Red supergiants and stellar evolution

We review the significant role played by red supergiants (RSGs) in stellar populations, and some challenges and questions they raise for theoretical stellar evolution. We present how metallicity and rotation modify the way stars go to the red part of the Hertzsprung- Russell diagram or come back from it, and how RSGs might keep a trace of their main-sequence evolution. We compare theoretical popu- lation ratios with observed ones.