  We present a family of consistent quantum field theories of monodromy
quintessence in strong coupling, which can serve as benchmarks in modeling dark
energy different from cosmological constant. These theories have discrete gauge
symmetries which can protect them from quantum field theory and quantum gravity
corrections, both perturbative and nonperturbative. The strong coupling
effects, at scales $\ga {\rm mm}^{-1}$, flatten the potential and activate
operators with higher powers of derivatives. The predicted equation of state is
close to, but not exactly equal to $-1$, thus being within reach of the (near!)
future programs to explore the nature of dark energy.
