Which Big Bang Theory characters went out smiling, and which ones had truly terrible finales?
Here are the endings of every major Big Bang Theory character,
ranked from worst to best, because not all character endings are created equal.
By season seven, lovesick and lonely Raj, played by Kunal Nayyar,
has completely given up on meeting women by traditional methods in favor of online dating.
Until … enter Emily Sweeney, played by Laura Spencer.
After Emily sends a message to Raj, the two begin a slowly developing relationship.
The news that Raj has a steady girlfriend is so huge, in fact, that The Big Bang Theory treats
it as a bigger deal than when Leonard and Penny announced their engagement.
Sadly, in season nine, Raj messes up a good thing,
dumping Emily to pursue new possibilities in the name of Claire, played by Alessandra Torresani.
Of course, as you might have already guessed, Claire rejects poor Raj.
Emily shows up just enough to remind viewers she's moved on with a new boyfriend,
and that intimacy problems with Raj helped doom their relationship from the beginning.
All this makes Emily's finale more of a bust than a bang!
When the show started, the four male characters on The Big Bang Theory
all had very different approaches when it came to hooking up with members of the opposite sex.
"Leonard. Sheldon. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi."
Howard, played by Simon Helberg, wanted cheap, tawdry, physical pleasures. Leonard Hofstadter,
played by Johnny Galecki, only wanted to be with Kaley Cuoco who played Penny.
Of course, Sheldon, played by Jim Parsons,
found the whole notion of romance a strange distraction from his scientific work.
"Would you be open to rotating the couch clockwise thirty degrees?"
Meanwhile, Raj harbored an innocent, dreamy,
fairy tale idea of romance. Ironically, he was the one who struggled the most with his love life.
Over time, Raj maintained a few relationships: Lucy, played by Kate Micucci, Emily,
played by Katie Leclerc, and, of course, Claire AND the other Emily.
Still, when a character's whole goal is to seek out love, it's disappointing they don't
get to have it when their show ends. In the final episode, Raj even pays Sarah Michelle Gellar of
Buffy the Vampire Slayer to attend Sheldon and Amy's Nobel Prize ceremony as his date
"Is that Buffy the Vampire Slayer?"
—which is just plain sad.
Melissa Rauch first popped up as Bernadette on The Big Bang Theory early in season three when she was
set up with Howard. The two hit it off—and a few episodes later, Rauch permanently joined the cast.
Over the course of the show, Bernadette progresses in both her work life and personal life. Starting
out as a Cheesecake Factory server alongside Penny to pay for her doctorate, Bernadette eventually
becomes a well-paid and highly-regarded researcher at a pharmaceutical company.
Bernadette marries Howard at the end of season five—and five years later, they welcome their
first daughter, Halley. Before long, baby Neil is born and that makes four in the household.
Bernadette's story is maintained for the final season of The Big Bang Theory,
where she's a harried working mother of two dealing with
day-to-day stressors without too much really happening with the character.
For most of his run on The Big Bang Theory, Stuart Bloom,
played by Kevin Sussman, remained a steady, unchanging character. Stuart
serves as a "worst-case scenario" comparison for the main characters.
If they consider themselves nerds who have a hard time attracting women and
interacting with mainstream society, Stuart shows them that their situation could be a lot worse.
"Look at me. I'm 37. I sleep in the back of a comic book store. And I
have the bone density of an 80-year-old man."
He's the owner of the Big Bang boys' favorite comic book store, a guy who freely discusses
his fears and anxieties about the store closing and leaving him in economic ruin,
as well as his inability to maintain any sort of romantic relationship with the opposite sex.
In other words, he's the geek shunned by the other geeks. And the major characters keep him at arm's
length, as if his bad luck is contagious. By The Big Bang Theory's finale, however,
Stuart has finally found love, admitting his feelings for comic store employee Denise,
played by Lauren Lapkus, who returns the sentiment.
"You are so hot."
But neither are considered close enough to the gang to attend the Nobel Prize ceremony in Sweden.
Instead, they stay in California to babysit Howard and Bernadette's kids—which,
in classic Stuart fashion, is a disaster.
Penny seems happy at the conclusion of The Big Bang Theory.
