A classless system like Runequest is much better to express the wide range of possible fantasy trope characters (trope=young boy knows nothing, explorers the world, becomes famous, has powerful enemies, and saves the world by defeating them)
Even more interesting would be a career based system like Traveller, with the restriction of maximum homeworld techlevel 8. So you could start promising with good education and social standing, go to a medical school, but decide to become criminal after school, go into jail to learn even more skills, and start your role playing at career at best age of 29 or 33. Or you can even continue pre game careers, and start as an old wise man, who knows a lot, but where age already took its toll to strength, constitution and agility.
Some games offer much wider ranges of tropes for characters then D&D.