Sir Valiant Emberheart is a hero beyond comparison, he has saved the world of Venturis more times than anyone can count and has won the love of it's people as well as the hand of the most desired (and often kidnapped) princess in the world, Princess Rita. After some time away to develop his skills, Valiant returns home to find that the princess has once more been spirited away by a heinous fiend and as always, Valiant pursues the fiend to rescue his love from it's clutches. but not all is as it seems. The creature is erratic and unlike anything Valiant has ever fought and when the creature is defeated, it's body opens a strange rift in the world that draws Valiant and Rita in and reveals to them the truth of the world. Venturis is not real and neither is anyone else within it, their world is a video game and Valiant is it's main character. Burdened with this knowledge, Valiant and the princess must find a way to exist in a world that is defined by it's source code and the behaviours it dictates. However, Valiant and Princess Rita weren't the only characters to awaken to the truth and new dangers that arise because of it. Now Valiant must learn how to be a hero of his own accord, not as a puppet of the player but as a free person in a world that is only just learning what it means to be free.