Colon

Printable ASCII characters
~	!	@	#	$	%	^	&	*	(	)	_	+	space
`	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	-	=	{	}	|
	Qq	Ww	Ee	Rr	Tt	Yy	Uu	Ii	Oo	Pp	:	"	[	]	\
	Aa	Ss	Dd	Ff	Gg	Hh	Jj	Kk	Ll	?	;	'	Ctrl
	Zz	Xx	Cc	Vv	Bb	Nn	Mm	,	.	/	<	>	Alt

In NetHack, the colon symbol serves the following purposes,

• : represents a lizard:
  • : newt
  • : gecko
  • : iguana
  • : baby crocodile
  • : lizard
  • : chameleon
  • : crocodile
  • : salamander

• Press : to use the near look command, which looks at the square you currently are on. In menus, pressing : activates menu search, which helps you select specific items in a menu containing a long list of items.

Variants

SLASH'EM

SLASH'EM introduces new monsters that use the : glyph:

• : gila monster
• : rhaumbusun
• : basilisk
• : komodo dragon

UnNetHack

UnNetHack introduces one new monster that uses the : glyph:

• : giant turtle

xNetHack

In xNetHack, version 3.0 changed the glyph for the lizard monster class to l (lowercase L) to avoid using punctuation glyphs, and moved leprechauns into the ​i imp or minor demon class. This was reverted in version 6.0.

EvilHack

EvilHack introduces two new monsters that use the : glyph:

• : giant turtle
• : frost salamander

SlashTHEM

SlashTHEM retains the monsters added in SlashTHEM and adds new monsters that use the : glyph:

• : deminewt
• : master newt
• : giant turtle