Out of the five main characters in the series’ nine-season run, but Marshall always tried to do the right thing. Of course, he didn’t always succeed. A number of times throughout the series, Marshall actually did pretty terrible things.
Still, on the whole, he was a good guy; a role model to his best friend Ted, even if he made a few mistakes along the way. Here are the five best and five worst things Marshall ever did.
Best: Taking Homesick Robin To A Minnesota Bar
When Robin was feeling homesick, Marshall took her down to his favorite Minnesota bar in the city and introduced her to his friends there. It’s not quite the same as Canada, but everyone’s nice and likes sports and cold weather, so she still feels at home.
It’s just a shame that Robin takes advantage of Marshall’s generosity, stealing stories about his dad to rise above his popularity.
Worst: Working For GNB
Marshall’s career arc in How I Met Your Mother is a good representation of how making a living by doing the right thing professionally is a lot easier said than done, because there’s not a lot of money in doing the right thing, and living in New York — or anywhere, for that matter — ain’t cheap.
Still, he took a job at Goliath National Bank, a ruthless corporation that will step on anyone to eek out some extra profit, instead of practicing environmental law, and paved the way for corporate greed to continue its takeover of the world.
Best: Fulfilling His Dad’s Trivial Dying Wish
After Marshall’s dad died, he struggled to wrap his head around what his final words to him were. He said a couple of inadvertently offensive things before leaving Marshall and Lily’s place for the last time, but he also has a voicemail from when his dad pocket-dialed him on the way home.
Marshall eventually decides to listen to the voicemail, in which his dad recommends Crocodile Dundee III, and no matter how trivial that dying wish was, Marshall still watches the movie.
Worst: Telling Ted His Cancelled Project Is Still On
When Ted was struggling to find work, Marshall and Barney got him a job working on an architectural project for GNB. He was extremely excited and did what he described as some of the most inspired work of his career.
However, it later turned out that the GNB brass fired Ted early in the process and Marshall and Barney just kept him working to keep him happy.
Best: Inviting Mickey To Thanksgiving Dinner
While Lily holds grudges forever, Marshall is willing to give people the benefit of the doubt and believes in humanity’s capacity to change for the better. After being let down by her father Mickey countless times during her childhood, Lily was content to never see him again.
But Marshall invited him to Thanksgiving dinner in the spirit of making amends. Although initially outraged, when Lily finds out that one of the people who are dead to her is actually dead, she comes to realize Marshall did the right thing and patches things up with her dad.
Worst: Accidentally Stabbing Lily
When Marshall and Ted finally confront the issue of who’ll get their apartment after Marshall and Lily's wedding, they decide to settle it with a duel, taking down the swords that hang on the wall and fighting for the apartment with them.
At one point, Marshall is up on the coffee table, fighting Ted, when Lily walks in and he falls off the table and accidentally thrusts the sword through her shoulder.
Best: Taking Gruber Pharmaceuticals To Court
It was always inspiring to watch Marshall fight for environmentalist causes in court, although it didn’t happen very often. When he took Gruber Pharmaceuticals to court, he entered an intense legal battle with his old law school buddy Brad.
Gruber Pharmaceuticals were responsible for polluting Frog Lake, and Marshall was justly determined to make the firm face consequences for their actions.
Worst: Slut-Shaming Robin
When Robin’s date Mitch tried out “the Naked Man” move and it worked, Marshall immediately branded her a slut. The whole gang slut-shamed Robin in this episode, pressuring her to date Mitch further just to prove them wrong, but Marshall is the first one to actually use the S-word.
Meanwhile, Barney has slept with literally hundreds of women, usually through illicit, deceitful, or outright illegal means, and none of the gang bats an eye.
Best: Forgiving Lily For Ditching Him
The first season of How I Met Your Mother ends with Lily getting accepted into an art school in San Francisco and calling off her engagement to Marshall to attend.
A reasonable human being would be forgiven for resenting Lily for the rest of their life. But Marshall finds a way to forgive her.
Worst: Not Telling Lily About His Judgeship
In the final season of How I Met Your Mother, Lily has taken a job in Italy’s art industry and she and Marshall are planning to move to Rome. However, Marshall takes a job as a judge in New York, which will prevent him from moving, without consulting Lily.
It takes him a very long time to tell Lily (or, at least, it feels very long, because the season’s ill-conceived structuring stretches a single weekend across more than 20 half-hour episodes).