Temperance "Bones" Brennan

For the character in Kathy Reichs' novels, see Temperance Brennan.

Dr. Temperance Brennan
First appearance	"Pilot"
Created by	Hart Hanson
Portrayed by	Emily Deschanel
In-universe information
Alias	Joy Keenan
Nickname	Bones, Tempe
Species	Human
Gender	Female
Title	Dr.
Occupation	Forensic anthropologist
Family	Kyle Keenan/Russ Brennan (brother), Max Keenan/Matthew Brennan (father), Ruth Keenan/Christine Brennan (mother)

Temperance Brennan is the protagonist of the American television series, Bones, which is very loosely based on the works of author Kathy Reichs. She is portrayed by Emily Deschanel. Although the character is named after the heroine in Reichs' crime novel series, her characterization was based on Reichs' herself rather than the books' protagonist. The only similarity the two characters share is their occupation as a forensic anthropologist.

Brennan works at the Jeffersonian Institution in Washington D. C. and is paired with Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) to work on cases which require both their expertise. He nicknames her "Bones", referring to her job as a forensic anthropologist. The pair thus-far seem to have a fairly comfortable working relationship, despite the differences in their personalities and the sexual tension evident between them.

Along with her work at the Jeffersonian Institution, Brennan is a best-selling novelist and writes about a fictional anthropologist, Kathy Reichs. In the series' pilot, Brennan says that the closest other forensic anthropologist is in Montreal. Temperance Brennan mostly confides in her best friend and fellow co-worker, forensic artist Angela Montenegro (Michaela Conlin). Aside from Angela, Dr. Brennan has a band of 'squints' (a term given by Agent Booth to describe what scientists do - "they squint at things"), specifically entomology expert Dr. Jack Hodgins (T.J. Thyne), and Brennan's young assistant, Zack Addy (Eric Millegan).

Appearances

Season 1

The first season establishes Brennan's character and background. She chose her field of research in order to find out what happened to her parents, who vanished without a trace when she was fifteen - leading to an unpleasant time in the foster care system before being rescued by her grandfather. This is revealed early in the first season, but later contradicted in the last episode of the second season, when in a conversation with her father Brennan says that she always thought she didn't have any grandparents. It has been revealed that she has one living brother, Russ. When she was fifteen and Russ was nineteen, their parents went out and never came back.

In the first season finale, it was revealed that Temperance Brennan's birth name was Joy Keenan. Her parents were bank robbers who were forced to change their names and go into hiding when they testified against other robbers in their group. Brennan discovers her mother's remains, which had been held at the Jeffersonian ever since she arrived, and finally solves her murder. She also reunites and reconciles with her older brother Russ (formerly Kyle Keenan).

Season 2

The season-long plot involves Brennan's developing relationship with Booth as well as the return of her father and brother. In "Judas on a Pole" (2x11), Brennan's father, Max, surfaces when she and her team investigate a murder he committed to protect her and Russ. Max disappears as quickly as he surfaced and takes Russ with him. Her father visits her several more times over the course of the season but manages to evade capture each time. In the final episode of the second season, he allows Booth to arrest him because he realizes that each time he runs away, he cuts himself off from his daughter, which makes her feel abandoned once again. He states that he has set Russ up with a straight job, but refuses to tell Temperance where her brother is living because he is violating the terms of his parole.

Also in the final episode of Season 2, Brennan agrees to become Maid of Honor at Hodgins and Angela's wedding. After Zach turns down the offer of being best man, Booth steps into the role. The episode ends with Brennan and Booth standing before the priest after Hodgins and Angela ran off together without being married.

Characterization

While the character shares the same name and occupation in both the books and television series, her characterization in Bones is vastly different. Despite her extensive knowledge of anthropology, she is quite unaware of pop culture and her coworkers, particularly Booth, like to tease her about it. A running gag on the series is someone making an obvious popular culture reference and she blankly states "I don't know what that means", and she is somewhat excited on the rare occasion that she does understand them. In contrast to the novels, Brennan of Bones lacks social skills and has trouble understanding jokes and sarcasm. Her portrayer in the television series, Emily Deschanel, commented that Bones' Brennan "is a lot younger and different" than the Brennan in Kathy Reichs' books. Deschanel remarked, "Not that there aren't certain similarities, but it's a kind of a mesh." According to Deschanel, she and the show's creator Hart Hanson discussed that her character "almost has Asperger's Syndrome"."

Brennan is an atheist, critical towards religion and believes in the death penalty, although in Season 3 she is hown as having a more open mind about relgion. Brennan being critcal of religion has led to more than one argument with Booth, who is a devout Roman Catholic and quite defensive of his faith. Brennan's character development is shown in the second season where she refers to the rest of the team as "our squints" even though the term "squints" is predominately used by Booth when he describes the team, Brennan included. In Mummy in the Maze, Brennan is shown to very much like the superhero, Wonder Woman. At the end of the episode she is shown spinning around very fast like Wonder Woman, and also holding up up her wrists in a fast motion like Wonder Woman does to deflect bullets. This seems to show Brennan has a childish side to her.