**TLDR: Ted Mosby from *How I Met Your Mother* personifies the Nice Guy syndrome, in which men consistently lament how great of a guy they are and question why they're still single, whilst actually doing pretty terrible things to women. He is the worst.** Ted Mosby is a character we are meant to, in some ways, empathise with. It is obvious he is not meant to be a perfect character, instead one that grows throughout the show's seasons, and learns from his mistakes. The problem is, he really doesn't. This is a man who tells a girl that he loves her on the very first date. He is so obsessed with finding 'The One' that he places women in uncomfortable situations, coming on way too strong from the start and feeling disapointed when they don't reciprocate. This is also a man who claims to be nice, a great catch. And yet in one episode, he specifically rides a train known to be full of drunk girls (whilst he is sober) who will be 'easy' to hook up with. That screams predator to me. The show tries to play off Ted as a quirky and lovable hopeless romantic, but instead he comes off as someone who demands to be loved, and refuses to acknowledge and change the problematic parts of themselves.

**Ted Mosby isn't an inherently unlikeable character. But he does in many ways epitomise the 'nice guy who can get away with anything because he's a romantic' trope.** - As a character, Ted is pretty realistic in terms of his propensity to do both good and bad things. HIMYM was generally pretty good at depicting flawed people who were still likeable and relatable. Our acceptance of their mistakes and shortcomings owes something to the show's format: it's a continual recollection of the past, so there's always the implication that everything taking place is a lesson that the characters will later learn from. - The fact that HIMYM's whole premise hinges on Ted recounting his life to his future kids means that his search for love is always going to be a core focus. However, as a result of this, his misadventures in romance and problematic choices are almost always glossed over as precursors to the fulfilling of his romantic fantasies. The show prioritises his search for love over any long-term growth, which means he generally manages to escape accountability. - In the final episode, this culminates in Ted basically getting what he wanted at the start of the series — Robin. On paper, this should be a satisfactory ending, but it isn't. And that's because we've seen Ted depicted as this flawed, realistic-ish character who's not either completely good or bad, which feels true to life. But he is ultimately revealed to have not really grown or changed that much since the first episode — which does not feel true to life. It comes across more as a kind of of 'nice guy' wish fulfilment. The experiences he's had and the women he's dated throughout the series turn out not to be lessons but simply ways to bide his time until Robin finally decides she wants to be with him.