Dr. Temperance Brennan is a fictional character in the American Fox television series, Bones. The character has been represented by Emily Deschanel. While the character of Brennan is based on Kathy Reichs, an author, her name has been derived from the heroine in Kathy’s crime novel series. But the only similarity between the two characters is their occupation as a forensic anthropologist.

Brennan is a forensic anthropologist who works in the Medico-Legal lab at the Jeffersonian Institute in Washington D.C. Throughout the series she seems to be an intelligent anthropologist who lacks social skills. Her social incompetence is visible when it comes to sarcasm, pop culture jokes, and metaphors that she usually interprets very literally.

She had a difficult adolescence and sometimes struggles in determining as well as explaining her feelings. She always takes comfort in the rationality of her anthropologic discipline. She proclaims herself as a nonbeliever and often implies what she says as an irrational factor in religious and spiritual beliefs.

Her personality undergoes various significant changes throughout the series. As the series progresses, Brennan's thoughts become less rigid and she is able to distinguish between truth and accuracy. She can put aside her rationality for supporting her friends in some irrational pursuits. Her empathy and sensitivity towards others are also much improved and it can be seen when she comforts Booth’s father and when attends a funeral so that the victim’s mother won’t be alone. Brennan also displays more ‘typical’ emotions in extreme stress.

Brennan has had various relatively short relationships, which includes an ill-fated date that turned to be a murder and the romance with her thesis supervisor. She has engaged in casual relationships to satisfy biological urges. She also has explained that she doesn’t always feel that need for a committed emotional relationship.

Hyper-rational and very focused, Brennan is very defensive as well as protective of evidence. She also deals with the ‘horrors’ of the crimes she investigates by focusing on the facts only. She is spiky, socially awkward, and brilliant at everything except interacting with other humans.