I struggled with this pick. I knew coming in exactly who I wanted . . . and then watched Foreign Orchid snatch him away with the very first pick of the round. Kudos to you for having excellent taste.
That's okay, I had backups. And then Psybolt took the one I would have leaned toward (had I had time) with the very next pick. Again, well done.
So that left me with a dilemma: Who should I pick?
The obvious choice was Batman . . . except that there seems to be a large anti-Batman movement here. He fared much worse than I would have anticipated last season. The hatred was surprising. He was out.
Mockingbird, former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and recent recipient of the new Super-Soldier formula, also held a certain appeal . . . but she fared poorly last season as well. Maybe residual dissatisfaction from how things ended with Hawkeye. Anyway, she was out as well.
How about The Question? He's a big fan favorite, no doubt. But could he hold his own in a fight against some of the others who have been drafted in this round? I wasn't convinced.
So who, then? There are plenty of square-jawed Nazi-punching mystery men from the Golden Age of comics--including the guy with perhaps my favorite superhero uniform ever--but so many of them are too obscure to draw a lot of votes. Other than Cap and, to a lesser degree, Destroyer, they generally haven't done well in the Arena.
So what did I need? A non-powered hero who was instantly recognizable, skilled in combat, and universally loved (or at least respected).
And then it came to me.
He is one of the very first costumed crimefighters, arguably the original embodiment of the masked vigilante. His skills in combat are unparalleled, although he is just as likely to use his wits to defeat his enemies. His name brings joy to the weak and strikes fear into the hearts of corrupt leaders and criminals. He has been an inspiration for generations of other heroes, from Batman to Inigo Montoya and the Dread Pirate Roberts and beyond. And his mark universally recognized.
My No Powers, No Problem pick: Don Diego de la Vega, El Zorro!
Theme music: A bit of a stretch, perhaps, but I'm going with Al Di Meola's "Race with Devil on Spanish Highway".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-v__JkP3sg
And now I really must get to work. I'll post the first pick of Round 7 at lunch if I can.