Philip Marlowe is a detective of the 'hardboiled genre' created by Raymond Chandler. Marlowe's character is typical of this new age of crime fiction which is based on a pessimistic view of the world—that the society in general is corrupt.
Marlowe is presented as a wisecracking, street wise, tough private dick out to earn a living. He is someone who can take it and dish it out. Morally upright, he is not deterred by the genre's usual femme fatale, like Carmen Sternwood in The Big Sleep.
Not to be confused with Philip E. Marlow, the title character in Dennis Potter's musical drama TV series The Singing Detective (1986). The name was used consciously in reference to the Chandler character, and the hard-boiled detective genre in general.
See also crime fiction for an overview.