Ridge was the eldest son of Eric and Stephanie Forrester. In the beginning, he as a playboy until two women, Caroline Spencer and Brooke Logan, captured his heart. Caroline and Ridge were engaged to be married. Brooke began reading about Caroline and Ridge in the newspaper and became obsessed with the two of them. She later befriended Caroline so she could become closer to Ridge. Caroline's father never liked Ridge and set him up the night before the wedding. He paid another woman to get Ridge drunk and sleep with him and they took pictures while he was passed off. Brooke was waiting with open arms to console Ridge. At the same time, she had become very friendly with Ridges' father, Eric. When Ridge once again talked Caroline into marrying him, Brooke went running into Eric's arms. She became pregnant with Eric's baby and they decided to marry. Soon after, Caroline died from leukemia. Once again, Brooke's heart went out to Ridge. While Brooke was trying to get out of her marriage with Eric, Ridge started falling for Caroline's doctor, Taylor Hayes.

Brooke had become pregnant and was telling everyone that would listen that the baby was Ridge's. When the paternity test was finished, the baby was Ridge's. Ridge was already then married to Dr. Taylor Hayes, and Ridge being Bridget's father took its toil on t he marriage, while Ridge and Brooke grew closer. When a plane crashed that Taylor was scheduled to be on, Ridge assumed that she had died in the fiery crash. Ridge was grief stricken, yet again. Brooke, open arms, you get the picture. She was engaged to Dr. James Warwick and Ridge would not stand in her way and told her he did not love her and she should marry James. As James and Brooke were exchanging vows, Ridge rushes in, stops the wedding and proclaims his love for Brooke. Ridge and Brooke were married at a beautiful seaside wedding. They honeymooned, they were happy, until Taylor returned from the dead. Ridge was torn between the two women. The marriage between Ridge and Brooke was declared null and void, abut Ridge chose Brooke over Taylor, and divorced his beloved Doc.

When Bridget was declared to be Eric's daughter and not Ridge's, Ridge called off the wedding and began dating Taylor instead, however, they never married until 1998. When Ridge found Brooke kissing Grant Chambers (who was a designer for Forrester) he went and proposed to Taylor in front of Brooke at a fashion show. Brooke, in anger, ran off and married Grant. Also, to get back at the Forrester's, Brooke gave controlling interest to Grant. Grant became a tyrant and all the Forresters hated him. Then somebody shot Grant. Grant knew it was Rick that shot him, but he was accusing Ridge of doing it. When Grant went to Ridge and told Ridge that Rick had shot him, Ridge pleaded guilty to the charge against him. Grant pleaded with the court to go easy on Ridge in his sentencing. Ridge was eventually let out on parole. After Taylor became pregnant with what was believed to be Thorne's baby, Brooke and Ridge finally married once Brooke pretended to be pregnant to keep Taylor from telling Ridge the truth. When the baby's paternity was determined and Ridge learned of Brooke's knowledge and deception regarding this and her own faked pregnancy/miscarrage, he quickly had the marriage annulled, and in the early summer of 1998, Ridge remarried Taylor, the mother of his son and first child, Thomas.

Through thick and thin, the parents have kept their marriage together and Ridge and Taylor, in late 1999 became parents yet again , this time to two twin girls. But problems surfaced; Morgan DeWitt, Ridge's old lover and Taylor's friend, was expecting a child - fathered by Ridge. After Taylor found out that Morgan was carrying Ridge's child, she and Morgan had a nasty confrontation that turned physical. After chasing Taylor up the stairs of her home, Morgan toppled back down them. The fall made Morgan lose her child - an event sent Morgan over the edge, she then kidnapped Ridge and Taylor's daughter, Steffy, and made it look like she died in a boating accident. She then changed the little girl's name and hair and passed her off as her own child. Taylor soon discovered Steffy alive in Morgan's house and Morgan kidnapped Taylor as well, with the help of her friend Tim. Morgan then went after Ridge again, but he realized where his wife and child where and crashed through Morgan's living room with his car and saved the day.

