Ted Mosby is the main character telling the story in How I Met Your Mother. In the series' framing device, an older Ted recounts the events of his life to his children, explaining the path that eventually led him to meet their mother.
Josh Radnor plays Ted during the main timeline, while Bob Saget provides the voice of Future Ted in the original broadcast narration. That distinction causes a frequent mix-up: Saget is the narrator's voice actor, but Ted Mosby is the character whose story is being told. The narrative begins in 2030, when Ted looks back on events that started in 2005.
Ted is an architect living in New York City and serves as the central viewpoint for the show's romantic, comic, and emotional storylines. His friends Marshall Eriksen, Lily Aldrin, Robin Scherbatsky, and Barney Stinson are major characters, but the series is structured around Ted's search for love and his eventual family. The Mother is intentionally kept mysterious for most of the series, making Ted's narration the engine of the plot.