Barney Stinson
Barnabus Stinson is a fictional character portrayed by Neil Patrick Harris and created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas for the CBS television series How I Met Your Mother (2005–2014).
| Barney Stinson | |
|---|---|
| How I Met Your Mother character | |
Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson | |
| First appearance | "Pilot (2005)" |
| Last appearance | "Daddy (2023)" |
| Created by | Carter Bays Craig Thomas |
| Portrayed by | Neil Patrick Harris Tanner Maguire Riley Thomas Stewart |
| In-universe information | |
| Full name | Barnabus Stinson |
| Nickname | The Barnacle Awesome Swarley |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | PLEASE...! (Provide Legal Exculpation and Sign Everything) FBI informant Lifestyle blogger |
| Family | Loretta Stinson (mother) Jerome Whittaker (father) Cheryl Whittaker (step-mother) James Stinson (maternal half-brother) Jerome "J. J." Whittaker, Jr. (paternal half-brother) Carly Whittaker (paternal half-sister) |
| Spouse | Robin Scherbatsky
(m. 2013; div. 2016)
(m. 2013; div. 2016)
(m. 2020) |
| Children | Ellie Stinson (daughter, born 2020) |
| Relatives | Tom (brother-in-law) Eli Stinson (nephew) Sadie Stinson (niece) Leslie (cousin) |
| Nationality | American / Quarter Canadian |
One of the show's main characters, Barney is known for his brash, manipulative and opinionated personality. He is a womanizer known for his love of expensive suits, laser tag, and Scotch whisky. The character uses many 'plays' in his 'playbook' to help him have sex with women. In later seasons, he has a few serious relationships, then marries, divorces, and has a child with an unnamed woman from a one-night stand, and then marries the same woman again (as implied in the alternate ending). Barney's catchphrases included "Suit up!", “Go for Barney”, "What up?!", "Stinson out", "Legendary", "Wait for it" (often combining the two as "legen—wait for it—dary!"), "Daddy's home", "Haaaaave you met Ted", “True story”, “That’s the dream!”, "Challenge accepted", and "I only have one rule." (that one rule is constantly changing).
Critics have praised the character and credited Harris’ performance for much of the show's success. Barney is considered the show's breakout character.