How I Met Your Mother might not have been the first sitcom based around a group of friends just hanging out in their New York City apartment all day, but the Maclaren’s Pub Gang never ceased to make their audience chuckle and made everybody wish that they had a group of friends that were as close as they were.
That being said, the core five members of the show based on the world’s longest love-story weren’t the only characters to make their way into Maclaren’s Pub over the years. Here’s our list of the top 10 recurring characters on How I Met Your Mother.
Daughter and Son (Penny and Luke)
They weren’t as frequent in the later seasons (because they only filmed enough material for the first few and the actors quickly grew up) but Ted’s kids undeniably play a major role in the entire premise of the series.
If there weren’t any kids, there wouldn’t be any need to hear a nine-year-long story about the mother who never birthed them. Again, they might not have had much to say in the later years and only popped up at the beginning of each episode to remind viewers that they were still there, but we feel they deserve enough credit to make the list.
Billy Zabka
Sweep the leg! Kobra-Kai! Karate-Kid! Every bit of this running gag was pure nostalgic-gold as How I Met Your Mother decided to bring in a famous actor from the original Karate Kid movie, and we absolutely do not mean Ralph Maggio. Billy Zabka, the actor who played Johnny Lawrence from the Kobra-Kai dojo, and the actual Karate-Kid’s arch-nemesis, was a boyhood idol of Barneys.
So, naturally, when Barney decided to get married, his best friends arranged to have the actor appear (as himself) for his bachelor party. The twist was so legendary that Zabka ended up sticking around for the entire final season and nearly took Ted’s spot as Barney’s best-man.
The Captain
When The Captain was introduced in season 6 as Zooey’s husband, he was already one of the most interesting characters in the entire series. It wasn’t his wealth or his peculiar name - it was how infatuated he was with boats. Liking boats is one thing, but walking around and asking people to call you “The Captain” is just a bit too much.
We found out in later seasons that the obsession was even larger than audiences could have ever imagined and every scene of it was hilarious. This particular recurring character is Galactic-President-Superstar-McAwesomeville approved!
Clint
Everybody has an inappropriate relative who always talks about and brings up things that should never be discussed - and we bet Clint would get along great with every single one of them. Ted’s love-story wasn’t without a few speed bumps, and one of them was when his mother divorced his father and ended up marrying a hippie named Clint.
His newly acquired step-father made a point of making Ted feel as uncomfortable as possible by discussing intimacy with his mother whenever he was around. He wasn’t talking about our mothers, though, so we just thought it was hilarious.
Victoria
If Ted hadn’t ended up with Tracy, Victoria was widely regarded as the next best choice (don’t even get us started on Robin). She was fun and goofy and made a perfect addition to the How I Met Your Mother gang. However, Victoria ended up making a comeback after her recurring role in season 1 and wound up leaving her fiancee to be with Ted.
The only problem was the show drastically changed her character and she was no longer the laid-back, fun-loving girlfriend we all remembered from seven seasons prior. But, in the end, she and Ted still broke up because of Robin so it didn’t really matter.
Mickey
Does anybody want to play a board game? The father to Lily was one of the latest recurring characters to be introduced in the series as he arrived in season 5 but quickly became one of the most frequent guest stars of the show.
Lily’s background with her father was worse-than-shaky, but the two made up and agreed to be part of each other’s lives again which resulted in some of the funniest episodes of the series. Unfortunately, Mickey did end up having a relationship with Marshall’s mom, effectively turning Lily and Marshall step-siblings (we apologize to fans who hadn’t pieced that one together yet).
James
Audiences were ecstatic to find out that Barney Stinson had a brother - they were even more ecstatic when they found out it was Wayne Brady. It was explained during the series that Barney and James’ mom wasn’t exactly shy when it came to who she’d give herself too and she ended up having two sons with two different fathers, resulting in the difference between Barney and James’ skin-tones.
It was also revealed that James was gay and just as big a player as Barney, resulting in the two being a lethal combination when picking up their respected genders. James eventually settled down and turned Barney into an uncle, and that itself deserves the highest of fives.
Scooter
He wasn’t seen from nearly as much in the later seasons, but anytime Scooter appeared audiences were sure to crack up at some point. Lily’s ex-boyfriend from high-school was a constant source of recurring comedy as he was bound and determined to make Lily fall in love with him, even after she had spent well over a decade with Marshall.
It’s hard to believe that his manic-clinginess didn’t eventually win her over, but it’s safe to say that Scooter won over audiences with his hilarity (the fact that he’s Neil Patrick Harris’ husband in real life makes it even better).
Ranjit
Hello! The only recurring character who made it from the very first episode to the very last was hands-down one of the shows best. Ranjit had a wonderful journey through the series as he started as a cab-driver, moved his way up to a limousine, and eventually ended up driving a town-car.
Anytime the gang needed to drive anywhere, Ranjit would pop up on demand and get them there. The most hilarious part of his entire character was revealed in the final season when he asked Marshall if he could get him a driver’s license.
Tracy
She could qualify as a main character since she is the titular mother, but she was only around for one season so we think she also qualifies as a recurring character - that said, she’s the best one.
Fans will forever be torn on whether or not the show made the right choice in killing off the mother, but the undisputed truth is that Tracy was a phenomenal addition to the season 9 cast and made a lasting impression on the show’s audience. It’s a shame that such a wonderful character was tossed aside so haphazardly, but we can appreciate the time that we had with her.
