[4] Temperance "Bones" Brennan is a forensic anthropologist who works in the Medico-Legal lab at the Jeffersonian Institute in Washington, D.C. She received her bachelor's degree and Ph.D. from Northwestern University, as stated in "The Girl in the Fridge" and "The Tutor in the Tussle".

In "The Baby in the Bough", it is revealed that Brennan is a registered foster parent, at her brother's request, to take in his stepdaughters in case anything should happen to him and his girlfriend.

This same episode shows that one of the numbers of scientific publications that Brennan reads is Medicinal Physics Quarterly, with one article on electrostatics and triboluminescence proving useful during the lab's power outage.

Her time in foster care was quite traumatic and abusive; Brennan indicated that she was once locked in the trunk of a car for two days because she broke a plate,[14] and in the episode "The Finger in the Nest", she reveals to Booth that she walked into her elderly neighbor's house to find the woman dead.

[13] At trial, Max is acquitted of murdering Kirby (due in large part to a defense Booth indirectly came up with, positing an alternate theory of the crime in which Temperance was the killer instead, creating reasonable doubt), and he begins to rebuild his life.

In the Season 7 finale, "The Past in the Present", key evidence in the death of her friend, Ethan Sawyer (Darrin Toonder), is linked to Brennan.

Her social ineptitude is especially apparent when it comes to sarcasm, metaphors (which she often interprets literally), and pop culture jokes and is often the source of comedy in the show.

[12] In earlier seasons, she was characterized as straightforward and unable to detect social cues – she states that Booth once told her that she "stinks at non-verbal communication"[20] – and was well-known within the FBI for being extremely difficult to work with.

Her lack of "political savvy" and social skills was also a reason why she was passed over for Dr. Camille Saroyan as head of forensic division in the Jeffersonian in Season 2.

[36] In season 4, Booth takes her along to his interrogations and helps her learn how to set aside her scientific perspective and relate with the victim's family and suspects on a more interpersonal level.

[40] To help her gain new perspective, she later decides to head up an anthropological expedition to Indonesia for a year to identify some ancient proto-human remains, after mulling it over during the episode.

Since entering a relationship with and marrying Booth and then having children, the character has undergone development personally and is shown to be a caring wife and protective mother.

[42] She also showed concern in Season 10 about Booth's change in demeanor following his release from prison and exoneration, noting that he had not attended mass for some time.

FBI psychologist Lance Sweets postulates in a number of episodes that Brennan's apprehension over having relationships is largely due in part to the abandonment and abuse she experienced as a teenager after her parents disappeared.

It is said that she "hides" herself behind a front of hyper-rationalism and she always keeps people at arms' length, except for those closest to her - namely Booth and Angela, but she does become more comfortable confiding in others, including Sweets, Hodgins, Cam, and her father.

Brennan has had a number of relatively short relationships, including an ill-fated date with a man who turned out to be a murderer[43] and the re-kindling of a romance with her former thesis supervisor.

At the start of the series, FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth is Brennan's partner, and the principal liaison between the Jeffersonian and law enforcement agencies.

In Season 1, she cajoles him into launching an investigation after finding three bone fragments on a golf course so he can work with the Jeffersonian team on the case, despite the fact that the FBI technically has no jurisdiction.

In Season 2 Brennan shoots and kills a person for the first time while working on a string of murders connected to serial killer Howard Epps (Heath Freeman).

[56][57] Although for the majority of the series Booth and Brennan deny that their relationship is anything more than friendly professionalism, they admit to their colleague Dr. Lance Sweets (John Francis Daley) that they kissed and nearly spent the night together after their very first case together.

[6] They subsequently attempt to date other people,[58] although the fact that Booth once comments that he regards Brennan as his "standard" for other women suggests that he, at least, has not completely moved on.

Brennan does admit to Angela that as time has gone on, she is unsure if she wants to keep doing consulting work for the FBI, as she is constantly worried that something will happen to Booth and she will be unable to save him.

Booth has a serious new girlfriend, Hannah Burley, and despite the hints of her colleagues at Brennan's unconscious jealousy of their relationship, she vehemently denies feeling uncomfortable with the new situation.

In episode 10 of the sixth season, "The Body in the Bag", Booth tells his girlfriend about the incident, stating that it (his love for Brennan) was all in the past and whatever he felt, he does not feel it anymore.

Following Hannah's departure, the two begin to reconnect, to the point that, during a case that sees the two trapped in an elevator during a blackout for several hours, Booth and Brennan admit that they are each interested in a relationship but require more time to sort out their own feelings before they make such a commitment.

In the last scene of the season 6 finale, "The Change in the Game", after the birth of Angela and Hodgins' son, Brennan tells Booth that she is pregnant and that he is the father.

It causes a minor rift between them, but is resolved when Booth admits why he wants to move into a new house and Brennan having some time to think over it says it is a good idea because she would need him practically, emotionally and sexually.

In "The Past in the Present", Brennan becomes the prime suspect in the murder of her schizophrenic friend, Ethan Sawyer, after supposedly threatening to kill Christine.

However, at the end of the episode, after Christine is christened, it is revealed Brennan decided to take her father's advice and flee with her daughter until her name is cleared.

Brennan had a brief relationship with FBI Agent Tim Sullivan, whom she met while on a case when Booth was in therapy due to his grief-induced rage over his self-perceived role in the death of serial killer Howard Epps.