As one of the most successful and popular sitcoms of the 21st century thus far, How I Met Your Mother is still thriving in the world of streaming, rewatched by its loyal fans year-round and fondly remembered for its storylines, interesting premise, and characters, as well as of course vilified for its disappointing ending. Looking on the bright side of things, though, the show birthed a few fantastic characters, with the most iconic being far and away Neil Patrick Harris' Barney Stinson.
Barney undoubtedly undergoes the most growth throughout the show and is a character with not only a slew of memorable moments, but with many a quality that makes him who he is, and make him so wildly popular, but also so controversial.
10 Redeeming - Determination
If there is one word that could sum up all of Barney's pursuits and attributes, it would be relentless; if he wants something or wants to do something, he goes and he does it, and whether that thing is despicable or not, his determination should be admired.
When Barney grows as a person, the determination he puts into his sexual pursuits seep over into his love for Robin, his care for his friends, and his want to make his family happy; while he sometimes misses the mark, he puts in the effort.
9 Fans Hate - Manipulative
Despite his serious gaps in knowledge when it comes to the topics of pop culture and geography, Barney is far from dumb and, in fact, proves himself to be insanely intelligent on multiple occasions, using it to often be some kind of evil mastermind.
Barney so often uses his intellect, wit, and charm for persuasion and manipulation, whether that be in scheming against others, going after women, using it against his friends, or simply being a pretty toxic person, a trait of his that shows his negative side.
8 Redeeming - Self-Awareness
On the surface, How I Met Your Mother presents Ted and Barney as two very different guys, one nice and sweet, the other sociopathic and evil, but in reality, it goes far deeper than that, and in many ways, Barney is a far better guy than Ted.
As well as actually undergoing personal growth, Barney is self-aware. While Ted is massively deluded about himself and his life and pretty much always thinks he is in the right and is a good guy, Barney makes clear on many occasions he knows how damaged he is, how he is a liar, a cheat, and treats women awfully. He even understands many of the familial issues that he experienced in his childhood that shaped his broken nature.
7 Fans Hate - Childish
All in all, there is nothing wrong with being immature and finding the fun in life; unfortunately for Barney, though, his immaturity does not air on the side of fun and cute; for the most part, it is often annoying to others and can even be toxic.
While he is self-aware about a lot of things, his unwavering naivety when it comes to what his mother tells him is insane. There is also the laser tag, which in itself is not a bad thing, but what is bad is how insanely serious he takes it at times. Then there is his child-like greed and selfishness, and desire for what he cannot have.
6 Redeeming - Growth
Undergoing personal growth got mentioned earlier in comparing Ted and Barney's merits as 'good guys' and ultimately that is the factor on which any pro-Barney argument hinges, Ted's almost unbelievable lack of growth and Barney's huge development.
While he does tend to easily revert back to his old ways quickly, through maturing, various romances, marriage, and having kids, Barney shows himself to be a grown man, someone who has a purpose and a reason to live beyond the bedrooms of strangers and the comfort of MacLarens.
5 Fans Hate - Arrogance
Barney's ego is an odd quality of his, on the one hand, it aids massively in his hilarity which in turn helps his status as the show's overall best and most memorable character, but more objectively it makes him immensely unlikable a lot of the time.
It also can make him deluded on occasion, letting him believe he can do anything no matter how insane it may be while simultaneously insulting those around him who he vocalizes his superiority over whether that be due to dress sense, career, or overall awesomeness.
4 Redeeming - Charisma
Neil Patrick Harris' performance as Barney was incredible for all nine seasons of the show and really drew audiences into loving the character despite his heinous ways, using a charisma that was unmatched on the show.
Barney himself attracts attention with his personality and despite the fact he is insulting, arrogant, and disgusting a lot of the time his friends cannot help but love him with a big part of that attributed to his charismatic ways and charm, alongside other factors like his good heart deep down.
3 Fans Hate - Lies
Barney Stinson is a compulsive liar and one of the most skilled liars on the planet, to the point where it is impressive that he gets away with what he gets away with. Strangely enough, he completely acknowledges and is upfront about his lying ways.
Nevertheless, even if he does grow to the point where he can ironically be completely honest about his need to lie, the lying itself is not a desirable quality. Whether it be incorporated into his sexual conquests or simply for the sake of it, Barney's lying annoys those around him and definitely does not make him any more likable in the audience's opinion.
2 Redeeming - Care
As the show progresses, Barney's true temperament unravels as his character is explored at a deeper level than him just being awesome. One of the most significant aspects of his character that gets explored is the love and care he has for the people in his life.
First off his love for his mother and brother is immense, adoring the pair and wanting to make them happy at all costs. Then there is the rest of the gang who, while he does hurt and make out that he does not necessarily have more layers to him, he proves time and time again that he adores and would do anything for, like go to San Fransisco to save Marshall and Lily's relationship.
1 Fans Hate - Treatment Of Women
The signature trait of Barney which is pretty much constant throughout the show with the exception of his post-Ellie life and marriage to Robin is his womanizing, and even worse than that the despicable way he treats women.
Whether it be through the playbook, his masterful deceit, or general lack of empathy for other humans, for so long Barney treats women like objects that he can do what he wants with. While fans love Barney and he is undoubtedly a great character, from an objective point of view the way he treats women is pretty sickening.
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