There are four primary magic elements: Ignis (Fire), Aqua (Water), Ventus (Air), and Terra (Earth).

The ability to combine two, three or four elements together leads to a magic user being referred to as a line, triangle, or square mage.

For example, a magical item called the "Staff of Destruction" is, in reality, a human-made Vietnam-era M72 LAW rocket launcher.

Other examples of Earth technology, often weaponry, appear throughout the story, such as a World War II era Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter plane.

Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière is a member of the nobility who is terrible at magic, as her attempts usually result in an explosion.

But Louise summons Saito Hiraga, an ordinary teenage boy from Japan, leaving her totally humiliated.

The Familiar of Zero follows the adventures of Louise and Saito as they help their classmates and friends, while occasionally blundering into situations where they risk their lives to save one another and Tristain.

Saito tries to find a way to get back to Japan, but he also gains a mysterious power that allows him to wield swords and other weapons to perform heroic feats.

The Familiar of Zero began as a series of light novels written by Noboru Yamaguchi and illustrated by Eiji Usatsuka under the original title Zero no Tsukaima.

[citation needed] A side-story, Zero no Tsukaima Gaiden: Tabatha no Bōken, initially available as a mobile phone online serial, was released in three volumes between October 25, 2006 and March 25, 2009.

It collected various short stories and illustrations previously unpublished in book format, as well as character designs and other information, such as outlines for volumes 21 and 22 left behind by Yamaguchi.

It also revealed that the last two volumes of the series were written by Yū Shimizu, author of Bladedance of Elementalers, using Yamaguchi's notes.

A manga series illustrated by Nana Mochizuki was serialized in the Japanese seinen manga magazine Monthly Comic Alive between the August 2006 (Monthly Comic Alive debut issue, released on June 27) and October 2009 issues, published by Media Factory.

[11] The manga was also licensed by Elex Media Komputindo in Indonesia and released up to volume three in English under the title The Familiar of Zero, and in the Czech Republic by Zoner Press.

[12] A sequel series, illustrated by Higa Yukari and titled Zero no Tsukaima Chevalier, was serialized between the March 2010 and May 2013 issues of Comic Alive[13][14] and later compiled in four volumes.

(in which all of The Familiar of Zero characters are depicted as kindergarten children) by Takamura Masaya,[16][17] serialized between September 2009 and March 2012 and compiled in three volumes.

[23] The second season under the extended title Zero no Tsukaima: Futatsuki no Kishi (ゼロの使い魔 ～双月の騎士～) aired in Japan between July 9 and September 24, 2007, containing twelve episodes.

Sentai Filmworks licensed the second season (under the name The Familiar of Zero: Knight of the Twin Moons) in North America and released it on March 10, 2015 on Blu-ray and DVD.

Sentai Filmworks licensed the third season with the OVA (under the name The Familiar of Zero: Rondo of Princesses) in North America and released them on May 12, 2015 on Blu-ray and DVD.

[29][30][31] In 2012, Sentai Filmworks licensed the fourth season (under the name The Familiar of Zero: F) in North America and released it on July 14, 2015, on Blu-ray and DVD.

The second album is a drama CD featuring the characters Louise, Kirche, and Tabitha—voiced by Kugimiya, Nanako Inoue, and Yuka Inokuchi respectively—which was released on September 5, 2007.

Three visual novels for the PlayStation 2 were developed by Marvelous Interactive in which the player assumes the role of Saito Hiraga.

The Familiar of Zero fan fiction writers eventually began writing original isekai novels, such as Tappei Nagatsuki who went on to create Re:Zero in 2012.