Robin Scherbatsky
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Robin Charles Scherbatsky Jr. is a fictional character created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas for the CBS television series ''
How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom created by Craig Thomas (screenwriter), Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014, follows main char ...
'', portrayed by
Cobie Smulders Jacoba Francisca Maria "Cobie" Smulders (born April 3, 1982) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her starring role as Robin Scherbatsky in the CBS series ''How I Met Your Mother'' (2005–2014) and as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill in th ...
. Robin is the on and off love interest of
Ted Mosby Theodore Evelyn Mosby is a fictional character and the protagonist in the American sitcom '' How I Met Your Mother'', portrayed by Josh Radnor. He serves as the show's narrator from the future, voiced by Bob Saget, as he tells his children ...
( Josh Radnor) and
Barney Stinson Barney Stinson is a fictional character portrayed by Neil Patrick Harris and created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas for the CBS television series ''How I Met Your Mother'' (2005–2014). One of the show's main characters, Barney is known fo ...
(
Neil Patrick Harris Neil Patrick Harris (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor, singer, writer, producer, and television host. Primarily known for his comedic television roles and dramatic and musical stage roles, he has received List of awards and nominations ...
), and a close friend to Lily Aldrin ( Alyson Hannigan) and
Marshall Eriksen Marshall Eriksen is a fictional character on the CBS sitcom ''How I Met Your Mother'', portrayed by Jason Segel. Series co-creator Craig Thomas explained that he based Marshall and Lily on himself and his wife Rebecca. Character overview The ...
( Jason Segel).


Development

The creators of ''How I Met Your Mother'', Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, always intended for Robin Scherbatsky not to be " The Mother" of
Ted Mosby Theodore Evelyn Mosby is a fictional character and the protagonist in the American sitcom '' How I Met Your Mother'', portrayed by Josh Radnor. He serves as the show's narrator from the future, voiced by Bob Saget, as he tells his children ...
's children. Rather, Ted perceives Robin as the perfect woman, but "it’s still not his final love story." Bays and Thomas have said that "a pretty famous actress" turned down the role of Robin; they revealed in February 2014 that it was
Jennifer Love Hewitt Jennifer Love Hewitt (born February 21, 1979) is an American actress, producer and singer. Hewitt began her career as a child actress and singer, appearing in national television commercials before joining the cast of the Disney Channel serie ...
. They then cast Cobie Smulders, an unknown actress at the time. Bays and Thomas later said: "Thank God we did for a million reasons... when Ted’s seeing her for the first time, America’s seeing her for the first time – the intriguingness of that propelled the show going forward and kept the show alive."


Early life

Robin Charles Scherbatsky Jr. was born on 23 July 1980 to a Canadian father, Robin Charles Scherbatsky Sr. (
Ray Wise Raymond Herbert Wise (born August 29, 1947) is an American actor best known for his role as Leland Palmer in ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991, Twin Peaks (season 3), 2017) and its prequel film ''Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' (1992). He has appeared ...
), and an English mother, Genevieve Scherbatsky (
Tracey Ullman Tracey Ullman (born Trace Ullman; 30 December 1959) is a British-American actress, singer, dancer, screenwriter, producer, and director. Despite being frequently referred to as a comedian, Ullman considers herself a character actress. Critics h ...
), in
Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
. She has a teenage sister named Katie ( Lucy Hale). She has a difficult relationship with her father, who raised her as if she were a boy. She is a fan of the
Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...
, a professional
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
(NHL)
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
club based in Vancouver. Robin had a minor career as a
bubblegum pop Bubblegum (also called bubblegum pop) is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a more specific rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States in the late 1960s, th ...
singer under the stage name of Robin Sparkles, with one hit single, " Let's Go to the Mall." After an accompanying
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
, and the ensuing year-long mall tour, she developed a serious aversion to
shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...
s that lasted for years. Robin followed "Let's Go to the Mall" with the "artistic follow-up" " Sandcastles in the Sand", which tanked. As Robin Sparkles, she also appeared on the Canadian educational children's show ''Space Teens'' with
Alan Thicke Alan Willis Thicke (né Jeffrey; 1 March 1947 13 December 2016) was a Canadian-American actor, songwriter, and game/talk show host. He was the father of singer Robin Thicke. Thicke was best known for playing Dr. Jason Seaver on the 1980s sitco ...
and Jessica Glitter (
Nicole Scherzinger Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Scherzinger ( ; ; born June 29, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality. She was a member of the girl group and dance ensemble the Pussycat Dolls between 2003 and 2010. With ...
), about two teen girls traveling through space in a
curling stone Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding he ...
–shaped spaceship who "solve mysteries using math." The show was heavy with unintentional sexual innuendo, such as the song "Two Beavers Are Better Than One". Robin attempted to shift from
teen pop Teen pop is a sub genre of pop music that is created, marketed and oriented towards Preadolescence, preteens and teenagers.Lamb, Bill"Teen Pop". About.com. Retrieved January 28, 2007. Often, the artists themselves are teenagers during their break ...
to
grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...
by adopting a new stage name, "Robin Daggers," and penning a track entitled P.S. I Love You. "P.S." is a dark, angry song about her unrequited infatuation with an unnamed person, later revealed as Paul Schaffer. In an episode parodying
Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, she became a cultural phenomenon during the mid 199 ...
and her single "
You Oughta Know "You Oughta Know" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, released as the lead single from her third studio album, ''Jagged Little Pill'', on July 10, 1995. After releasing two studio albums, Morissette left MCA Records, MCA Re ...
," Robin performed the song at the 84th Grey Cup, effectively ending her career in music. As an adult, Robin is embarrassed by her teenage stardom.


