Space pirates are a type of stock characters from science fiction. They operate as pirates in outer space and travel by spacecraft; as opposed to the more traditional pirates on the high seas of Earth, who travel by boat. However, just as traditional seafaring pirates target sailing ships, space pirates serve a similar role in sci-fi media: they capture and plunder spaceships for cargo, money, and occasionally they steal the ship itself. However, their dress and speech may vary; it may correspond to the particular author's vision of the future, rather than their seafaring precursors. On the other hand, space pirates may be modeled after stereotypical sea pirates.