One of the best parts of any great sitcom or single-camera comedy is the relationships between the main characters, whether that be as a whole group or pairs and trios separate. How I Met Your Mother has some fantastic dynamics between the gang's main , all of whom bring something different to the table.
However, despite how close the five are, there are certain power dynamics at play, with certain characters having more social power over the others. On top of that, there is the financial power of some compared to others, power through career, and overall capabilities of some in society.
Lily Aldrin
Lily is the mother of the group, often giving out advice, whether asked for or not, to her friends, and being heavily involved in the lives of them all, holding a lot of influence with them through her deceptively manipulative side that hides behind her kind demeanor. However, even with this power she holds over the rest of the gang, overall, she is the least powerful of the group.
Financially she is the least powerful of the main five, struggling with debt and having the lowest paid job of everyone for the most part. While as a teacher, she holds influence over her kids, it is not the sort of power other of the gang have. She can control her friends, to an extent, her students for a certain number of hours a day, and that is about it.
Ted Mosby
Ted is another character who holds a lot of social influence within the sphere of the gang. He is best friends with Marshall; he is Barney's best friend, is Lily's longest friend, and has an intimate connection with Robin, beloved by all of them despite his flaws.
As both an architect and professor at Columbia, Ted has more financial power than Lily, but also more power through his career as a whole, becoming well known for his New York skyline building, a fantastic achievement, and is an incredibly popular teacher to his students. Ted does not hold political power, nor does he have as wide a reach as others in the gang. In of money, he earns more than Lily, but less than everyone else by the end of the show, having no real power in that regard.
Robin Scherbatsky
Based on the pilot, Robin would be bottom of this list. She was in a different country, had no friends or family in New York, was a local news reporter with no following, and was likely getting by because of her rich family. By the time of the finale, however, this had all changed.
As an international news anchor for World Wide News, Robin traveled all over the globe, was recognized by the public, made a killing, and was incredibly successful. Given the fact she was a famous news anchor, she most likely had a decent amount of political influence, definitely more than most of the gang. As well as all that, Robin held a good level of social power, being well known in the public eye for being the face of a huge news channel, plastered on ments across New York and beyond; not to mention her having a hold over Ted and Barney for a lot of the show.
Barney Stinson
There is no doubt that Barney Stinson is the most popular and iconic character to have come out of the show. Through various means, Barney holds a lot of power, not just over the audience - making us love him despite being a despicable person - but over everyone, and just in general as a pretty twisted, obsessive individual.
Barney is undoubtedly the richest of the group, with more money than he knows what to do with through his sketchy career that ends up being him working with the F.B.I, another layer to him that affords quite a bit more power than most others in the group. He has many connections, many random people he knows with avenues into various circles, whether that be through his job, gambling, or his expensive taste; the amount of people he knows alone makes him pretty powerful and even dangerous as just a regular guy in the city. Barney's more evil side, manipulation, obsession, and deception, make him an unpredictable individual with a pretty unique and unknown level of power.
Marshall Eriksen
There is a crucial difference between the type of power held by Barney and that held by Marshall that puts Marshall ahead of him, despite Barney having a lot more power and influence than the other three. Marshall's power is more meaningful, more tangible. Barney's personality, taste, and money make him influential, whereas Marshall's job gives him incredible power.
By the end of the show, Marshall is a New York Supreme Justice Judge. This not only gives him great financial power but political power as well, as he is able to influence the state system through his work. There is also the social side; while Barney is well connected to many random, even shady people in various circles, Marshall's job connects him to very powerful people, leaders, justices, politicians, CEOs; not to mention the fact he is married to Lily. As much as Marshall would love some supernatural powers, he will have to settle for money, influence, and immense popularity amongst his friends and peers.