Not the Genesis of a Break

Question

The following cryptic clues are in English, don't include punctuation, and have a theme (except for one minor exception) which will provide context for the definitions of the clue. There are two main sets of clues, and the answers from each set will reveal a word; each group of clues produces its own word and has its own method of doing so. There is also a special cryptic clue puzzle to produce a third word that goes between the first two. After completing these three puzzles, you should be able to complete the question: "Which is most important to your adventure party: _ _ _?"

Ready, GO!

Group 1:

1. Space captain briefly by copier (5)
2. Brother's linguini ruined without place to stay (5)
3. Repair shoe shooter (3)
4. Mouse broke a chip around king before you spoke (7)
5. Gun wielder unsure of caliber (in short) (5)
6. Bean retires, greeting dinosaur (5)
7. Doctors are morbid without starting basic English or being certified? (2,5)

Middle:

Alien mixes up Mario and Luigi first (6)
On the other hand, your previous answer is heartless (?)

Group 2:

1. Behead, like swordsman (3)
2. Hikes in disguise?! (5)
3. Type of fabric for martial artist (5)
4. Keep its hidden angel (3)
5. Another fighter inside with magic user (5)
6. Scribe is a belle! (8)
7. Builder stumped first lady (5)

Hint:

Before looking at the letters first, try looking at the numbers.

Hint #2:

To see the big picture, you might need to listen to others.

Hint #3:

The cipher in Group #1 can only work up to a man who watches games.

Answer 1

Partial Answer

Credit to Graylocke with solving some clues in the comments.

The overall theme is

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Group 1

1. KIRBY = KIR(k) + BY (thanks to Graylocke)
2. LUIGI = LINGUINI, mixed up, without INN
3. FOX (I think) possibly FIX with O shoed in?
4. PIKACHU = anagram of A CHIP, with a K(ing) before U (you)
5. FALCO = OF CAL(ibre), anagrammed (thanks to Graylocke)
6. YOSHI = SOY backwards + HI
7. DR MARIO = ARE MORBID without DR and starts of B(asic) E(nglish).

Middle

1. OLIMAR = MARIO + L(uigi) anagrammed
2. OR = O(lima)R

Group 2

1. IKE = LIKE without head (L)
2. SHEIK = anagram of HIKES.
3. TERRY = double def
4. PIT = hidden in (kee)P IT(s)
5. ROBIN who has R.O.B IN
6. ISABELLE = IS A BELLE condensed.
7. STEVE = ST + EVE

Final clue

I haven't got the first or last bit yet but I think the middle clues LIMA the subtracted bit between the clues which would clue the letter L so the final answer is a three letter word of the form _L_.

As Gareth McCaughan points out, I may have gotten too excited here and the middle bit just clues the word OR.

Anagramming the first letters in the answers to the second group gives SPIRITS and anagramming the middle letters of the answer in the first group gives SOLARIA so the answer could be SOLARIA OR SPIRITS although I don't know if either of these things is related to the theme.