But is she really? Comparing the Penny at the end of the show to the one at the beginning
reveals a changed woman—and not necessarily for the better.
"I'm also writing this screenplay. It's about this sensitive girl who comes to L.A. from Lincoln,
Nebraska to be an actress and winds up a waitress at the Cheesecake Factory."
When she moves across the hall from Sheldon and Leonard,
she's bubbly, friendly, and fueled by her dream of becoming an actress and screenwriter.
But as the show goes on, Penny's character begins to change.
Dealing with a fussy, rude Sheldon and a tumultuous relationship with Leonard
turns her into the show's source of put-downs and eye-rolling—often
with a large glass of wine to cope with what her life has become.
Apart from roles in a few humiliating B-movies and commercials,
Penny never does make it as an actress. She abandons that
career for a more lucrative but less fulfilling one as a pharmaceutical rep.
At least her romantic life settles down.
Penny marries Leonard, who worships the ground she walks on.
"I don't think I'll ever understand how someone like me could be with someone like you."
In the final episode, Penny tells her husband that she's pregnant,
despite making it clear that she had no intention of becoming a mother.
In the end, nothing turned out the way it was supposed to for Penny.
Only one person on The Big Bang Theory absolutely hates Sheldon, and he isn't afraid to let him
know. Yeah, we're talking about fellow Caltech scientist Barry Kripke, played by John Ross
Bowie. He's the workplace equivalent of a schoolyard bully who taunts "Cooper."
"Kripke?"
"Yes?"
"You're in my spot."
In the final season, Kripke gets his redemption, and he gets to mock Sheldon one last time.
Even though Sheldon rejects his request to fund a project, he offers to help Sheldon prove that
one of his rivals for the Nobel Prize is a fraud. Later, when Sheldon is awaiting the
phone call to see if he won that very big honor, Kripke prank calls him, pretending to be the
organizers from Sweden. And that's how Kripke goes out — teasing Sheldon until the very end.
The Big Bang Theory scored a major casting coup when Mayim Bialik joined the cast in season three.
Like castmate and ex-Roseanne star Johnny Galecki,
Bialik was a former teen sitcom actor, familiar to millions as the title character on Blossom.
Additionally, Bialik studied in a field similar to that of her character on The Big Bang Theory,
Amy Farrah-Fowler. As it turns out, the performer has a doctorate in neurobiology,
adding some realism to her role as a neuroscientist.
"I got my Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA."
In her early appearances, Amy is quiet and lonely,
with no one in her life except for her lab animals. Big Bang Theory writers, however,
leaned into the idea of having Amy be a match for the also forever-solo Sheldon Cooper.
Eventually, the romantically-driven Amy gets Sheldon to do things he's never considered doing,
like kissing and getting married. It's no surprise that such a logical, direct
character would wind up getting exactly what she wants—the ideal husband to match the ideal career.
In the final episode of the series, Amy achieves what only a handful of scientists ever do.
She wins a Nobel Prize
"...to say to all the young girls out there who dream about science as a profession. Go for it."
—sharing the nod with, you guessed it, Sheldon.
Before she winds up with Leonard, Penny brings a few guys home to meet her friends.
Zack Johnson, played with relish by Brian Thomas Smith, is a classic sitcom jock — big, athletic,
good-looking ... but also noticeably stupid.
"One question?"
"Yes?"
"How can you be sure it won't blow up?"
"The laser?"
"The moon."
Like a human version of a dog, Zack is dumb, but he doesn't care. Plus, he's friendly to everyone.
Feeling threatened by this man who represented every high school bully
who ever dunked them into a toilet or trash can — the cast of geeks
insult him to his face and talk bad about him behind his back.
Zack gets the happy ending he deserves. He forms a menu design company,
and sells it for millions. He also gets over Penny and marries a woman named Marissa,
played by Lindsey Kraft, who's just as dim and kind as he is.
While Sheldon Cooper endures the nasty, childish taunts and pranks of Barry Kripke,
his true enemy is Wil Wheaton, the former child star who played Wesley
Crusher on Sheldon's beloved Star Trek: The Next Generation. So what's up with the hatred? Well,
Wheaton failed to show up for an autograph session Sheldon worked hard to attend.
