Order of the Headless The Headless Monks , also known as the Order of the Headless , were a religious order who believed in listening to their hearts rather than their minds , to the point of having themselves beheaded . Biology . As they were headless , the Headless Monks did not register as living beings . They were also supposedly incapable of being fooled or surprised or of feeling fear . Despite their lack of heads , the Monks were able to detect where other beings were . They could fire energy blasts from their hands , as well as channelling that energy into the swords they carried . They could be killed just as easily as most other humanoids , with energy blasts , guns , or sword wounds . They also had some form of vocal ability , as they could chant , though this may have been a psychic ability . ( TV : " A Good Man Goes to War " ) Culture . The Headless Monks were very religious . They believed in listening to their hearts rather than their minds , so they beheaded themselves and placed their heads inside an unnamed , box - like device . If another group allied with the monks , they were expected to provide at least one of their members to join the monks . It was a Level One Heresy , punishable by death , to attempt to lower the hood of a Headless Monk . The group followed an entity known as the Papal Mainframe . Although the monks considered it a heresy to reveal their headless state to outsiders , they were apparently able to do so under the orders of the Mainframe . The Monks would perform an attack prayer before certain fights . ( TV : " A Good Man Goes to War " ) Not all inductees to the Order of the Headless had their heads kept in boxes . The boxes were apparently reserved for the very wealthy , while the rest of the monks ' heads were left to rot on shelves in a cave full of skulls called the Seventh Transept . Despite this , the skulls were still ' alive ' in a sense , capable of moving about and attacking others . The heads kept in ceremonial boxes were even better preserved : Dorium Maldovar was still very active and in full possession of his memories and personality when visited by the Eleventh Doctor . ( TV : " The Wedding of River Song " ) History . The Order of the Headless joined an alliance presumably led by the Silence , along with the Anglican Regiment of the Church and Madame Kovarian , dedicated to the defeat of the Doctor . Some time after Amy Pond ' s honeymoon , after her child was conceived , she was captured and replaced by a Ganger perfectly synced to the real Amy so that neither the Eleventh Doctor nor Rory Williams , Amy ' s husband , would notice . As far as Amy knew , she was continuing her adventures with the Doctor and Rory . In reality , Amy ' s pregnant body was taken to Demon ' s Run in the 52nd century . The Headless Monks went to great effort to contain her and her unborn child . ( TV : " A Good Man Goes to War " ) They paid Dorium Maldovar for delivering them the brain of a Judoon trooper which contained security software they needed . ( WC : " Prequel ( A Good Man Goes to War ) " ) In accordance with the Headless Monks ' alliance protocol , one Cleric was to be initiated into their religion . Later , during a speech by Colonel Manton , he was allowed to unveil the monks to reveal knots of skin where the bases of their necks should be ; the Cleric had been unaware that this would happen to him . The Doctor revealed himself to be disguised as a Monk , in order to panic the Clerics into attacking them . The Monks began to kill the marines in retaliation until Manton told everyone to cease fire , at which point they were surrounded by the Doctor ' s own forces , an army of Silurian s and Judoon led by Sontaran Commander Strax . The Doctor believed he ' d captured and driven off the entire force — however , he was unaware the Headless Monks did not register as alive and that they ' d kept most of their number hidden , as part of a trap . They massacred most of the Silurians before they were even noticed and took out the Doctor ' s allies Strax , Lorna Bucket , and Dorium ( the last converted into a Headless ) before they were killed . ( TV : " A Good Man Goes to War " ) The Eleventh Doctor later discovered that the Headless Monks stored the heads of their followers in the catacombs under their temple , in the Seventh Transept . Despite having no bodies and the flesh around their skulls having rotted away , the skulls were still alive , although bestial in nature ; they would attempt to eat anything that wandered into the catacombs , including rats and people . Gantok took the Doctor here to meet the severed head of Dorium Maldovar . Dorium ' s head turned out to be fully alive and still sentient , a privilege affordable only by the wealthy . ( TV : " The Wedding of River Song " ) In the 171st century , the Delirium Archive was said to be the final resting place of the Headless Monks . ( TV : " The Time of Angels " ) When the telepathic Emily Fairfax read the mind of the Hypothetical Gentleman , a Headless Monk was among the images she saw . ( COMIC : " Hypothetical Gentleman " )