The Protectors of the Hidden Word are an ancient secret order who protect the labyrinths designed by the Greek craftsman Daedalus in Uncharted: The Fourth Labyrinth. They are what remains of Daedalus' servants, who were brainwashed by the Hidden Word hundreds of years ago. However, the servants have kept the Protectors going by abducting new people to be brainwashed. Using daggers and swords, the Protectors will attack anyone who trespasses into the labyrinths. They wear dark hoods, and are both male and female.
Victims who are not slaughtered by the order are often dragged away and brainwashed by the Hidden Word. In The Fourth Labyrinth, during Luka Hzujak's research on Daedalus' labyrinths, he discovered evidence that could point to a fourth. Shortly after, however, he was murdered in New York along with Dr Maynard P. Cheney by a hooded attacker, a Protector.