Character history

After moving to New York City, Robin became a news anchor and later became a host of her own early-morning talk show. Robin lives in the
Park Slope Park Slope is a neighborhood in South Brooklyn, New York City, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park and Eighth Avenue (Brooklyn), Prospect Park West to the east, ...
area of
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
; she meets
Ted Mosby Theodore Evelyn Mosby is a fictional character and the protagonist in the American sitcom '' How I Met Your Mother'', portrayed by Josh Radnor. He serves as the show's narrator from the future, voiced by Bob Saget, as he tells his children ...
, the show's main character, and they are immediately attracted to each other. They go on a date in which Ted steals a blue
French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...
for her, but Ted spoils his chances with her by impulsively saying he is in love with her. They agree to remain friends, but their relationship is complicated by lingering romantic feelings. Robin is reluctant to date Ted because he wants to get married and settle down, but they become a couple anyway at the end of season one. They break up at the end of season two, While it is difficult at first to remain in each other's lives, they eventually become close, trusted friends. At the end of the fifth season, she moves back in to Ted's apartment after her boyfriend Don ( Benjamin Koldyke) breaks up with her and moves to Chicago. Although she is a reporter for "fluff news pieces" at the end of news segments at the time of first meeting Ted, over the series she works her way up to be lead
news anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...
. She briefly takes a prominent anchoring position in Japan, only to return to New York and, with help from Barney, host her own talk show. Robin is also an avid gun enthusiast. When an old boyfriend humiliates her, Barney comforts her, and they have sex. This initially causes friction between her and Ted, but he ultimately accepts it. Barney and Robin have what they believe is a no-strings-attached sexual relationship for a few months, but they become an official couple after some aggressive prodding from Lily. They soon realize that they don't work as a couple, however, and break up. They remain friends, but it is implied Robin never truly lets Barney go. When Barney asks Nora ( Nazanin Boniadi), a woman he likes, for a cup of coffee, Robin realizes she may still have feelings for him. In the season 7 premiere episode "The Best Man", Lily confronts Robin about her feelings for Barney, and advises her to tell him. Robin instead helps Barney talk to Nora by telling him what to say. In " The Stinson Missile Crisis", Robin assaults a woman setting out to destroy Barney's relationship with Nora and is sent to court-mandated therapy, where she meets a man named Kevin. They start dating shortly after. Their relationship is tested when Robin cheats on him with Barney, and ultimately ends after the two get engaged and Kevin takes back his proposal when she says that she is unable and unwilling to have children. In the seventh season, Robin discovers that she is unable to have children. Although she had always believed she did not want to have children, she is devastated by the knowledge that she no longer has the option. In the episode " Tailgate", Robin is put in charge of a New Year's Countdown show on her news station. The host, Sandy Rivers ( Alexis Denisof), gets drunk live on the show and Robin is forced to replace him. Just before midnight, in the season finale, she revealed that she will be the bride at Barney's wedding. Her romantic feelings for Barney resurface in the eighth season, when he begins dating Patrice ( Ellen D. Williams), a cheerful coworker for whom she has an irrational hatred. In " The Final Page", Barney reveals that his courtship with Patrice was an elaborate ruse designed to get Robin back; he then proposes. Robin accepts. The final season of the show depicts the 56 hours before her wedding to Barney. On her wedding day, she gets cold feet when she learns that Ted went to great lengths to find a locket she had buried years before; she takes it as a "sign from the universe" that she should be with Ted. Wanting her to be happy, Ted tells her that he no longer loves her in that way. She goes through with the wedding after Barney vows to always be honest with her. The series finale, " Last Forever", reveals that Robin and Barney divorced after three years. Robin leaves the group upon realizing that she can't bear to be around Barney, who has resumed his womanizing lifestyle, or Ted, who is now happily involved with Tracy McConnell (
Cristin Milioti Cristin Milioti (born August 16, 1985) is an American actress. She is known for playing The Mother, The Mother (How I Met Your Mother), Tracy McConnell, in the CBS sitcom ''How I Met Your Mother'' from 2013 to 2014, and Sofia Falcone in the HBO ...
). She and the gang drift apart over the ensuing years, but she is there for Ted and Tracy's wedding, where she makes her peace with Barney. In "Timing is Everything", the first-season finale of spinoff '' How I Met Your Father'', which takes place in 2022, Robin gives Sophie Tompkins advice about fear. By 2030, Robin is a very successful television news anchor and lives in New York. The last scene of the show depicts Robin looking outside her window to see Ted, who is now a widower and wants another chance with her, holding out the blue French horn from their first date. She smiles at him with tears in her eyes. The series'
alternate ending An alternate ending (or alternative ending) is an ending of a story that was considered, or even written or produced, but ultimately discarded in favour of another resolution. Generally, alternative endings are considered to have no bearing on t ...
implies that following Ted's wedding, Barney and Robin have since gotten back together.


Discography

* " Let's Go to the Mall" (released under the
stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...
Robin Sparkles) * " Sandcastles in the Sand" (released under the stage name Robin Sparkles) * "The Beaver Song" * " P.S. I Love You" (released under the stage name Robin Daggers)


In other media

The Robin Sparkles song " Let's Go to the Mall" was included on the video game '' Just Dance 3''.


References


Notes


External links

*
Quotes by Robin Scherbatsky
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scherbatsky, Robin How I Met Your Mother characters Canadian female characters in television Fictional characters from British Columbia Fictional female musicians Fictional immigrants to the United States Fictional people with acquired American citizenship Fictional singers Fictional television news anchors Fictional television reporters and correspondents Television characters introduced in 2005 Vancouver Canucks