinson and Robin Sherbatsky get married, Ted will run into a woman with a yellow umbrella. The two of them will have a romance unlike any other Ted's had before. Ted will then be thankful that he stayed single this long, recounting how every single event led him to this moment where everything finally goes right for him. The couple will marry and have two children, a girl and a boy. When they are old enough, Ted will sit them down and tell them the story of how he met their mother.