Space Pirate
Space Pirates are pirates from outer space. This can be used either in general to mean a group of space-faring people (be they human or alien) that do piratical things, or, in the case of the Metroid franchise, to refer to an entire species that specializes in raiding starships and planets in a quest for dominance in the galaxy.
The Metroid Space Pirates, also known as Zebesian Space Pirates or simple Zebesians, are a sentient aggressor species. Their species has a wide range of morphological variation - their base forms have hands featuring two thumbs and a single finger, but many are genetically engineered with lobsterlike claws with their gun barrels lodged within. Some of these clawed pirates, called Troopers, have their other arm replaced by a massive blade rather than a second claw. (Oddly, the manga shows the pirates with claws, but they don't actually fire them--so perhaps the guns were a post-Prime addition) Such mutations can likely to be attributed to the species' affinity for genetic manipulation — in Metroid Prime, they displayed no qualms in their reports about using the mutagenic properties of Phazon to modify the local wildlife and each other.
Among the Space Pirates' numbers are three recurring Metroid bosses — Kraid, Ridley, and Mother Brain. The Space Pirates are generally the main antagonists in the Metroid games because they are often causing big trouble for the Galactic Federation (the Metroid galaxy's equvalant to the United Nations) with their experiments and take-over plots. In particular, they are infamous for attempting to use the Metroid organisms as biological weapons. Often, with their already existing weapons--wrist-mounted scythes, galvanic accelerator cannons, and the aforementioned "Claw Guns" (which have no technical name yet revealed)--as well as their often-superior numbers and cunning battle tactics, the only person who can attempt to defeat their larger bases and have a chance of succeeding is bounty hunter Samus Aran, the main character in the Metroid games. Samus has a particular disliking for the Space Pirates after one of their raids orphaned her, an event shown in the e-manga.
The Space Pirates was also the title of a 1969 Doctor Who serial from the sixth season of the programme, starring Patrick Troughton and written by Robert Holmes.