Months later, Ridge used Brooke's absence at Forrester Creations to take over the company for good. He almost succeeded, but his half-brother Rick and brother in law Deacon stopped him by telling Brooke everything. Ridge was then fired as CEO of the company and took his old job back as Head Designer. Ridge could not stand his old position and announced at a board meeting, if Brooke didn't make him CEO again, he was quitting. Brooke refused his deal and showed him the door. He also injured his drawing hand severely during a fight with Deacon and Rick. The injury left him unable to draw. Ridge then turned to Massimo Marone, an old friend of his mother's (who is really his father), for help. Massimo made him heir to all his fortunes and allowed Ridge the use of his company to help take revenge on Brooke and her family for destroying his career.

When Amber need help for her drug addiction and needed a place to stay, she turned to Taylor. Taylor let Amber move in. Amber thought she was being set up, and Taylor was the only one who believed her. This new relationship between the two women became a problem between Taylor and Ridge. Ridge hated most of his family, especially Rick and Amber, for "stealing" Forrester Creations from him. He thought Amber was nothing but trash who shouldn't be in his home. While Amber was staying with Ridge and Taylor, she was kidnapped by Sheila Carter. Sheila attempted to kill Amber, but was stopped by Massimo and Stephanie. Sheila then drove to Eric's house and held him at gun point. Taylor realized that Eric could be in danger and went to him home to warn him, discovering that Sheila was already there. Taylor tried to convince Sheila to put the gun down. Brooke walked in, and a struggle between the four of them erupted. Brooke and Taylor were shot. Taylor hung on in critical condition long enough to say goodbye to her family. She died peacefully in her husband's arms.

Ridge was devastated by his wife's death. While mourning, Ridge let the family feud die down, and turned to them for comfort. He also received comfort from Brooke and Tricia Quick, a psychiatrist friend of Taylor's. Taylor had called her from her deathbed and asked her to come help Ridge and the children grieve. Brooke and Ridge became very close again, and Ridge almost had a relationship with Bridget after they discovered they were not half-brother and sister. To give Ridge something to focus on other than the death of this wife, Eric challenged Ridge to a fashion duel in Italy, the Portofino Challenge. Ridge accepted, and both Spectra and Forrester Creations went to Italy to battle on the runway. After a time, Ridge began to fall in love with Brooke again and they wed, but when he was presumed dead on their honeymoon, she had comfort sex with his half-brother Nick. After Ridge returned home (alive and well), Brooke was faced with a dilemma once she learned she was pregnant. Her marriage to Ridge was annulled, and she prepared to marry Nick.

Ridge didn't take Brooke's rejection too well and was determined to get her back in his life. After making sure that Nick and Brooke's wedding didn't happen, Ridge managed to talk Brooke into a reconciliation.. The happiest day of their lives was the day they learned that Brooke's baby wasn't Nick's, but Ridge's. They wed again, planning to spend their whole lives together, but Ridge soon began to believe that Taylor was alive and well. On what was to have been Bridget and Nick's wedding day, Ridge saw Taylor outside the grounds. Convinced she was alive, Ridge enlisted Nick and Thorne's help in digging up her grave, where he found that what they had all thought was Taylor's body was really just a bust. All of a sudden, Omar was there, where he revealed to Ridge that Taylor hadn't really died years ago, but he had spirited her away to his home to let her heal. Taylor herself appeared next, and she and Ridge spent the night catching up.

Once Ridge and Taylor returned to Los Angeles, he had to face the music, and the fact that he now had two women calling their selves Mrs. Ridge Forrester. His marriage to Brooke was soon revealed as invalid due to Taylor's reappearance, but Ridge could not decide which woman he wanted to be with. After Stephanie had a heart attack, Ridge and Taylor had a speedy vow renewal at the hospital, but Ridge was furious with Stephanie after learning she had faked the heart attack to manipulate him. He remained with Taylor, but when he returned to Los Angeles after spending time abroad and Taylor confessed to both a kiss with Hector and a long-ago night with James, Ridge told her their marriage was over because he couldn't forgive the way she had treated Brooke over the years. After he and Taylor had their marriage annulled, Ridge began pursuing Brooke in earnest, but Brooke insisted she was loyal to Nick Marone, who had recently separated from her daughter Bridget.