Ted Mosby

Ted, the central character of the show, is from Shaker Heights, Ohio, and is a Wesleyan University graduate and an architect who, according to Barney, thinks too much. After his best friend Marshall becomes engaged, Ted decides to try and find his soulmate.

Prone to socially questionable romantic gestures, he steals a blue French horn (nicknamed " The Smurf Penis") that was a topic of conversation in his first date with Robin. In a similar vein, he also dresses up as a "hanging chad" every year for Halloween, in the hopes of meeting the "Slutty Pumpkin", a woman dressed as a jack-o'-lantern (complete with strategically placed holes) whom he once met at a Halloween party.

For a time, he dates a baker named Victoria, whom he met at a friend's wedding. She accepts a culinary fellowship in Germany, prompting a long-distance relationship, which does not last, due in large part to his persistent feelings for Robin. His friendship with Robin is threatened when he implies that Victoria broke up with him before he actually did, leading to their making out.

They ultimately reconcile, and shortly after that, Ted makes one last attempt to win her, hiring a chamber orchestra with blue instruments to play in her apartment while he makes his appeal. She cannot give him a definite answer, but, after she is stuck at her apartment due to an unpredicted storm (that Ted had danced for), she decides to pursue her feelings for him upon his return to her. After nearly a year together, they break up, and Ted no longer sees Robin as "The One," but doesn't reveal the identity of his future wife.

Ted comes from Shaker Heights, Ohio, (in real life, Josh Radnor grew up in the Columbus, Ohio area). He was seen cheering for the Cleveland Indians when they were playing the Yankees at a baseball game (season 2, episode 1) and he alluded to once being trapped under a fake rock at a mall in Ohio when he was 9 (Slap Bet). He also wears a Cleveland Indians T-Shirt in the episode Sandcastles In The Sand. He and Marshall were randomly assigned as freshman year roommates at Wesleyan but became friends on a long road trip that was deemed both "Fieroasco" (by Marshall) and the "100k Fiasco" (by Ted). This story was told in Arrivederci, Fiero.

For a while Ted claimed to be "vomit-free since '93," meaning he had not puked for any reason since 1993. However, in the episode Game Night, he reveals that this is not true, and that he vomited on Robin's door mat. He knows sign language (presumably American Sign Language), and has a strong tendency to correct everything that people around him say.

It is revealed in No Tomorrow that at a St. Patrick's Day party he and Barney attended, his future wife was also present. Once he returns to the room of the party the morning after, he picks up a yellow umbrella which can be seen blowing in the wind in the season 3 promo. Also, he becomes the second main character to actually own a car (a blue Toyota Camry Hybrid) after getting a raise at his job in The Chain of Screaming. By the end of the episode, Ted decides to get rid of the car to help Marshal with his income trouble.

In The Goat, Ted tells Barney that he no longer wants to be friends after Barney breaks the bro code which Ted has never broken. It is also revealed that by Ted's 31st birthday, Ted and Robin will be living together.

[edit] Romantic Interests

• Molly - Ted had his first time with Molly. Also she said that she loved him, although she didn't. After they did it, Molly never called Ted back. And borrowed $20 from him never paying him back.
• Trudy - Ted met Trudy in the episode The Pineapple Incident when Barney told Ted to stop overthinking and to overdrink. Ted then drank a round of shots and forgot what happened that night until he woke up in the morning next to Trudy and a pineapple. Trudy had just split up with her boyfriend and wanted to do something stupid so Ted said "Do me". Ted gets Trudy's number and rings her and tell her to come on over to his apartment. He wakes up in the morning not knowing who she is and tells Robin to come on over as he had been leaving her some weird messages on her phone whilst inebriated. He then proceeds to prove to Robin that he is over her and tells Trudy to come out but she left through the fire escape. He meets up again with Trudy in Third Wheel where the show implies that he might have had a three-way with Trudy and her former sorority sister.
• Natalie - Ted was in a long-term relationship with Natalie in the past (takes place before first season). Ted decided that she wasn't the one and decided to break up with her. The day he broke up with her coincidentally turned out to be her birthday. To make the situation worse, Ted broke up with her through a message left on her answering machine, a message which was heard by a group of Natalie's friends who were waiting at her house to throw her a surprise party. In 2005, Ted decided to give Natalie another try and began dating her again for a few weeks, only to decide that she still "isn't the one". Ted breaks up with her again on, what happened to be, her birthday.
• Robin Scherbatsky - Robin is Ted's former girlfriend. He goes on a date with her in Season 1, but after professing his love for her at the end of the night she dumps him, saying that they're completely wrong for each other because he wants marriage and she doesn't. They later get together in the final episode of Season 1 and break up during the events of the third to last episode of the Season 2. However, due to Marshall and Lily's wedding, they do not tell anyone and only reveal the breakup to Barney at the reception in the episode Something Blue (season finale). They remain friends and are seen, via flash forward, dancing at James and Tom's wedding, which should occur sometime in Season 3. In the episode "The Goat" he reveals that he and Robin may get back together, since he said on his 31st birthday that the goat had locked himself in the bathroom and proceeded to chew up one of Robin's washclothes. Ted also states that Robin was living in the apartment at that time, whether or not she is living there as a girlfriend or in some other capacity remains to be seen.
• Victoria - Ted met Victoria at the wedding of his friends Claudia and Stewart. As a way to keep the night "untarnished" they both promise not to reveal their last names to each other; Ted only knew her as "Victoria, the girl with snowflakes on her shoes." After a perfect night together, Ted returned home, and later became determined to find out who Victoria is. He found out via Claudia, the bride of the wedding, that the wedding cake was made by the Buttercup Bakery - "Buttercup" being an alias Victoria initially used. Ted went to the bakery that night and finds Victoria working there, and their relationship began. Two months after dating, Victoria left the job for a two-year culinary fellowship in Germany. This educational experience led to the downfall of her and Ted's relationship. They attempted to continue their relationship long-distance, only for it to end when Ted cheated on her with Robin, an incident which also nearly ended the friendship between Robin and Ted.
• Stella - Stella is a doctor who Ted meets when he is trying to get his tattoo removed. He likes her, but she immediately says no, under the pretense that she can't date patients. He later finds out that she has a daughter named Lucy, which is why she can't have another "special person" in her life. However, it is very possible that she is the mother that the show is named for. On the St. Patrick's Day episode in season 3, Ted states that the mother was at the same party as him. When he is talking to Stella at the doctor's office she states that she hadn't gone out in a long time. She however went out for a St. Patrick's Day party but left early. It is revealed during the episode The Chain of Screaming that Ted and Stella are still dating and she attends his surprise 30th birthday party on his roof. It is revealed in the episode Rebound Bro that Stella has not had sex in 5 years.