Barnabas "Barney" Stinson is a fictional character created by Carter Bays

Carter Bays

Carter Bays is an American television writer. Along with writing partner Craig Thomas, he is best known as creator, writer, and executive producer of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. He has 70 episodes of the show under his belt from 2005-2009, and has been nominated for six primetime Emmy...

 and Craig Thomas

Craig Thomas (screenwriter)

Craig Thomas is an American television writer, he, along with writing partner Carter Bays, has written episodes of American Dad!, Oliver Beene, Quintuplets and the hit CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, which they created in 2005. He has been nominated for six primetime Emmy Awards...

 for the CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 television series How I Met Your Mother

How I Met Your Mother

How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...

, portrayed by Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, singer, director, and magician.Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., Colonel Carl Jenkins in Starship Troopers, the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold...

. The character has been extremely well received by critics and has been credited for much of the show's success. He is considered the show's breakout character

Breakout character

A breakout character is a fictional character in different episodes, books or other media that becomes the most popular, talked about, and imitated. Most often a breakout character in a television series captures the audience's imagination and helps to popularize the show, sometimes inadvertently...

.
Harris was invited to audition for Barney by Megan Branman, the casting director for How I Met Your Mother.