Who is Kitty Scherbatsky? Creator Carter Bays reveals the Leo Tolstoy character that inspired Robin Scherbatsky in How I Met Your Mother 

TV showrunner Carter Bays recently revealed details about the character Robin Scherbatsky as he appeared on the podcast How We Made Your Mother, hosted by Josh Radnor and Craig Thomas, on March 17, 2025.

Portrayed by Cobie Smulders, Robin was featured on How I Met Your Mother in all the seasons, and it was inspired by Kitty Scherbatsky from Leo Tolstoy’s novel Anna Karenina. In the latest episode of Josh and Craig’s podcast, Josh questioned Carter on how he envisioned Robin Scherbatsky, and Bays responded:

“Robin, Kitty Scherbatsky is a character from Anna Karenina, I think. I fancied myself a reader and I was like I’m going to read Anna Karenina and got like 20 pages into it.”

Kitty Scherbatsky was the wife of Konstantin Levin, who was a landowner. The character had a sensitive and overprotected personality, as per Quizlet. However, she also had a lot of courage and compassion and she displayed the same in different situations.

Kitty initially dismissed Konstantin's marriage proposal since military official Alexei Vronsky was courting her. However, Kitty ends up accepting the proposal when Alexei leaves her for Anna.

Bays further stated that four of the five lead characters, including Ted Marshall, were taken from real life. Carter also mentioned that Robin Scherbatsky was the only character that was “completely made up whole cloth” and that the makers did their best to find an actress who could portray the role.

“The only character who was completely made up whole cloth was Robin. The casting process was sort of, this process of like let’s see if we can find her, let’s see who this could be. It really was like, it wasn’t like, ‘Oh yeah that.’”

The latest YouTube video has already received more than 2,000 views until now and the description states that a bonus episode is scheduled to be released later this week where the hosts would discuss how they met, played music, and their journey to become a part of How I Met Your Mother.

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Robin Scherbatsky in How I Met Your Mother: Character explained

Robin was one of the main characters in the CBS sitcom and she was initially a pop star, following which she became a journalist and a morning show host. She became a part of the main friends’ group featured on the show in 2005 after she went on a date with Ted Mosby.

Robin Scherbatsky was born to a wealthy family and she decided to become a part of the pop industry during her teenage years.

She started her career at Channel 22 as a reporter and later joined Metro News 1, where she was a field reporter. She later began working under a Japan-based foreign correspondent and later hosted a show, Come On, Get Up New York!

Robin became popular for her sarcastic personality and was tomboyish due to an estranged relationship with her father Robin Sr. This was also one of the reasons she occasionally got involved in violent activities and she was additionally insecure at the same time.

Although Robin Scherbatsky preferred to enjoy her own company for most of the time and later decided to tie the knot with Barney Stinson. However, she decided not to have any children and shared a close relationship with Ted Mosby’s kids, Luke and Penny.

Robin had an interest in guns and was the owner of different firearms, which was featured in a few episodes. She was also addicted to smoking cigars and was affectionate to dogs.

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How I Met Your Mother ended in March 2014 after airing for nine seasons since September 2005.