Original trilogy
One day, the Sultan of Persia went to wage war in a foreign land and his vizier,
Jaffar, is left to rule in his stead. Jaffar locks the nameless protagonist up because the Princess,
Jaffar's love interest, has taken an interest in him.
Jaffar then locks up the Princess herself, giving her an ultimatum; marry
Jaffar, or die within an hour. The nameless protagonist escapes his prison, and climbs to the top of the tower, to where the Princess is imprisoned, facing a variety of resistance along the way. The Princess' room is guarded by
Jaffar, whom the Prince defeats, saving Persia and rescuing the Princess.
Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame takes place eleven days after the events of the previous game. During this period, the Prince was hailed as the hero who defeated the evil
Jaffar. He turns down all rewards, instead asking for the Princess' hand in marriage which the Sultan of Persia reluctantly agrees to. He then becomes the Prince of Persia, hence the title of the series. As the Prince enters the royal courts of the palace one day, his appearance turns into that of a beggar. Nobody recognizes him, and when he attempts to speak with the Princess, a man who shares his appearance emerges from the shadows, ordering him to be thrown out. With guards pursuing him, the Prince jumps through a window and flees the city by way of a merchant ship. The ship is struck by lightning, cast by the man the Prince saw in the royal courts, just after a mysterious woman appears in the barge and asks the Prince to find her. The Prince regains consciousness, and finds himself on the shore of a foreign island. As the Prince finds his way back to Persia, he finds many useful tools in his quest against
Jaffar. At one point the Prince's mother, revealed to be the mysterious woman on the ship, shows herself, and explains about her husband's death, and her plight to abandon the Prince so that he might live. In a temple, the Prince finds that he can separate from his body, transforming into the shadow that
Jaffar's magic mirror created in the events of Prince of Persia. The Prince uses this motive to steal the sacred flame of the temple, and then travels back to Persia. Here he immediately encounters
Jaffar, who flees. The Prince transforms into the shadow bearing the blue flame once again, and pursues
Jaffar, whom he catches and casts a blue flame at, defeating him. The Princess awakens from a spell
Jaffar set upon her, and the Prince orders
Jaffar's ashes be scattered. As the Prince and Princess ride into the distance, however, it is revealed that a witch is watching them through a crystal ball.
Prince of Persia 3D begins with the Prince and Sultan of Persia visiting the Sultan's brother, Assan. Soon enough, the Prince's personal body guards are killed, himself locked in the dungeon, and the Sultan taken by Assan. The Prince escapes the dungeon, and it is revealed that the Sultan of Persia promised Assan many years ago that his daughter would marry his son, Rugnor, not the Prince. The Prince finds the two, but Assan kills the Sultan by mistake, while trying to kill the Prince. Assan runs, but the Prince decides to pursue Rugnor instead, who has taken the Princess of Persia captive. The Prince and Rugnor have many standoffs, but when it becomes clear to Rugnor that the Prince won't give up, and the Princess won't submit to him, he decides to kill her. He ties her to a large gear machine, attempting to crush her. The Prince, however, arrives before this happens, kills Rugnor, and deactivates the machine. The Prince then escapes with the Princess, via a flying beast, but the Prince takes the Princess in the opposite direction of Persia, rather than towards it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_of_persia
