Portrayed by Jennifer Aniston, the character was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, and appeared in all of the show's 236 episodes during its decade-long run, from its premiere on September 22, 1994, to its finale on May 6, 2004.

Introduced in the show's pilot as a naïve runaway bride who reunites with her childhood best friend Monica Geller and relocates to New York City, Rachel gradually evolves from a spoiled, inexperienced "daddy's girl" into a successful businesswoman.

[4] A virtually unknown actress at the time, who had previously starred in five short-lived sitcoms, Aniston auditioned for the role of Rachel after turning down an offer as a cast member on the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live.

Named the "Rachel" after her, the character's shag continues to be imitated by millions of women around the world and remains one of the most popular hairstyles in history, in spite of Aniston personally disliking it.

[17] Despite receiving a job offer in France, Rachel ultimately decides to stay in New York and rekindle her relationship with Ross in the series finale, de-boarding her flight at the last minute.

Her decision to reunite with Ross in the final episode brings her story full circle, solidifying her evolution from a dependent individual into a self-assured and independent woman.

[19] However, after the success of the pilot, in which Rachel and Ross' developing romance is first hinted at,[20] and witnessing Aniston and co-star David Schwimmer's on-screen chemistry for the first time,[31] Crane and Kauffman determined that the entire series relied on "finding all the wonderful roadblocks for them to be with each other".

[32] According to Encyclopedia of Television author Horace Newcomb, Ross and Rachel's ever-changing relationship "converted the traditional amnesic plotlines of the situation comedy into ones akin to episodic drama".

[34] Meanwhile, writing for The New York Review of Books, Elaine Blair agreed that Friends created "a sense of chemistry between two characters while also putting obstacles in their way, setting us up for a long-deferred union".

[42] Actress Téa Leoni, who at the time was being referred to by the media as "the next Lucille Ball",[43] was offered the role of Rachel as the studio's first choice,[21] but she declined in favor of starring in the sitcom The Naked Truth.

[20] However, casting her as Rachel posed a challenge for the network because, at the time, Aniston was simultaneously starring in a developing CBS sitcom called Muddling Through,[59] in which she plays a young woman whose mother is returning home from jail after two years.

[60] CBS was initially reluctant to release Aniston from her contract,[30] which required the actress to balance both roles simultaneously,[61] traveling back-and-forth between Muddling Through and Friends for two weeks.

[62] Meanwhile, NBC risked having to recast the role of Rachel, replace Aniston, and reshoot several episodes if CBS' series proved successful, which would have potentially cost the network millions of dollars.

"[71] Ultimately, Muddling Through was canceled after only three months and 10 episodes,[72][73] two weeks before the pilot of Friends aired,[74] thus allowing Aniston to keep her role on the show,[75] becoming its second youngest cast member at the age of 25.

[30] Crane and Kauffman strongly envisioned Friends as an ensemble comedy,[20] and Warner Bros. initially marketed the show as such by having the cast appear in their entirety for all press, interviews and photo shoots.

[90] Author Kim Etingoff wrote about Rachel in her book Jennifer Aniston: From Friends to Films that the character is "spunky and sometimes spoiled",[53] while TV Land called her "naive".

[91] Citing the differences between Rachel and her two female friends, The Guardian's Ryan Gilbey observed that the character "wasn't insulated by self-regard, like Monica, or swaddled in gormlessness, like Phoebe".

"[23] In her book How To Write For Television, author Madeline Dimaggio wrote that although "Rachel grew within the context of the series ... she would always struggle with the spoiled, image-conscious Daddy's girl who fled from her wedding in the pilot.

[107] In her book Changed for Good: A Feminist History of the Broadway Musical, author Stacy Wolf identified Rachel as one of several popular female television characters who embodied Jewish stereotypes during the 1990s and often served as "the butt of the shows' jokes".

[111] The New York Post's Robert Rorke labeled Rachel "a rehabilitated Jewish American Princess", in contrast to her sister Amy (Christina Applegate) who remains "selfish, condescending and narcissistic".

[113] Saraiya went on to hail Rachel as "a model for women coming of age in the 1990s—the popular, pretty girl dissatisfied with where those illusions have taken her but also unwilling to embrace the more aggressively 'feminist' career-woman strategy".

[53] Writing for TalkTalk, Dominic Wills agreed that while Rachel established herself as "the general favourite ... No one had a bad word to say about Jennifer Aniston",[82] with whose performance audiences instantly fell in love.

[125] The Guardian's Ryan Gilbey highlighted Aniston as the cast member "least reliant on goofball caricature", observing that "Playing the only character with whom a sane viewer might reasonably identify also meant that she got the lion's share of attention".

[92] Writing that the actress "quickly stole our hearts as the daddy's girl and aspiring fashionista," Andrew Collins of Radio Times hailed Aniston as a "natural comic performer, as adept with a subtle nose wrinkle as a full-on pratfall, and fluent in quick-fire patter".

[21] China Daily cited Ross and Rachel's reunion during the series finale "The Last One" among the episode's highlights,[131] while Gary Susman of Rolling Stone believes that audiences would not have been happy had the couple not ultimately reunited.

[157] Entertainment Tonight Canada ranked "The One After Rachel and Joey Kiss" among the show's ten worst episodes at number five, with author I. P. Johnson panning it as "desperate", concluding, "Jeers for even conceiving this romantic plot; cheers for abandoning it".

[102] According to Stylist, Rachel "revived [a] love of denim shirts and dungarees",[176] while Mahogany Clayton of StyleBlazer believes that the character "managed to dominate every fashion trend that passed by her radar in the most stylish ways possible".

[184] Cosmopolitan magazine compiled a list of "16 things Rachel Green wore to work that we'd totally wear today",[185] while Virgin Media ranked the character among television's sexiest.

[196] While agreeing that Aniston's film career has been successful, several critics believe that the actress' filmography remains limited to playing Rachel-like roles in romantic comedies,[82][125][197] save for some exceptions.

[77] Josh Robertson of Complex magazine felt that "With the haircut, the TV fame, and a true gift for comedy ... combined, Aniston became a big star", replacing Courteney Cox.