Mr. Big first appeared as a recurring character and love interest of Carrie in Candace Bushnell's column "Sex and the City" in The New York Observer.
Carrie's interpretation of Mr. Big's inner turmoil as unreachable distance often creates larger issues because of her misplaced feelings of unworthiness, and due to her propensity for not communicating truthfully until too late, results in a lot of painful misunderstandings.
They break up repeatedly, over the course of two years for those reasons, before Big marries a twenty-six-year-old socialite and Ralph Lauren employee named Natasha (Bridget Moynahan) after dating her for only five months.
Carrie, who is in a committed relationship (with Aidan Shaw) at the time, feels guilty but continues to see Big.
Big grows as an emotional being, changing and evolving as the series progresses, moving past innate pain to suit Carrie's needs better, ostensibly becoming a "better man."
In one scene in the first film, he is shown at a New Year's Eve party alone, eating while the celebration goes on around him, but seems to feel comfortable with the situation.
The series finale, "An American Girl in Paris", ties together the loose ends of Carrie and Big's relationship and concludes their long, unconventional courtship.
At this point, Carrie has grown tired and frustrated with Big's inconsistency and angrily rebuffs him, but also realizes her behavior towards him has often pushed him away.
The series finale takes place over two episodes in which Carrie moves to Paris with her current boyfriend, Russian artist Aleksandr Petrovsky (played by Mikhail Baryshnikov).
In the first half of the finale, "An American Girl in Paris Part Une", Big shows up outside Carrie's apartment in New York after she fails to return his phone calls.
Carrie loses her temper and tells Big that she is tired of having him interrupt her life and ruin her happiness for the past six years.
After much deliberation, with Carrie's current situation and her history with Big in the forefront of their minds, Miranda tells him to "go get our girl".
Big becomes protective and immediately begins climbing the stairs to Aleksandr's room to reprimand him (or as he puts it, "kick some Russian ass").
Executive producer Michael Patrick King has stated that by never revealing his real name, Big remained "always slightly out of reach" for Carrie, and this plot device is maintained throughout the entire run of the series.
Although his name is seen in that final shot, King makes a point in the DVD commentary that it is never spoken in the series.
Big expresses disapproval of the ballooning wedding, calling it a "circus," but reiterates he loves Carrie and still wants to marry her.
Miranda tells him that marriage ruins everything, and the next day Big gets cold feet and leaves the wedding venue before the ceremony.
Broken-hearted and humiliated, Carrie attacks him with her bouquet, despite Big's repeated attempts to apologize, and she leaves for their honeymoon with her friends.
Big rushes her to the hospital and waits for hours, hoping to see Carrie, but ultimately leaves.
She later appears at the penthouse he had purchased for them, determined to retrieve a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes she had left behind, and finds Big there.
He finally returns that evening with her "punishment": Carrie must wear a black diamond ring to remind herself that she is married.
The film concludes with a montage of scenes from the girls' lives - Big and Carrie have successfully combined their desires and interests, and the two are content as their married life has grown past the "Terrible Twos".
In "Hello It's Me", the first episode of And Just Like That..., Big suffers a fatal heart attack after a vigorous workout on his Peloton bike.