I am a BIG Friends fan. I’ve watched that show countless times and I always come out with my favorite characters on top—meaning, my favorite character will always remain my favorite character. I’m ranking the six Friends characters, the main characters, from least favorite to favorite. That being said, the first person on this list isn’t the worst character to ever exist on a TV screen, but I just don’t like them.

ALSO, I want to throw another disclaimer out there. This doesn’t mean that there is one star of the show. Even the cast members said it themselves that there’s not one character that stands out among the rest. This is my personal ranking and who I “vibe” with.

Ross Geller

I would like to say this is the most obvious, and when I say that, I am correct. Ross Gellar … listen, he is one of the angrier and at times, boring character on the show. But Ross … was misunderstood. He has been through A LOT. When we first meet him, he’s literally going through a divorce because his wife left him for someone else. That would shatter someone’s entire worldview, especially someone who has been sheltered from their parents and almost spoiled by their parents (which he did) their entire life. Yeah, he was angry and would react angrily in most situations (especially when he was dating Rachel), and I’m not justifying his angry reactions, but what he needs is a BREAK. He does seem kind of entitled throughout the entire show, like almost the world revolves around him. He’s a know it all, and that doesn’t vibe with a lot of people. I do love Ross. I do. And I think I give him a lot more credit than more Friends fans do.

Rachel Green

Before you hate me, I want to first start out by this isn’t me hating on Jennifer Aniston. That woman is probably in my top three actresses of all time. To me, Rachel’s storyline of going from spoiled rich girl to finally on her own and moving to PARIS to work in fashion (and then giving that up for love), is exceptional. It’s incredible. It’s iconic. And while we’re on the subject, let’s talk about that parallel: she gave up love (or a marriage to Barry, a man she didn’t love) for a chance for a career and to start a new life at the start of the show, and by the end of the show, she “gave up” (realistically, she probably got to keep her job) her fashion career’s next steps in Paris for love. WHAT A JOURNEY. But for me, I just liked the other characters’ storylines better. I love Rachel and her iconic fashion and hair looks, and she was always a comedic delight on screen, but her one liners didn’t hit as Phoebe’s or Chandler’s. She was great.

Joey Tribbiani

This pains me to say this, but Joey is at #4 for me. Now, I love Joey’s one liners. I love his jokes about food and being lazy and him being a player. Joey is beloved and Matt LeBlanc played Joey like rent was due. Even though Joey’s jokes were mainly about food and supposed to be a light-hearted character, Matt LeBlanc also played him to be more sensitive. I especially loved Joey and Phoebe’s friendship—I think that the writers tried to make them into a romantic relationship (like Chandler and Monica), but they saw Joey and Phoebe (and the actors’ chemistry played into this as well), better as friends. Really close friends. To be honest, I think Joey and Phoebe’s friendship is grossly underrated compared to Chandler and Joey’s. Or Rachel and Monica’s.

quick ranking of the friendships:

chandler and joey
joey and phoebe
monica and rachel
joey and ross
rachel and phoebe
monica and phoebe
chandler and ross

Monica Geller

Next up, is the queen herself, Monica Geller. The reason why she’s not higher on this list is because the next person (spoiler: it’s Phoebe) is funnier. Simply put. But with Monica, I feel like she encapsulates that person who was always forgotten about while growing up (but she still was low key spoiled lol). She grew up in the shadow of her older brother, and then in high school, her best friend (Rachel in high school). When she went to college, I can assume that’s when Monica thrived. She started to eat healthier and work out—and that’s not to say that automatically losing weight means that you are happier. Monica still had those obsessive tendencies well into her 20s and into her 30s. However, Monica is that character that a lot of us (me lol) can relate to. She’s obsessive, but she’s passionate. She’s high-maintenance, but she cares. She opens her home DAILY to her five friends and willingly cooks for them. (I mean, she is a professional chef but still.) She’s a people pleaser at heart. She’s flawed. She’s relatable, and I use that term lightly. And honestly, I can’t help but mention she’s one half of one of the greatest TV couples in all of TV history. Besides all that, she is GORGEOUS.

Phoebe Buffay

I was surprised I put Phoebe at #2, but alas, here we are. Phoebe is … just the weird girl we all want to be friends with. She sings, she has those one liners that are so random at times, but she loves her friends like they’re her family. Out of all the friends, Phoebe, by far, had the most traumatic childhood. The things that come out of her mouth. But the more I re-watch the show, I love the scenes with Phoebe. I love every scene she’s in. Smelly Cat is on repeat in my head—it’s almost like a Roman Empire (can Taylor Swift cover the song?? She actually performed it live on the 1989 World Tour with Lisa Kudrow herself). Phoebe is more than the funny friend we all have; she is the one who cares but also the one who will give you straight-up, real advice.

Chandler Bing

And now we get to the best character on the show (in my opinion). Chandler is just one of the most relatable characters to me. I’ve never felt more connected to a TV fictional character before. “I’m hopeless and awkward and desperate for love” is like, one of my all-time favorite quotes. I love his sarcastic humor (and humor in general). I think Chandler gives off sidekick energy, but he never was a sidekick at all. I think one of his flaws (very few flaws, btw) is that he can’t get real, and the other friends point that out a lot, but that’s because of his childhood trauma. It’s hard for Chandler to open up, but one of the greatest things about his character arc is that he does open up from the very beginning, season 1, all the way to season 10. Since 1994, he helped awkward people with social anxiety, people who always felt like the sidekick, the people with childhood trauma and who would cover that up with humor, or the people who didn’t feel enough, not alone. Even with all of Chandler’s funniest moments, the moments where Chandler opened up and got serious, especially the scenes with Monica and Chandler, were the ones that I’ll always carry with me.

I can’t write a heartfelt compliment to Chandler Bing without paying tribute to Matthew Perry. I read his memoir (listened to it) earlier this year, a few months before he passed, and the way he talked about his time on Friends was incredible but also gut-wrenching. Not in the sense of which he regrets playing Chandler. Not even in the sense of the fact he put so much of his self in Chandler. He read the part of Chandler when he was auditioning for the role and thought, “This is for me.” So, even Matty knew that he was made for this role. Matthew Perry, although in his final statements said that he didn’t want the role of Chandler to be his greatest achievement or the only thing he was known for, gave those people who would always feel awkward a sense of belonging. He spoke up for those people. He represented those people on a popular sitcom. He helped those people feel seen. And to that, I’m eternally grateful.

Here's My Ranking Of The FRIENDS Characters, From Least Favorite To Favorite