The Familiar of Zero (Japanese: ゼロの使い魔, Hepburn: Zero no Tsukaima) is a fantasy and comedy-oriented series of Japanese light novels written by Noboru Yamaguchi, with illustrations by Eiji Usatsuka. Media Factory published 20 volumes between June 2004 and February 2011. The series was left unfinished due to the author's death on April 4, 2013, but the series is planned to continue to its conclusion with a different author.