How I Met Your Mother's Best Characters, Ranked By Who I'd Get Drunk With

It’s been more than a year since the cast and crew of How I Met Your Mother gave us the much-discussed series finale. In the time since, we’ve missed the gang’s quirks, their high fives and slap bets, and of course, all of the times they spent at MacLaren’s Pub, celebrating big occasions, drowning their sorrows or simply trying to pick up dates. As fans, we shared a lot of moments with the characters in How I Met Your Mother. In fact we shared so many, we know the ins and outs of who we’d like to share a drink (or five) with most. Without further ado, here are the 10 How I Met Your Mother characters I'd most like to get drunk with (and you should too).

Ranjit

10. Ranjit

Drink of Choice: Champagne

Ranjit is a pretty cheery individual, and he has a pretty good relationship with all of the leads on the show. He’d be pretty fun to drink with in general, and for bonus points, he could always call up a limo to take you home!

Zoey

9. Zoey

Drink of Choice: Wine

Ted’s ex-girlfriend Zoey could be a lot of fun. She won the admiration and respect of Ted’s friends, even when she was Ted’s sworn enemy, and later managed to charm Ted. She’d be a great person to drink with, but you’d have to be sure to avoid any activist topics, otherwise you might find yourself freeing turtles from a lab at the end of the night.

Ted

8. Ted

Drink of Choice: Grab Bag

Ted’s one of the original gang. Fans who’ve watched all nine seasons of How I Met Your Mother have seen him drunk plenty of times. And while he can be a great conversationalist and usually knows how to handle his liquor/beer/wine, you also run the risk of having to hear “Dante’s Inferno” quoted in the original Italian and be corrected on how you say “encyclopedia. ”

James

7. James

James has a lot of pros. He’s well-dressed, he’s handsome, and he knows how to be a great wingman, regardless of your gender preference in relationships. Plus, he could take the ladies to a gay club where we could dance all night long and not worry about creepy dudes grinding up on them.

Lily

6. Lily

Drink of Choice: Martini

Lily might get a little weird with Robin when she’s had one too many martinis, but with a little luck, the two of you should be able to spend the night drinking and gossiping. Lily always has the dirt on everyone in the group, so you’d come out of the experience with some great stories and some amusing knowledge.

Victoria

5. Victoria

Drink of Choice: Whatever cocktail goes well with sweets

Victoria makes a few suspect decisions throughout the series, but she’s well-liked and a lot of fun. Really though, the great thing about going out with a baker is that you can have all the drunken cookies, cakes, and muffins that you want at the end of the night.

Barney

4. Barney

Drink of Choice: Grab bag, but mostly liquor. Also give him peppermint schnapps and he’ll turn into Richard Dawson

Barney will always have a crazy night of drinking planned. Whether this entails getting drunk all the way in Atlantic City, going to a crazy St. Patty’s Day party, or maybe even taking the drunk train, your night will be legend-wait-for-it-dary. (Yes, we had to go there.)

Robin

3. Robin

Drink of Choice: Scotch

Talk about an intriguing drinker. While Robin occasionally indulges on her own couch surrounded by her dogs, a night out with Robin would probably entail high-end beverages and fine cigars. Regardless, if you’re really feeling up for a wild night, Robin could probably convince you to go to the gun range.

The Mother

2. The Mother

Drink of Choice: It’s a mystery

The mother’s story may not have ended in a way that all fans wanted or expected, but she certainly was presented as a fun person during the one season she appeared on How I Met Your Mother--plus we never knew her well enough to really know all her character flaws. Drinking with the Mother would probably revolve around going to a music gig—maybe even to see Superfreakonomics play—and like all great HIMYM characters, the end of the night would revolve around food. Sumbitches, anyone?

Marshall

1. Marshall

Drink of Choice: Girly Cocktails

Marshall might be a little goofy for everyone’s taste, but he’s also the most engaging out of the How I Met Your Mother gang. If you’re looking for a reliable dude to make plans with, Marshall’s that guy. Plus, he knows all of the best places to play Skee-ball.

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.