How I Met Your Mother: Robin’s Exes, Ranked By Intelligence

How I Met Your Mother‘s most self-sufficient and independent character was Robin Scherbatsky, a Canadian who prioritized her freedom above everything else. She preferred whiskey over cocktails, she carried a gun in her purse, and she shied away from commitment. If Barney was the one who loved women more than any other human being, Robin often found herself dating himbos.

After all, she didn’t look for a provider in a man; sometimes, she just wanted to have some fun. When it comes to the intelligence of her romantic interests, Robin didn’t discriminate. From a pizza place manager to a Harvard graduate, Robin has dated all kinds of men.

10 Nick Podarutti

When Robin first met Nick, the two seemed genuinely interested in one another. Nick was funny, smart, and good-looking: everything that Robin was looking for in a man. For the sake of laughs, the writers turned Nick into a really dumb guy.

Robin’s relationship with him remains one of her worst story arcs in the entire series. Nick was so stupid that he once ate a vanilla-scented candle. Their attraction was solely physical.

9 Simon Tremblay

Simon Tremblay was Robin’s first love; in the week and a half that they shared together, the bad boy taught her how to french kiss. He is the kind of guy who peaked in high school: he had a band that was going nowhere and worked at a water slide park.

Despite the fact that he was one of the dumbest characters on the show, Robin found herself attracted to him when she saw him again in “Sandcastles in the Sand”. Marshall attributed her behavior to revertigo, also known as associative regression.

8 Gael

Gael was cute, likable, and artistic. No wonder everybody fell in love with him, even Marshall! Robin’s Argentinian rebound was a soulful man, but he didn’t understand boundaries at all.

He invited a whole bunch of people to Robin’s apartment without asking her first. Gael could play the guitar and he gave one hell of a massage, but he didn’t meet Robin’s standards when it comes to intelligence.

7 Mitch

Mitch, the OG naked man, was a simple man, but he was very well aware of his limitations. He knows that as the manager of a California Pizza Kitchen, he doesn’t stand a chance with Robin. There is more to this broke man than meets the eye, though.

He used to teach physics and music, which means he is not as dumb and simple as we might think. Even though he wasn’t handsome, Mitch had what most of Robin’s men didn’t: the courage to step outside of their comfort zone and take some risks.

6 PJ

PJ was Ted’s assistant and it’s safe to say that Ted wouldn’t just hire anybody to do the job. PJ was enthusiastic, respectful, and came across as pretty professional until he started sleeping with Robin at his workplace.

Thanks to Marshall, he ended up becoming a paralegal at GNB. Robin had her fair share of boy toys in the show, but PJ might just be the most educated one.

5 Brad Morris

Brad is a lawyer who attended Columbia, a fact that speaks for itself when it comes to his intelligence. The Brunch Bro only took Robin on one date in season 5. Robin was impressed by his six-pack and his ‘guns’, so she agreed to go see a hockey game with him.

It would be easy to reduce Brad to his good looks and bro-like behavior, but he shouldn’t be underestimated. After all, he ended up running for the New York State Supreme Court Justice, but it’s Marshall who won.

4 Ted Mosby

There is no denying that Ted is a smart guy. After all, he is an architect and quite a bit of an intellectual snob. Despite all of his redeeming qualities and knowledge of Pablo Neruda, there is still a lot of room for Ted to grow.

Ted is emotionally very immature. He struggles to see women as their own people rather than objects that are there to validate his notion of himself as a great guy. Despite the chemistry he shared with Robin, these two would never work out for reasons that were explicitly highlighted in the show on several occasions.

3 Don Frank

One of the saddest things about Robin is that when she was finally willing to settle down and compromise for a man, that very same guy ended up breaking her heart. Don Frank was charming, mature, and reasonable. He didn’t understand why Robin is friends with Barney and Ted but didn’t forbid her from seeing them either.

Don got offered an amazing job in Chicago, the very same one that Robin turned down in order to be with him. If Don weren’t intelligent, he would never have gotten that offer in the first place. He turned out to be selfish and pretty unlikeable, but there is no denying he was one of Robin’s smartest partners.

2 Barney Stinson

Even though he acts childish and clearly has a whole lot of unresolved childhood trauma to work through, Barney is actually one of the smartest characters on How I Met Your Mother. We might not agree with his philosophy of life, but this man is a proud author of two books, The Bro Code and The Playbook, and the genius behind many awesome poems, such as The Sexless Innkeeper.

Not only is Barney creative, but he also played the corporate system in his favor. He worked as a legal scapegoat for GNB for years, before ratting out the man who stole his first girlfriend. That kind of an elaborate and lucrative plan could only be devised by a brainiac.

1 Kevin Venkataraghavan

Kevin lacked charisma, but he definitely tops the list as Robin’s most intelligent boyfriend. He is no ordinary therapist: this guy studied at Harvard and Princeton. He tried to fit in with the group, but he was just too mature for them.

Even though he is one of the most date-able men of Robin’s, the two didn’t work out since they wanted different things in life and because Robin cheated on him.

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