Bone

Bone has an ensemble cast and a third-person omniscient perspective. While Thorn is the protagonist of the story, Fone is the main character. Of the core cast, Fone is the character we spend the most time with; as a result, we come to understand his perspective the best. In spite of the frequent perspective shifts, Fone is, for all intents and purposes, Bone’s point-of-view character.

Fone’s main structural role is to support Thorn as she completes her hero’s journey. Smith cites The Lord of the Rings as a key influence on Bone. With this in mind, Fone is the Samwise to Thorn’s Frodo: He is an unflaggingly loyal and practical sidekick to his narrative’s “chosen one,” who must embark on a portentous quest to defeat tremendous evil.

Among the core cast (and especially within the three cousins’ internal dynamic), Fone is the voice of reason and the straight man to Phoney’s antics. He is earnest, clever, humble, and selfless—an archetypal “good guy” protagonist who often serves as Bone’s moral compass. As the voice of reason and moderation, he is usually insightful, but he is also prone to equivocation and sometimes suggests half-measures when they will not be sufficient.