Even though the CBS hit comedy series How I Met Your Mother has been over since 2013, it still lives on in reruns on FX and FXX. The main characters Lily (Alyson Hannigan), Marshall (Jason Segel), Robin (Cobie Smulders), Barney (Neil Patrick Harris), and Ted (Josh Radnor) made an impact on 20 somethings everywhere during the show’s run.

With its unique premise, we found ourselves intertwined with the characters’ lives, especially that of Ted, who was the narrator telling us the story from the future.

But before we finally learned WHO the mother was, we had to experience Ted’s colorful dating life. Here are all the women who graced Ted’s life (along with the lives of all his friends) ranked from the worst to the best.

20 Worst Of The Worst – Karen

Karen (Laura Prepon) was Ted’s super pretentious college girlfriend who would constantly treat him badly until he would finally come to his senses and break it off.

But did he learn? Nope. He dated her for a bit in his 20s on and off until Lily was able to pull the plug and shoo her off.

19 Crazy Is As Crazy Does – Jeanette

Jeanette (Abby Elliot) happened to be the last relationship Ted had before he actually met the mother at Barney and Robin’s wedding. She was an off-the-wall kook whose obsession with Ted was crazy.

She stole from him, ransacked his apartment, and did a whole bunch of other off-the-wall things. Didn’t help that she was a cop either.

18 Can’t Even Remember Her Name – Blah Blah

Because Ted couldn’t remember her name, she became the woman known as Blah Blah (Abagail Spencer) even though we find out her name in the final season (“Carol! Her name was Carol.”).

She was a woman Ted met online who claimed they met another way and kept getting jealous of Robin and Lily for bizarre reasons during her and Ted’s date.

17 Look Past The Mean – Vicky

Right after Ted’s fiancée left him at the altar, Vicky (Courtney Ford), a woman he met in an elevator, happened to be his dating palette cleanser, even though she was pretty darn mean.

He managed to look past that though, thanks to her being so beautiful. Of course, the relationship didn’t work out, as we now know.

16 The User – Tiffany

Ted had it bad for a woman named Tiffany (Carrie Underwood) who was a pharmaceutical rep, though it seemed he never quite was able to crawl out of the Friend Zone.

She kept Ted on the hook even though she herself had a boyfriend. Eventually, Ted finally came to grips with this and walked out of her life. It was painful to watch, though.

15 Who is She Again? - Amanda

Poor Amanda (Brooke Nevin). She became the object of Marshall’s wrath after Ted, who had only been seeing the woman for a short time, brought her to Lily’s birthday party (which was supposed to be an intimate event with just her close friends).

The girl even made Lily a birthday cake (though didn’t get her name or age right), however, it wasn’t meant to be.

14 The Sock Monkey Obsession – Natalie

If anyone has a right to be mad at Ted, it’s Natalie (Anne Dudek). When he first dated her, he dumped her on her birthday ON HER ANSWERING MACHINE.

Years later, he tracked her down again and begged her to give him another shot. She did, only to be dumped again on her birthday. But this time, Ted had to experience her wrath.

13 Pumpkin Lady – Naomi

For 10 years, Ted had been obsessed with tracking down a woman in a pumpkin costume he met at a Halloween party. He eventually found her, but their relationship didn’t live up to the decade long hype he had built up in his head.

But no worries, because Naomi (Katie Holmes) felt the same way and ended up dumping him.

12 Barney’s Little Sister – Carly

Carly (Ashley Benson) was actually one of the more surprising women Ted dated in the show. And why’s that? Because as it would turn out, she was Barney’s half-sister.

Even though Ted had nothing in common with the younger woman, Barney pushed the relationship before he discovered that Carly was his sister. Thankfully, it was nothing serious.

11 The Wild Child  – Amy

After Ted’s break up with Robin, Barney took him out and he ended up meeting Amy, a woman with a “bad girl” image.

Even though nothing really happened between the two, Amy plays a huge part of Ted’s life because she was the one who convinced him to get a tattoo, which ended up being the butterfly tattoo that brought him to Stella.

10 The One Who Got Away – Maggie Wilks

Maggie Wilks (JoAnna Garcia) was the woman Ted considered “the ultimate girl next door.” Though they never got together because she always had a boyfriend.

When Ted found his window, he tried everything he could for keeping her single long enough to fall for him, but it didn’t work and she ended up with the ultimate “boy next door” instead.

9 Barney’s Competition – Stacey Gusar

Stacey (Janet Varney) was just a young woman caught in a game between two men. Ted first started dating her, but Barney ended up getting him to believe that he had dated her first.

It got to him and he broke up with her, which is when Barney revealed it was a lie. Leave it to Barney–sigh.

8 What About The Pineapple? – Trudy

Trudy (Danica McKellar) was a woman Ted really clicked with at the bar when he was still busy fawning over Robin. They ended up together briefly, but Trudy ended up climbing out Ted’s window when he tried to hide her from Robin.

They did meet up again years later when she and a former sorority sister of hers started fighting over him.

7 College Girl – Cindy

Cindy (Rachel Bilson) was a former student of Ted’s whom he started dating for a little bit. The thing is, other than the fact that he wasn’t allowed to date a student, he became transfixed on her roommate, who he hadn’t even met.

Turns out, the roommate was the mother and Cindy would be the one who ultimately brought them together.

6 His Dream Girl – Janet McIntyre

Janet McIntyre (Amber Stevens) only lasted a single date, but she was actually one of the best women Ted dated. Both had agreed not to look up any information about the other before their date, something Ted and his friends broke right away.

Turns out she was WAY better than him and he knew it. So he found a way to ruin the dinner.

5 Runaway Bride – Stella Zinman

Even though we all know Stella (Sarah Chalke) ditched Ted at the altar in order to go marry her ex, she was still one of his best relationships.

She was a doctor he met when he went to go have his lower back butterfly tattoo removed and was immediately smitten with her. She would also be the one who leads him to the mother... eventually.

4 An Arch Nemesis – Zoey Pierson

When they first met, not only was Zoey (Jennifer Morrison) an activist who was trying to ruin Ted’s job, but she was also married to a rich man.

Despite their differences, they ended up together after she divorced, but they really couldn’t get past their own ambitions, which tore them apart in the end.

3 The One – Robin Scherbatsky

Everyone knows that Robin was always the absolute love of Ted’s life, even though she shouldn’t have been. They dated on and off during the show before she married Barney...

But it was made clear in the series finale that Ted never ever got over Robin and went to her apartment to tell her so after his kids convinced him to.

2 Cupcake Sweet – Victoria

Victoria (Ashley Wiliams) was the sweetheart baker who Ted met at a wedding. They ended up dating for a while before Victoria moved to Germany on a dessert scholarship.

They tried long distance but ended breaking up because of Robin… which also happened years later when they started dating AGAIN after she left her fiancé at the altar for him.

1 The Mother – Tracy McConnell

The Mother, known as Tracy McConnell (Cristin Milioti) was Ted’s absolute best relationship. She was not only perfect for him, but she was absolutely essential to their friendship circle.

Too bad she only lasted a season before they offed her in the finale (Noooooo!). Nevertheless, she was still our favorite.

Sources: Fandom, LA Times, Vulture, CBS