The Monogatari series, comprising the light novels written by Nisio Isin and its anime and manga adaptations, has an extensive fictional cast. The series focuses on Koyomi Araragi, a former vampire who has since regained his humanity and now lives as a partial human with vampiric traits, as he meets various girls who contend with other supernatural threats, collectively known as "Oddities". He is initially assisted by Meme Oshino, an eccentric specialist in the area of combatting and exorcising Oddities, and later by Shinobu Oshino (formerly known as Kiss-shot Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade), the weakened form of the vampire who attacked and turned Koyomi, who now depends exclusively on his blood for sustenance. Koyomi is also commonly accompanied by the various girls he has helped in the past. He is sometimes opposed or aided by other specialists seeking to exterminate or manipulate Oddities for their own reasons.