'character' = 'toon'. when and why?

[Snagglepuss]

I'm pretty sure "toon" is a misnomer for character stemming from "cartoon character."

A lot of people were new to RPG / MUDs / paper pen when EQ and other 3d games came out and might have been confused by the term character and associated it with cartoon character and 'toon' caught on.

I had never played many computer games before EQ and even the term and concept of "character" was new to me.