Barney Stinson

From How I Met Your Mother Wiki

Barney Stinson
Neil Patrick Harris as Barney
First appearance	"Pilot"
Portrayed by	Neil Patrick Harris
Profile
Formal name	Barnabus Stinson
Alias(es)	Starney Binson, Jack Package, The Commodore, Larney, Swarley, Ted Mosby - Architect
Nickname(s)	Barn, The Barnacle, Barnito supreme, Broda, Jennifer, Swarley, Swarles, Swarhili, Bob Swarley-man, Swar-lay, Swarles Barkley, Swarlos
Gender	Male
Date of birth	1975 (aged 33, Season 4)
Residence	currently Barney's apartment
Location	New York City, New York
Occupation	Employee of AltruCell Corporation (Undisclosed Position)
Marital Status	Single
Family & Relationships
Parents	Loretta Stinson and purportedly Bob Barker
Sibling(s)	James Stinson, Younger sister (unnamed)
Other relatives	Adoptive Nephew: James's son First cousins: Leslie Ancestor: Barnabus Stinson (supposedly, from Revolutionary War-era)
How I Met Your Mother character

Barnabus "Barney" Stinson (Born 1975) is one of Ted Mosby's closest friends. As a matter of fact, Barney often insists that he is in fact Ted's best friend, despite Ted's often denials. What Barney does for a living is unclear, all that is known is that he works for the AltruCell Corporation, which owns Goliath National Bank. Barney is a womanizer, and has a negative view on relationships, dating and marriage, as well as commitment in general. The group often finds the lies he tells women to get into bed, and the things he does to them are appaling. There are many examples of this in the episode the Bracket, when the group has to find the worst thing Barney has done to a girl to find out which one of them is following him. In the episode Game Night, there is a flashback to the year 1994 when Barney and his girlfriend, Shannon were going to go to the peace corps for 2 years. After Shannon did not show up upon their departure Barney went looking for her and he discovered she had infact been cheating on him. After this event, the Barney we see in episodes today was 'formed'. Barney also has a gambling problem.

[edit] Relationship with Ted

Barney met Ted in the men's room of MacLaren's and not long afterward joined Ted at his booth to inform him that Barney was going to teach him how to live and thus their friendship began. Barney often attempts to employ Ted as his wingman, and constantly demands that Ted "Suit up". Whilst Ted is not always receptive to Barney's ideas, the two remain friends.

[edit] Relationship with Robin

During the episode Sandcastles in the Sand, Robin's old boyfriend comes back to town. After going out with him for a few weeks, then getting dumped by him Robin is left in a vunerable state. She invites Barney back to her apartment to watch the music video she made as a teenager called 'Sandcastles in the sand' and this eventually leads to Robin and Barney having sex. When they wake up the next morning, they try to pretend it never happened so they do not upset Ted. Ted eventually finds out and this temporarily ends their frienship.

In the episode Benefits, Barney develops feelings for Robin and confides in Lily about what to do. Lily suggests he should tell Robin he loves her. Ted and Robin become 'friends with benefits' and Barney is clearly so distressed by the situation that he smashes a tv outside the bar every time the gang is talking about it. Barney then tries to ensure that Robin and Ted do not get into anymore fights, therefore giving them no reason to have sex. Ted picks up on this and questions whether or not Barney is in love with Robin.

In the fifth season, Definitions, he and Robin develop a complicated relationship which drives Lily insane given her previous vested interest in Barney's newfound feelings, and her friendship with Robin. Eventually, they agree to have "The Talk" and decide to lie to everyone else, and pretend to be in a relationship in order to satisfy Lily. Lily accepts the lie, knowingly, believing that they truly mean what they say, even if they do not know it yet.