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In a pointed category, a normal monomorphism is a monomorphism that is the kernel in a category of some morphism. Suppose $m:M\hookrightarrow A$ is the kernel of $f:A\to B$, and let $q:A\to Q$ be the cokernel in a category of $m$. Since $fm=0$, there is a unique $\bar{f}:Q\to B$ with $f=\bar{f}q$. If $qx=0$, then $fx=\bar{f}qx=0$, so the universal property of $m=\ker f$ factors $x$ uniquely through $m$. Therefore $m=\ker q=\ker (\mathrm{coker}m)$. The converse is immediate: if $m$ is the kernel of its cokernel, it is the kernel of a morphism and hence normal.

An abelian category is an additive category with kernels and cokernels in which every monomorphism is normal and every epimorphism is a conormal epimorphism. Finite biproducts and kernels give finite limits. The image and coimage in an abelian category give every $f:A\to B$ the canonical factorizationand the middle map is an isomorphism. The first map is a cokernel and therefore a regular epimorphism. Every epimorphism in an abelian category is the cokernel of its kernel, and epimorphisms are stable under pullback; consequently regular epimorphisms are pullback-stable. This proves that every abelian category is regular.

Define the additive indexing category for chain complexes $\mathbf{Z}$ as follows. Its objects are the integers andLet the generator of $\mathbf{Z}(n,n)$ be $1_n$ and the generator of $\mathbf{Z}(n,n-1)$ be ${\partial }_n$. Composition is bilinear, the $1_n$ are identities, andbecause the target hom-group $\mathbf{Z}(n,n-2)$ is zero. An additive functor $C:\mathbf{Z}\to \mathcal{A}$ chooses objects $C_n=C(n)$ and differentials $d_n=C({\partial }_n)$ satisfying $d_{n-1}{d}_n=0$, hence a complex in an abelian category. Conversely every chain complex defines this unique additive functor.

For self-duality, put $Z_n=\ker d_n$, $B_n=\mathrm{im}{d}_{n+1}$, and let $q:C_n\to Q_n=\mathrm{coker}{d}_{n+1}$. Since $d_n{d}_{n+1}=0$, there is a unique ${\bar{d}}_n:Q_n\to C_{n-1}$ with ${\bar{d}}_{n}q=d_n$. The image-to-kernel factorization gives a canonical isomorphismPassing to the opposite category exchanges kernels with cokernels and images with coimages. The usual construction in ${\mathcal{A}}^{\mathrm{op}}$ is therefore the expression on the right, which is canonically the original homology object. This proves the self-duality of homology.

A complex in an abelian category is a sequence $(A_n,d_n)$ with $d_n{d}_{n+1}=0$. A sequence is exact when the image of every incoming map equals the kernel of the outgoing map.

The Five lemma says that in a morphism between exact five-term sequences, suitable epimorphism assumptions on the left and monomorphism assumptions on the right, together with isomorphisms in the four surrounding positions, force the middle map to be an isomorphism.

The Snake lemma associates to a morphism of short exact sequences the exact sequence

An abelian category is an additive category with all kernels and cokernels in which every monomorphism is a kernel and every epimorphism is a cokernel. If $m:A\rightarrowtail B$ is monic and $c=\mathrm{coker}m$, then $m$ factors through $k=\ker c$. The canonical coimage-to-image morphism is an isomorphism in an abelian category, so this factorization identifies $A$ with $\ker c$; hence $m$ is the kernel of its own cokernel. Dually, every epimorphism is the cokernel of its own kernel. The assignments $m\mapsto \mathrm{coker}m$ and $q\mapsto \ker q$ therefore give inverse bijections between subobjects and quotient objects of a fixed object. Well-poweredness is consequently equivalent to well-copoweredness.

The category ${\mathcal{C}}^{\mathcal{A}}$ of complexes has chain complexes as objects and chain maps as morphisms. Write $Z_n=\ker d_n$ and $Q_n=\mathrm{coker}{d}_{n+1}$. The equation $d_n{d}_{n+1}=0$ gives both an induced map $\mathrm{im}{d}_{n+1}\to Z_n$ and a map $Q_n\to \mathrm{im}{d}_n$. The homology object has the two canonically isomorphic descriptionsPassing to the opposite category exchanges these descriptions, proving self-duality.

Let $S_n(A)=A[n]$. A chain map $A[n]\to C_{\bullet }$ is exactly a map $A\to Z_n(C)$, while a chain map $C_{\bullet }\to A[n]$ is exactly a map $Q_n(C)\to A$. Therefore

The Snake lemma states that a commutative diagram with exact rows yields the exact sequence of the three kernels, followed by its connecting morphism and the three cokernels. Apply it degree by degree to a short exact sequence of complexes $0\to A_{\bullet }\to B_{\bullet }\to C_{\bullet }\to 0$, using the diagrams of cycles, boundaries, and degree objects. The connecting map sends a cycle of $C_n$ to a lift in $B_n$, takes its boundary in $B_{n-1}$, and identifies that boundary with a class in $H_{n-1}(A)$. The Snake lemma gives exactness and producesthe algebraic Mayer–Vietoris theorem.