Wheaton played himself over several episodes of The Big Bang Theory,
usually to gleefully antagonize Sheldon. For example, in a card game tournament,
he explains that he missed that fateful autograph session to be with his sick grandmother—and
Sheldon, close to his own grandmom, lets his guard down in a rare show of empathy,
leading Wheaton to win. Even though Wheaton was lying about his grandmother the whole time.
"I call my mee-maw nanna. And she's going to be very happy to hear that my small rock
killed your enchanted bunny."
In the final season of The Big Bang Theory,
the characters square off once more when both are gunning to play children's science show
host Professor Proton, a role that opened up after the death of the original actor,
played by Bob Newhart. Wheaton rightfully gets the gig, devastating Sheldon.
A fitting end for the well-qualified rogue.
Leonard Hofstadter is a brilliant scientist with a lot to brag about.
He has workplace accomplishments and makes major scientific achievements.
Ultimately, the prestigious Caltech researcher has
one goal above else. He wants to wind up hitched to Penny and live happily ever after.
In The Big Bang Theory's pilot, Leonard claims he's going to have children with Penny some day.
"Our babies will be smart and beautiful."
And after some initial disinterest on her part,
some will-they-won't-they ups and downs, the pair finally get hitched and officially settle.
However, there's one major issue in the pairing between the energetic actress
and the goofy scientist. He wants to start a family. She doesn't.
In the finale, however, Penny excitedly tells Leonard that she's expecting.
"Someone's gonna figure it out. Why don't we just tell people."
"No it's too early, I haven't even wrapped my head around it."
"I have. My head is wrapped."
That means Leonard gets his dream woman—along with his prophecy fulfilled, too.
It's yet another win for Leonard.
On top of all that, near the end of the series,
Leonard reconciles his tense and cold relationship with his intimidating mother,
psychiatrist and neuroscientist Dr. Beverly Hofstadter, played by Christine Baranski.
"So I forgive you."
Way to go Leonard!
The one character that changes the most throughout the 12-season run of The Big Bang Theory—who gets
to enjoy one of the most definitive, accomplished, and meaningful endings—is Howard Wolowitz.
Way back in season one, Howard was the closest thing the show had to a villain.
It's unsettling how he relentlessly hit on Penny, even though she stated several
times that she found both the man and his method unattractive and repulsive.
"You may be familiar with some of my work. It's
currently orbiting Jupiter's largest moon, taking high resolution digital photographs."
For years, Howard stayed a revolting, sex-obsessed creep who hit on any
woman he saw. Never mind he never actually attracted a woman to his sleazy bedroom—in
the house he shared with his overbearing mother.
However, the Howard at the end of The Big Bang Theory is a different man entirely.
By then, he's been happily married for years to Bernadette, and he does his best to make
her happy. The only other female on his radar is his toddler daughter, Halley.
He's also established a successful career
as a scientist and engineer. The dude even went to space with NASA!
How's that for a big bang ending?
While The Big Bang Theory is a sitcom about a group of scientists who are best friends,
it's really the story of one man: Sheldon Cooper.
"They can't function without me. I'm the social glue that holds this little group together."
Never before had a sitcom as broad and mainstream as this attempted to include a main character who
was one of the smartest people in the world. That's because sitcom characters
are generally both relatable and amiable—and Sheldon is, well, neither of those things.
After graduating from college as a teenager he
went on to study the secrets of the universe as a theoretical physicist.
He may be a proven smarty pants, but for most of the Big Bang's run
Sheldon's social skills were about as charming as a moon rock.
"Sheldon I'm not ready to have a baby."
"Oh, yes you are. I track your cycle."
Over the 12 seasons, however, Sheldon Cooper learns how to be a conscientious person—even
if at a snail's pace. And in the two-part series finale,
Sheldon wins a Nobel Prize, the ultimate recognition for a high-end researcher of
his caliber and a crowning achievement in a career full of scientific breakthroughs.
The episode's climax is an emotional one, when Sheldon uses part of his speech to express,
at long last, profound gratitude for his friends—and wife and co-Nobel laureate, Amy.
"I wouldn't be up here if it weren't for some very important people in my life."
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